Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

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Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.

The capacity to exercise control over the nature and quality of one's life is the essence of humanness. Human agency is characterized by a number of core features that operate through phenomenal and functional consciousness. These include the temporal extension of agency through intentionality and forethought, self-regulation by self-reactive influence, and self-reflectiveness about one's capabilities, quality of functioning, and the meaning and purpose of one's life pursuits. Personal agency operates within a broad network of sociostructural influences. In these agentic transactions, people are producers as well as products of social systems. Social cognitive theory distinguishes among three modes of agency: direct personal agency, proxy agency that relies on others to act on one's behest to secure desired outcomes, and collective agency exercised through socially coordinative and interdependent effort. Growing transnational embeddedness and interdependence are placing a premium on collective efficacy to exercise control over personal destinies and national life.

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Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective

According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

Despite the concern that has been expressed about potential method biases, and the pervasiveness of research settings with the potential to produce them, there is disagreement about whether they really are a problem for researchers in the behavioral sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to explore the current state of knowledge about method biases. First, we explore the meaning of the terms “method” and “method bias” and then we examine whether method biases influence all measures equally. Next, we review the evidence of the effects that method biases have on individual measures and on the covariation between different constructs. Following this, we evaluate the procedural and statistical remedies that have been used to control method biases and provide recommendations for minimizing method bias.

Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It

The field of organizationa l justice continues to be marked by several important research questions, including the size of relationships among justice dimensions, the relative importance of different justice criteria, and the unique effects of justice dimensions on key outcomes. To address such questions, the authors conducted a meta-analytic review of 183 justice studies. The results suggest that although different justice dimensions are moderately to highly related, they contribute incremental variance explained in fairness perceptions. The results also illustrate the overall and unique relationships among distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice and several organizational outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, evaluation of authority, organizational citizenship behavior, withdrawal, performance). These findings are reviewed in terms of their implications for future research on organizationa l justice.

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Justice at the millennium: a meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research

A process model of the manner by which organizations formulate and implement managerial strategies in response to plant closings is proposed. The model takes into account the overall context of the plant-closing process, identifying different strategic responses an organization may follow and the nature and philosophy of its social responsiveness. The model links the plant-closing process with theoretical underpinnings derived from both the strategic management and social responsibility literature.

Strategic management, plant closings, and social responsibility: An integrative process model

This study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate and refine a comprehensive turnover theory. Specifically, SEM assessed redundancy among model constructs and their redundancy with new constructs. SEM analyses redefined existing constructs and supported inclusion of new causes. Then, SEM estimated these constructs' causal relations.

Confirmatory Validation of a Theory of Employee Turnover.

This longitudinal field study develops and tests a multivariate latent variable model of survivor responses to a layoff. The model was tested with structural equations modeling. Procedural justice,...

Developing and Testing an Expanded Model of Survivor Responses to Layoffs: A Longitudinal Field Study.

Team processes that convert top team demography into firm outcomes are assumed in theory but rarely tested explicitly. The present study tests a model wherein top teams' collective information proc...

Angelo J. Kinicki

Papers

Strategic management, plant closings, and social responsibility: An integrative process model

Confirmatory Validation of a Theory of Employee Turnover.

Developing and Testing an Expanded Model of Survivor Responses to Layoffs: A Longitudinal Field Study.

A proposed mediator between top team demography and financial performance.

Organizational behaviour : first European edition