Bryman and Buchanan have assembled an interesting and rigorous set of chapters designed to introduce readers to some of the most novel approaches to data collection, research design, and data analysis. Importantly, this assemblage includes ideas sampled from a broad array of disciplines spanning quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods domains. I strongly recommend this book to any scholar seeking to expand the tools comprising his or her methodological tool chest.
At present there are strong institutional forces pushing scholars towards publishing safe, conventional papers, which rarely advance methodological thinking or generate major theoretical advances. Unconventional Methodology in Organization and Management Research is a welcome call for pluralism and diversity, which brings together a provocative and stimulating collection of contributions. It should be compulsory reading for students of research methods, but will also provide more experienced scholars with valuable insights and hopefully challenge them to expand their methodological repertoires.
Most journal editors and readers crave 'something different' in topics of inquiry and the design of research. This book shows why conservatism in fact prevails and provides a powerful and comprehensive set of exemplars of alternative unconventional approaches, covering sources of data, methods, and modes of analysis. It will inspire scholars to be more imaginative in their research. Journal editors and their readers will be truly grateful.
At a time it is common to bemoan research which is rather boring this stimulating book conceived by Alan Bryman and David Buchanan points out that methods matter and that most researchers use a limited range of conventional approaches which affects what they see and how they see it. Furthermore researchers' methodological perspective also shapes their interpretation of the research. They point the way forward for more adventurous research with unconventional approaches to methodology including unconventional settings, unconventional research design and data collection, and unconventional analytic approaches.