Critical Essay: Meta-analysis: A critical realist critique and alternative

Author:

Brannan Matthew J1,Fleetwood Steve2,O’Mahoney Joe3,Vincent Steve4

Affiliation:

1. Keele University, UK,

2. University of the West of England, UK,

3. Cardiff Business School, UK,

4. The University of Newcastle, UK,

Abstract

Meta-analysis has proved increasingly popular in management and organization studies as a way of combining existing empirical quantitative research to generate a statistical estimate of how strongly variables are associated. Whilst a number of studies identify technical, procedural and practical limitations of meta-analyses, none have yet tackled the meta-theoretical flaws in this approach. We deploy critical realist meta-theory to argue that the individual quantitative studies, upon which meta-analysis relies, lack explanatory power because they are rooted in quasi-empiricist meta-theory. This problem, we argue, is carried over in meta-analyses. We then propose a ‘critical realist synthesis’ as a potential alternative to the use of meta-analysis in organization studies and social science more widely.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Management of Technology and Innovation,Strategy and Management,General Social Sciences,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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