Methodological tools for researching institutional influences on organizations

Abstract

Institutional theory predicts that organizations consider social fitness and conformity to institutional environments as more important then technical and economic needs and this social conformity over time results in homogenization on the macro level. The theory is well supported by empirical evidence but at the same time there is a tendency for many researchers to misinterpret their data and arrive with confused and distorted conclusions. This paper makes attempt to analyze two major methodological approaches in institutional studies – quantitative and qualitative analysis of institutional effects on organizations. We analyze these two approaches with regard to their ontological and epistemological fit with theoretical apparatus of institutional theory and suggest strong and weak sides of both methods. The paper concludes with a suggestion that qualitative methods are more useful in interpreting data while quantitative approach fits better for empirical tests and theory refinements.

Keywords

• institutional theory
• methodology
• organizations
• institutional analysis
• epistemology