Thanks for this interesting discussion. I believe that one reason for the lack of quantitative research on OST is that people who really like quantifying things are off doing something more readily quantifiable!
It's difficult to do rigorous quantifiable research in a complex and open system--there are so many variables that it is difficult to control for them, or even to know what they all are. I suspect that is why social science has moved more in the direction of "action research"--develop a hypothesis, try your ideas in an organization and see what happens, modify your approach and try it out again. Data and viable methods are gradually developed from that experience, but it is difficult to quantify the process according to the rigorous research standards of the "hard sciences." Where a science like modern medicine meets an art like meeting facilitation, it may be difficult for either side to provide the kind of data the other is looking for. I appreciate the efforts that some have made to collect and preserve data and organize it into a form that might better communicate across disciplines! Thanks for sharing your ideas. Joelle Everett * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html