Opportunistic Organizational Research: The Role of Patch-up Designs

Abstract

In research involving the evaluation of organizational changes, it is rarely possible to obtain the desired experimental controls. A number of possible “patch-up” designs are discussed. Such designs are not an attempt to retrieve data that have already been collected, but they represent a well thought out process undertaken prior to data collection. Some patch-up experiments are reported, and some suggestions are made as to how data from such studies may be interpreted.