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Wisdom or Widgets: Whither the School of ‘Business’?
Author(s) -
SUBOTINK DAN
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
abacus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.632
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6281
pISSN - 0001-3072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6281.1988.tb00207.x
Subject(s) - phenomenon , empirical research , work (physics) , crowding , sociology , positive economics , epistemology , economics , psychology , philosophy , cognitive psychology , engineering , mechanical engineering
The development of quantitative methods has proved to be invaluable in contemporary academic life; it has opened up the world to empirical studies. Yet there is a cost. ‘The mind of man,’ writes John Dewey, ‘is taken captive by the spoils of prior victories’ (Gummere, 1988, p. 25). In the social sciences, and particularly in the business area, quantitative methods have become a fetish and have led to the crowding out of non‐empirical work. ‘Wisdom or Widgets’ examines the implications of this disturbing phenomenon.