<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>When the fictional character Forrest Gump said: “Life is like a box of chocolates,” he offered an intriguing insight into at least one aspect of human existence. However, in creating his analogy he likely fell into a trap that sometimes ensnares social science researchers. For example, since the 1950s authors in disparate academic and professional genres have used metaphors/analogies to better understand organizational culture and create imagery encapsulating its key components. However, this essay argues that this genre is not always associated with methodological rigor. Problems include: metaphors/analogies are often employed without associated rationale; and, authors define their object of analysis in overly broad ways and/or fail to specify an agenda. This article explores these limitations in their historical context and offers a strategy for remedying them, a strategy with implications for scholarly written communication. Identified problems and a proposed solution are somewhat generic and are therefore relevant wherever analogies are used.</p>
</abstract>

When the fictional character Forrest Gump said: “Life is like a box of chocolates,” he offered an intriguing insight into at least one aspect of human existence. However, in creating his analogy he likely fell into a trap that sometimes ensnares social science researchers. For example, since the 1950s authors in disparate academic and professional genres have used metaphors/analogies to better understand organizational culture and create imagery encapsulating its key components. However, this essay argues that this genre is not always associated with methodological rigor. Problems include: metaphors/analogies are often employed without associated rationale; and, authors define their object of analysis in overly broad ways and/or fail to specify an agenda. This article explores these limitations in their historical context and offers a strategy for remedying them, a strategy with implications for scholarly written communication. Identified problems and a proposed solution are somewhat generic and are therefore relevant wherever analogies are used.

<italic>Forrest Gump’s</italic> Contribution to Research Methodology: An Analogy for Organizational Culture and Some Musings on How to Write about Comparisons

Discourses on Culture

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

 Contribution to Research Methodology: An Analogy for Organizational Culture and Some Musings on How to Write about Comparisons

When the fictional character Forrest Gump said: “Life is like a box of chocolates,” he offered an intriguing insight into at least one aspect of human...

Forrest Gump’s Contribution to Research Methodology: An Analogy for Organizational Culture and Some Musings on How to Write about Comparisons

Publié en ligne: 19 janv. 2023

Pages: 21 - 45

Reçu: 17 août 2022

Accepté: 19 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/doc-2022-0003

Mots clés
culture, organizational culture, analogy, metaphor, written communication, research methods, comparisons

© 2022 Michel Racine et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Forrest Gump’s Contribution to Research Methodology: An Analogy for Organizational Culture and Some Musings on How to Write about Comparisons

Publié en ligne: 19 janv. 2023

Pages: 21 - 45

Reçu: 17 août 2022

Accepté: 19 nov. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/doc-2022-0003

Mots clésculture, organizational culture, analogy, metaphor, written communication, research methods, comparisons

© 2022 Michel Racine et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
culture, organizational culture, analogy, metaphor, written communication, research methods, comparisons