IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ausman/v50y2025i1p8-31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Objective and subjective measurement in applied business settings: Improving research in organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Peter J Jordan
  • Ashlea C Troth
  • Hongmin Yan

    (Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia)

Abstract

The inclusion of rigorous measures and methods by researchers often influence a reviewer’s and editor’s decision about whether an article is accepted. In positivist research, studies that include objective measures (i.e. avoiding respondent bias) are often considered superior. We argue that the methodological quality of a study is not merely achieved by including an objective measure, but instead by understanding the strengths and limitations of the measure (whether objective or subjective) and its appropriateness for addressing the research question. We consider the suitability of using objective and subjective measures in research at both macro and micro levels and emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of both, using criteria of bias, validity, reliability, sensitivity, and feasibility. As an underexamined topic in applied business research, we overview some types of objective measurement that have been adopted in the applied management discipline and consider their utility. JEL Classification: C90, D23

Suggested Citation

  • Peter J Jordan & Ashlea C Troth & Hongmin Yan, 2025. "Objective and subjective measurement in applied business settings: Improving research in organizations," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 50(1), pages 8-31, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:50:y:2025:i:1:p:8-31
    DOI: 10.1177/03128962241286258
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03128962241286258
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/03128962241286258?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bias; feasibility; objective measures; reliability; research methods; sensitivity; subjective measures; validity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:50:y:2025:i:1:p:8-31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.agsm.edu.au .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.