Paradigms

Two Dimensions: Methods and Research Interests

Burrell and Morgan systematized social scientific approaches in their book Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. These authors suggested that all organization theories are based on a philosophy of science and—at least implicitly—on a theory of society. The first dimension addresses basic methodological assumptions, and the second dimension concerns the normative frame of the theory. Burrell and Morgan combined these two dimensions in a two-by-two matrix, which permits a classification of the plurality of organization theories.

Burrell and Morgan divided the first dimension into four subdimensions: (a) ontology, (b) epistemology, (c) basic assumptions concerning human nature, and (d) methodology. Along this dimension, the two authors distinguished the subjective and the objective approaches in social science as dichotomous categories, admitting that there may also be hybrids.

Besides the first dimension, organization theories are also founded on a theory of society. Describing this dimension, Burrell and Morgan introduced the terms regulation and radical change. The category sociology of regulation includes research that examines why social entities persist and what the conditions for the preservation of the status quo are. In contrast, research in the category of sociology of radical change tries to explain the change processes to which social entities are exposed. This work is normative, engaged in criticizing and improving the present status quo of social systems. In particular, it is concerned with the question of how individuals and social communities can be freed from the structural constraints that are repressing their development. This problem was emphasized by Brian Steffy and Andrew Grimes in 1986.

...