Organizational Communication Commons^™

Using An Ethnostatistical Analysis To Interpret Data: The Nike Case, Nancy E. Landrum, David M. Boje

Organization Management Journal

This study reviews a 1997 study released by Nike to resolve wage controversies in subcontracted Asian factories. An ethnostatistical analysis is provided to show how the application of the three levels of ethnostatistics can help us understand differing interpretations of the same data. The current analysis is evidence of the way in which context, assumptions and methodology, and rhetoric and language can influence the outcome of quantitative studies. The current study is an important methodological note because academic researchers are being called to answer important questions regarding the global operations of transnational corporations. This raises the question of our role …