Facet Theory: An Analytical Approach for Research Design.

Gaining a greater comprehension of the complexities of social behaviour relies on uncovering the relationships among the different aspects of that behaviour. A vast amount of behavioural research, however, starts from loosely defined concepts and then uses elaborate statistical techniques to analyse observations whose underlying definitional basis is weak. Facet theory is presented as a recipe for social research that offers a set of principles to guide research design. Drawing on an empirical analysis of the nature of trust at work the facet approach demonstrates how a definitional framework may be generated to provide the theoretical basis for the analysis of the structural characteristics of a specific domain of interest. The paper argues that Facet Theory offers a solution to the arguments in the management research literature that focus on the problems that an uncritical adoption of such deterministic positivistic methodological designs raises for management research (Gill & Johnson, 2010); a concern which is increasingly making these designs seen untenable. A key aim of this paper is to suggest that there is still a place for use of such research designs with respect to theory development and the need for alternative methodological choices, such as Facet Theory, which articulate different philosophical commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]