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<p>Several theories in the field of organizational behavior are focused on the study of “processes” that help explain employee behavior and organizational outcomes. Researchers have made great strides in the study of these process-oriented phenomena. However, scholars have noted issues in survey research design—first, the absence of consideration given to the temporal perspective, which is critical to the study of process changes over time, and second, unclear boundaries defining the population of interest. To bridge this gap, we conducted a methodological review of the organizational socialization literature (a process-oriented phenomenon). Specifically, we focus on several of the most important decisions researchers face in designing socialization studies: the characteristics of the newcomers being surveyed, the sources of data, and most importantly, the timing of data collection. In a review of 274 newcomer studies, we report frequencies and trends of various designs, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each, identify exemplar studies, and provide recommendations for designing future organizational socialization research. Additionally, based on our review, we introduce an important distinction in newcomer samples: <i>homogeneous-tenure</i> and <i>heterogeneous-tenure</i>. Furthermore, implications of this review for the design of process-oriented research studies in organizational behavior are discussed.</p>

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Organizational socialization as a process: a methodological review and guidelines for future research

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月10日

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  • Johnna Capitano,
  • Vipanchi Mishra,
  • Grace Liu

摘要

Several theories in the field of organizational behavior are focused on the study of “processes” that help explain employee behavior and organizational outcomes. Researchers have made great strides in the study of these process-oriented phenomena. However, scholars have noted issues in survey research design—first, the absence of consideration given to the temporal perspective, which is critical to the study of process changes over time, and second, unclear boundaries defining the population of interest. To bridge this gap, we conducted a methodological review of the organizational socialization literature (a process-oriented phenomenon). Specifically, we focus on several of the most important decisions researchers face in designing socialization studies: the characteristics of the newcomers being surveyed, the sources of data, and most importantly, the timing of data collection. In a review of 274 newcomer studies, we report frequencies and trends of various designs, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each, identify exemplar studies, and provide recommendations for designing future organizational socialization research. Additionally, based on our review, we introduce an important distinction in newcomer samples: homogeneous-tenure and heterogeneous-tenure. Furthermore, implications of this review for the design of process-oriented research studies in organizational behavior are discussed.