How abduction can help produce timelier technology research

Abstract

The long time lag in I-O psychology technology research observed by White et al (2022) is in stark contrast to how other scientific fields progress with their research, such as in medicine and the biosciences, which especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, have produced life impacting research with an unexpected speed. There is a lot to be learned from approaches in these disciplines, including more systematic collaboration across institutions and research groups, sharing data and ideas. Beyond consideration of these practical strategies, however, I suggest that it is imperative to review our research process in I-O psychology and specifically the interplay of method and theory, if we want to produce timelier technology research.