"Yes, We're Fishing--In Rough Waters for Hard-to-Find Fish"--Response

Thompson et al.'s response to "Gone Fishing" provides many reasons for why those in I-O haven't been studying the marginalized groups that Ruggs et al. discussed. These reasons include difficulty finding these people to study them, difficulties meeting sample size requirements, issues of power and further marginalization, problems with getting qualitative studies published, etc.  Really, the authors seem to be providing excuses for the lack of research that Ruggs et al. discovered.

I find some problems with this response, though.  For example, the authors state "it is estimated that a mere 4% to 17% of the workforce is lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" (61).  Also, "only about one in five workers in the United States is disabled" (61).  Umm, hello: 1 in 5 is actually A LOT!  Many businesses have hundreds if not thousands of workers--there are plenty of people that can be interviewed if people take the time to look.

I do agree with some of Thompson et al's assertions, though, specifically their observation that issues of power come into play in this research (62).  They also observe that we have to be aware of burn out if many people start studying these marginalized populations (64).  This reminds me of how in the academy, in an effort to look more diverse, departments will ask the one faculty member of color or one woman to serve on a lot of committees--this is actually a problem because of burn out.  I appreciate that the authors bring this up.

Also, the authors suggest that it's best to study these populations through qualitative research.  However, there can then be an issue with masking participant identities (62-63).  And there can also be an issue with finding a publisher.  The authors write, "Qualitative studies are in a sense a 'marginalized group' and less likely to be published in top journals" (63).  While I think it's kind of disrespectful to use marginalized group in this way considering the theme of the issue, I do think it's useful to acknowledge that an effective research strategy will be less likely to be published.

So, does this suggest a call to the editors, like the Ruggs article?

Again, a very interesting piece--I'm glad to see a critique of the original article to help me think about the issue in a more complex way.

Thompson, Rebecca et al. "Yes, We're Fishing--In Rough Waters for Hard-To-Find Fish." Industrial and Organizational Psychology 6 (2013): 61-65. Web.