future research

managerial

The Academy of Management Annals

Increasingly, management researchers are using topic modeling, a new method borrowed&#13;\nfrom computer science, to reveal phenomenon-based constructs and grounded conceptual&#13;\nrelationships in textual data. By conceptualizing topic modeling as the process of rendering&#13;\nconstructs and conceptual relationships from textual data, we demonstrate how this new method&#13;\ncan advance management scholarship without turning topic modeling into a black box of&#13;\ncomplex computer-driven algorithms. We begin by comparing features of topic modeling to&#13;\nrelated techniques (content analysis, grounded theorizing, and natural language processing). We&#13;\nthen walk through the steps of rendering with topic modeling and apply rendering to&#13;\nmanagement articles that draw on topic modeling. Doing so enables us to identify and discuss&#13;\nhow topic modeling has advanced management theory in five areas: detecting novelty and&#13;\nemergence, developing inductive classification systems, understanding online audiences and&#13;\nproducts, analyzing frames and social movements, and understanding cultural dynamics. We&#13;\nconclude with a review of new topic modeling trends and revisit the role of researcher&#13;\ninterpretation in a world of computer-driven textual analysis

Topic Modeling in Management Research: Rendering New Theory from Textual Data