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Much of organizational research is inspired by the real-life experiences of scholars. Yet pervading our field and much of social science is a stigma against engaging in personally relevant research, defined as research that addresses questions in which scholars are personally invested or involves a population to which they belong or in which they hold a personal interest. Scholars are routinely cautioned about pursuing such projects, and those who choose to do so are often advised to conceal or downplay personal connections in their published work. This hesitation is grounded in assumptions that scholars cannot maintain objectivity while addressing issues of personal significance, so the quality of such work is suspect. On the contrary, this symposium argues that, when navigated effectively, personal connections to one’s research reinforce its trustworthiness and may enhance rather than detract from its quality and impact. In this symposium six diverse research articles offer valuable insights developed from authors’ experience of conducting personally relevant research. We discuss the challenges, opportunities, implications, and importance of personally relevant research for scholars, reviewers, and society.
Jones et al. (Tue,) studied this question.