Conducting Actionable Research in
Atypical, High Stakes Teams
Small sample sizes, lack of criterion data, and gaining access to analog environments. The novelty and complexity of researching operational populations presents methodological challenges. Our research with astronaut crews and deployed Army teams revealed inadequate methods for researching these “extreme teams” (i.e., high-consequence teams that operate in atypical contexts). We are constantly working on novel approaches for conducting research.
In our 2018 article, we forwarded an actionable approach to researching extreme teams (Bell, Fisher, Brown, & Mann, 2018). You can find it under publications. This mixed method approach better integrates context into the research process and accounts for the small sample sizes often encountered in extreme team research. Although the approach was designed with extreme teams in mind, the methodology can also be applied to researching traditional teams.
We recently completed a book chapter--a researcher's guide to Conducting Research in Analog Environments. You can find this under publications as well.