Making Exceptions Exceptional: A Cross-Methodological Review and Future Research Agenda

“Exceptions” refers to data obtained from a nontraditional context and/or data that emerge during data analysis that substantially deviate from other data present within a study. Both qualitative and quantitative research acknowledge exceptions; however, approaches for handling and discussing exceptions vary across these two perspectives and are rarely integrated. We provide a two-decade review of exception usages across 930 empirical articles in six leading management journals. Through our review, we identify two types of exceptions: planned and emergent. “Planned exceptions” describes unique data or phenomenon used to motivate a study design. “Emergent exceptions” describes nonconforming data that arise during data analysis. We review on-diagonal and off-diagonal patterns in exception uses across qualitative and quantitative research, pointing to varied ways that exceptions are used to further management theory. Based on insights gleaned from our review, we provide suggestions for researchers in handling exceptions across different phases of the research process: study design, data analysis, and findings presentation.