![]() ![]() Thus, scholars are forced to either mirror previous studies or develop their own procedures, leaving heterogeneous applications that enable contextually tailored approaches but hinder comparability across studies. Applying the SESF is not a method itself, but it is arguably a theory-derived conceptual guide for focusing the methods a researcher does choose on a set of variables that have previous empirical support in shaping commons, institutional development and change, and/or collective action outcome. Although the SESF provides a uniform set of variables, it does not indicate any of the other necessary steps for a robust scientific study. However, this has led to highly heterogeneous applications and challenges in designing a coherent set of data collection and analysis methods across cases.Ī main challenge is that methodology is a general term, which actually refers to a set of stepwise specific procedures which can include study design, conceptualization of variables and indictors for data collection, empirical or secondary data collection, data processing and cleaning, data analysis, as well as data visualization, communication, and sharing. This is to some extent by design, to allow flexibility in how methods are adapted to diverse contexts (McGinnis and Ostrom 2014). Notably, the SESF does not have a methodological guide or a standardized set of procedures to empirically apply it. The social-ecological systems framework (SESF) remains one of the most highly cited and empirically applied conceptual frameworks for diagnosing social-ecological systems (Ostrom, 2007, 2009, McGinnis and Ostrom 2014). These critical reflections are supported by a survey of 22 scholars, each having been a co-author on at least one of the articles reviewed in this study, on the methodological challenges for applying the framework going forward. Our descriptive summary is followed by a critical discussion of how this heterogeneity can lead to ambiguity in the interpretation of findings and hinder synthesis work. A synthesis of trends within each methodological step is provided in detail. ![]() We synthesized the step-by-step methodological decisions made across 51 studies into a methodological guide and decision tree for future applications of the framework. We conducted a systematic review of the literature applying Elinor Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework (SESF), with a focus on studies using quantitative methodologies. ![]()
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