Broadening replication standards for vignette studies: Introducing contextually appropriate replications

Vignette studies present specific challenges for replications, yet vignettes are a popular choice for replication studies in leadership. In our review of eight vignette-based leadership publications, only two were able to fully replicate the original study's findings. We suggest that part of the failure to replicate the results of vignette studies may be due to a misalignment between the vignettes and social reality at the time of data collection. This paper highlights the challenges vignettes present due to societal progression and includes recommendations regarding potential methodological artifacts including the appropriateness of the sample, vignette content, and modality. We first discuss the general challenges with replicating vignette study results, drawing from published replications in the area of leadership, including our personal experience while advancing and publishing two separate replication studies of seminal vignette studies. We introduce the concept of contextually appropriate replication as an additional replication approach, which takes into consideration sample appropriateness, content appropriateness, and modality appropriateness, and clarify opportunities for researchers who choose to pursue replicating vignette studies.