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Recently, there has been an increase in the number and type of studies in the organizational sciences that examine curvilinear relationships. These studies are important because some relationships have context-specific inflection points that alter their magnitude and/or direction. Although some scholars have utilized basic techniques to make meta-analytic inferences about curvilinear effects with the limited information available about them, there is still a tremendous opportunity to advance our knowledge by utilizing rigorous techniques to meta-analytically examine curvilinear effects. In a recent study, we used a novel meta-analytic approach in an effort to comprehensively examine curvilinear relationships between destructive leadership and followers' workplace outcomes. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an actionable guide for conducting curvilinear meta-analyses by describing the meta-analytic techniques we used in our recent study. Our contributions include a detailed guide for conducting curvilinear meta-analyses, the useful context we provide to facilitate its implementation, and our identification of opportunities for scholars to leverage our technique in future studies to generate nuanced knowledge that can advance their fields.

Purpose – Using examples from Australia, Finland and The Netherlands, we describe the sociocultural processes that influence farmers. We outline the styles of farming approach as an explanation of diversity (heterogeneity) and the farming scripts approach as an explanation of conformity (continuity and tradition).

Methodology – This chapter is a theoretical comparison that draws on earlier work of the authors. The research into styles of farming used focus groups and interviews, while the research on farming scripts is based on an analysis of biographies submitted for a national writing competition or gained by narrative interview.

Findings – We argue that there are a number of farming scripts that may well be universal, at least within family farming in western cultures. We found that the concept of styles of farming is a useful heuristic device, but that it was difficult to use in practice to use to classify farmers. We conclude that both style and script are needed to account for the full range of sociocultural influences on farmers.

Practical implications – Our chapter seeks to expand understanding of the social lives of farming families and to increase the realisation that farming is a sociocultural practice. Efforts to change agriculture need to be mindful of this fundamental dimension of farming practice if they are to be successful.

Originality – The analysis we have undertaken is the only theoretical comparison of these approaches.