PurposeThe research process is commonly viewed as a succession of linear, structured and planned practices that exclude informal and unplanned practices, engaging with the unexpected or the uncertain. The authors’ aim is to explore this aspect of researching in connection with the narratives of researchers as they oscillate between past and present, theory and empiricism.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first draw on the concept of “bricolage” to validate informal research practices as researchers seek to lend “thickness” to their research. To deal with the apparent “messiness” of research narratives, they apply the concepts of kairotic time and action nets. Kairotic times are key moments in research narratives when actions, under tension, interconnect to form action nets, which, in turn, generate meaning or knowledge.FindingsThe authors analyse two research episodes. The first recounts how personal experiences and contingencies influence a researcher's choice of research objects and his associated theoretical reflections. The second highlights how some concrete difficulties in choosing a field and gaining access trigger a set of actions that force a researcher to review his initial choices and to reposition himself methodologically. Discussing the concept of kairotic time, the authors show the importance of context and timing and demonstrate how stories build around a gravitational point. From there, they discuss how the concept of action nets, breaking linearity, helps to envision research practice not as a sequence, but as networks of actions that produce scientific outcomes.Originality/valueThis paper provides an operational method of using kairotic time and action nets to account for, and acknowledge, the messiness in research narratives.
Cette recherche menée dans l'espace francophone commun à la Belgique, à la France et au Canada analyse les dynamiques de professionnalisation et identifie les discours et actions performatives qui participent à construire une « figure » du communicateur professionnel. L'analyse inductive d'entrevues auprès de dix-sept représentants actuels et passés de neuf associations professionnelles circonscrit trois formes que prend la figure du professionnel en communication : les valeurs (éthos), les actions (praxis) et les objets (artéfacts). La mise en relation des éléments qui composent ces formes permet d'identifier trois tensions : 1) l'aspiration à une professionnalisation déontique et stratégique pas toujours réalisée; 2) l'idéal véhiculé par les associations et une constante polarisation vers la tâche des professionnels; 3) un apparent débalancement entre les artéfacts normatifs et leur réelle performativité dans la praxis et dans l'éthos. Enfin, même si elle n'offre pas d'explication à ces tensions, cette recherche propose un outil méthodologique qui pourrait servir d'outil d'aide à la mise en place d'une politique professionnelle associative.
Études de communication langages, information, médiations 40 | 2013 Epistémologies, théories et pratiques professionnelles en communication des organisations Le statut du rapport dans l'audit organisationnel : de sa légitimation par l'écriture. à son action comme agent non humain
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