From “being there” to “being […] where?”: relocating ethnography

Abstract

Purpose: Expands recent discussions of research practice in organizational ethnography through engaging in a reflexive examination of the ethnographer's situated identity work across different research spaces: academic, personal and the research site itself.Approach: Examines concerns with the traditional notion of 'being there' as it applies to ethnography in contemporary organization studies and, through a confessional account exploring my own experiences as a PhD student conducting ethnography, considers 'being ... where' using the analytic framework of situated identity work.Findings: Identifies both opportunities and challenges for organizational ethnographers facing the question of 'being ... where?' through highlighting the situated nature of researchers' identity work in, across and between different (material and virtual) research spaces.Practical implications: Provides researchers with prompts to examine their own situated identity work, which may prove particularly useful for novice researchers and their supervisors, while also identifying the potential for incorporating these ideas within organizational ethnography more broadly.Value: Offers situated identity work as a means to provide renewed analytic vigour to the confessional genre whilst highlighting new opportunities for reflexive and critical ethnographic research practice.

Credibility lost: attempting to reclaim an expert identity in an HR professional context

“…Dismissing a witnessing ideal (Van Maanen, ), we acknowledge the disrupted and incomplete nature of fieldwork (Pritchard, ), and indeed the resulting analysis. As is typical (Hammersley and Atkinson, ), fieldwork was both planned and opportunistic, involving participating in as many aspects of the T&D teams’ day‐to‐day practice as possible.…”

“…Our observations were part of a larger study of this HR department (Pritchard, ; Pritchard and Symon, ) conducted with an interpretative ethnographic orientation (Yanow et al ., ). Ethnography has long been used to explore local understandings of expertise (Pritchard, ), although is less common in studies of identity work (McInnes and Corlett, ). Thus, we further address calls for examination of everyday work within identity studies (Down and Reveley, ; McInnes and Corlett, ).…”

Autopilot? A reflexive review of the piloting process in qualitative e‐research

“…While our Tolkien (1954) references might seem indulgent (and we do not seek to claim the identity of a hero on an epic quest for ourselves), more broadly the journey metaphor is frequently applied to qualitative research with Boyatzis (1998, p. 164), amongst others, describing qualitative research as a "process of discovery". We therefore suggest it is important to consider that a pilot may offer the opportunity of reflexively mapping (Pritchard, 2011) the unknown prior to reaching a point of no return.…”

Conducting a pilot study: case study of a novice researcher

“…In addition a pilot can be used to self-assess readiness, ability, and commitment as a researcher (Lancaster et al, 2004;Beebe, 2007). In this sense, a pilot study can be used to support researchers (Kilanowski, 2006) and enhance the credibility of a study (Padgett, 2008). Moreover, the use of a pilot study may allow the researcher to uncover ethical and practical issues that may hamper the main project (Sampson, 2004;Kelly, 2007).…”

“…This provides the researcher with essential information before a more lengthy and costly study is attempted (Leon et al, 2011). Despite the significance and usefulness of pilot studies, the availability of literature discussing pilot work in qualitative studies is limited (Beebe, 2007;Padgett, 2008) and its relevance and appropriateness has been somewhat disputed. Holloway (2008) suggested that in qualitative research, pilot studies are not essential because the research has the flexibility for the researcher to learn on the job.…”