4. Interpretation of data
Beynon (1975) for five years studied the Ford Motor Company’s
Halewood assembly plant in Liverpool to describe the experience of
people who worked on the assembly lines and the way they made
sense of industrial politics; the process whereby people became
shop stewards; the way they understood the job and the kinds of
pressures they experienced.
Modern ethnographies
Kunda’s (1992) study of a high-technology
company in Silicon Valley, USA. Engineering-
culture
Watson’s (1994) account of managerial identity
in a UK-based telecommunications firm.
Casey’s (1995) exploration of workers in an
American-based multi-national corporation.
Delbridge’s (1998) study of the impact of new
manufacturing techniques on worker
experiences
The covert role in ethnography
Advantages:
Reduces the problem of access
Reduces the problem of reactivity
Disadvantages:
The problem of taking notes
The problem of not being able to use other
methods
Anxiety
Ethical problems
Ongoing difficulties
People will have suspicions about you, an instrument of
top management?
Will you tell the bosses or to colleagues?
They may go along with your research but in fact
sabotage it, engaging in deceptions, misinformation
Pass tests—be non-judgemental when things are said to
you; make sure information given to you does not reach
bosses or peers
Be prepared for changes in circumstances that may
affect your access, such as changes of senior
management
Classifications of
Participant Observer Roles
Gold: Gans:
Total participant
Complete participant
Researcher-
Participant-as-
participant
observer
Total researcher
Observer-as-
participant
Complete observer
What is `Going Native'?
`Going native' refers to a dilemma that
sometimes cause problems to
ethnographers when they lose their sense
of being a researcher
Central features
1) development of theory out of data
2) the approach is iterative, or recursive
► data collection and analysis proceed in tandem, repeatedly referring
back to each other
Tools of Grounded Theory
Theoretical sampling - see Key concept 17.9
Constant comparison
What is theoretical sampling?
According to Glaser and Strauss (1967: 45), theoretical
sampling
`is the process of data collection for generating theory
whereby the analyst jointly collects, codes, and analyzes
his data and decides what data to collect next and
where to find them, in order to develop his theory as it
emerges. The process of data collection is controlled
by the emerging theory.'
Category, Categories
– a concept that has been elaborated so that it is regarded as representing
real-world phenomena
Properties
– attributes or aspects of a category
Hypotheses
– initial hunches about relationships between concepts
Theory
– according to Strauss and Corbin (1998: 22), ‘a set of well-developed
categories . . . that are systematically related through statements of
relationship to form a theoretical framework that explains some relevant
social . . . or other phenomenon’
Knowing when to stop
There is a tendency for ethnographic research to lack a
sense of an obvious end point
In organizational research it is likely that a deadline for
data collection will be negotiated at the outset
The ethnographer may feel that they have simply had
enough
The researcher's categories are thoroughly saturated
Disengagement has to be managed
‘Getting out’, should be handled in such a way as to
leave the door open to the possibility of future research
or fieldwork
The ethnographer's ethical commitments must not be
forgotten