LABORATORY OF ETHNOGRAPHY

Ethnography, in general, is the study of a culture, its people, its practices, its beliefs, from the point of view of the subjects being studied. Ethnographic approaches take the researcher's communication with the field and its members as an explicit part of knowledge, instead of deeming it an intervening variable. The subjectivity of the researcher and of those being studied becomes part of the research process.
With a long tradition in the fields of anthropology and sociology, ethnographic approaches have only more recently entered the field of management studies. Ethnography may provide in-depth and up-close understandings of the everyday experiences of people working in organizations, their practices and underlying beliefs, with potential contributions to our theories and knowledge of management.
The purpose of this lab is to reflect on the specificities of doing ethnographic research in organizational settings, its relevance, its shortcomings, and its viability.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To provide doctoral students with a basic but solid understanding of ethnographic approaches, especially in organizational settings.
• To equip doctoral students with sufficient information to appreciate how ethnographic research is undertaken.
• To enable prospective researchers to consider the appropriateness of ethnography to their chosen field of investigation.

The lab is organically integrated with the Qualitative Research Methods course, as a supplement for deepening students' knowledge and experience of qualitative research techniques.

The lab is organized in three sessions and has a strong practical stance: after setting the stage and background to ethnography in session 1, the emphasis will move to how to do ethnographic fieldwork in organizational settings (session 2), and how to write (and publish) out of it (session 3).

Session 1 (2h) – INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOGRAPHY IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
This session will introduce the tradition of ethnographic research both in general and in management studies. Contents:
• Ethnography: what do we mean by it?
• Historical sketch: roots and trajectory of ethnographic research
• The role of ethnography in management studies

Session 2 (4h) – DOING ETHNOGRAPHY
This session will address the practicalities of conducting fieldwork. Contents:
• Entering the field
• Types of observations
• How to observe, what to observe
• How to take and organize fieldnotes

Session 3 (4h) – WRITING ETHNOGRAPHY
What can you do once you are back from the field? This session will address the challenges of turning messy ethnographic data into sound, scientific work (especially for management journals). Contents:
• Strategies to analyse fieldnotes
• Strategies to present observational data
• How to assess the quality of ethnographic research

Atkinson, P., & Hammersley, M. (1994). Ethnography and participant observation. Handbook of qualitative research, 1(23), 248-261.
Watson, T. J. (2011). Ethnography, reality, and truth: The vital need for studies of ‘how things work’ in organizations and management. Journal of Management Studies, 48(1), 202-217.
Van Maanen, J. (2011). Ethnography as work: Some rules of engagement. Journal of Management Studies, 48(1), 218-234.
Barley, S. R. (1990). Images of imaging: Notes on doing longitudinal field work. Organization science, 1(3), 220-247.
Jarzabkowski, P., Bednarek, R., & Lê, J. K. (2014). Producing persuasive findings: Demystifying ethnographic textwork in strategy and organization research. Strategic Organization, 12(4), 274-287.
Pratt, M. G. (2009). From the editors: For the lack of a boilerplate: Tips on writing up (and reviewing) qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal, 52(5), 856-862.

Doctoral students will be evaluated on the basis of the assignments during the course and their constructive participation in class.
The exam will coincide with the Qualitative Research Methods one: doctoral students will have to run a small piece of qualitative research in groups, possibly including an ethnographic approach, and will be evaluated on the basis of the production of a report (WRITTEN PART) and in class presentation of their qualitative research experience (research question, research design, data collection, analysis, and emerging findings) (ORAL).

• Prior to each session: Reading of assigned material (see pre-reading list for every session)
• During each session: Lectures and class discussions based on the pre-readings; doctoral students are expected to take active participation and comment on the readings.
• Home assignments and/or in-class assignments (see programme)
• Sharing of previous experience of professors themselves in their own research work to enrich the discussion and learning.

Inglese

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