This document discusses various methodologies used in qualitative research, including action research, ethnography, and reflexivity. It provides an overview of key aspects of these methodologies such as their basic steps, processes of reflection and action, aims to understand perspectives from within a setting, and use of thick description. The document also discusses data collection techniques, issues of validity, and how reflexivity requires acknowledging the interactions and perceptions that shape research relationships.

1. Action Research, Ethnography,
Work, Organisation, Life

3. Methodology
APPROACH STYLE TECHNIQUE PRINCIPLES
QUANTITATIVE
QUALITATIVE
Experimental
Style
Survey
Case Study
Ethnographic
Style
Action Research
Measurement
Questionnaire
Secondary
Sources
Observation
Interview
Validity
Reliability
Generalisability
Triangulation
Ethical Issues

5. The
basic
steps
of
an
ac/on
research
process
cons/tute
an
ac/on
plan:
• review
our
current
prac/ce,
• iden/fy
an
aspect
that
we
want
to
inves/gate,
• imagine
a
way
forward,
• try
it
out,
• take
stock
of
what
happens.
• modify
what
we
are
doing
in
the
light
of
what
we
have
found,
and
con/nue
working
in
this
new
way
(try
another
op/on
if
the
new
way
of
working
is
not
right),
• monitor
what
we
do,
• review
and
evaluate
the
modified
ac/on,
and
so
on
…
Two
processes
are
at
work:
your
systema/c
ac/ons
as
you
work
your
way
through
these
steps,
and
your
learning.
Your
ac/ons
embody
your
learning,
and
your
learning
is
informed
by
your
reflec/ons
on
your
ac/ons.
Therefore,
when
you
come
to
write
your
report
or
make
your
research
public
in
other
ways,
you
should
aim
to
show
not
only
the
ac/ons
of
your
research,
but
also
the
learning
involved.
(McNiff,
Lomax
and
Whitehead,
1996)

6. people
reflect
and
improve
(or
develop)
their
own
work
and
their
own
situa/ons
by
/ghtly
integra/ng
their
reflec/on
and
ac/on;
people
make
their
experience
public
not
only
to
other
par/cipants
but
also
to
other
persons
interested
in
and
concerned
about
the
work
and
the
situa/on
(i.e.
their
(public)
theories
and
prac/ces
of
the
work
and
the
situa/on);
data
gathering
by
par/cipants
themselves
(or
with
the
help
of
others)
in
rela/on
to
their
own
ques/ons;
par/cipa/on
(in
problem
posing
and
in
answering
ques/ons)
in
decision
making;
power
sharing
and
the
rela/ve
suspension
of
hierarchical
ways
of
working
towards
industrial
democracy;
collabora/on
among
members
of
the
group
as
a
“cri/cal
community”;
self-­‐reflec/on,
self-­‐evalua/on
and
self-­‐management
by
autonomous
and
responsible
persons
and
groups;
progressive
(and
public)
learning
by
doing
and
making
mistakes
in
a
“self-­‐reflec/ve
spiral”
of
planning,
ac/ng,
observing,
reflec/ng,
replanning,
etc;
reflec/on
which
supports
the
idea
of
the
“(self-­‐)reflec/ve
prac//oner”;
Gerald
Vinten,
(1994),"Par/cipant
Observa/on:
A
Model
for
Organiza/onal
Inves/ga/on?",
Journal
of
Managerial
Psychology,
Vol.
9
Iss:
2
pp.
30
-­‐
38

7. Reflexivity
is
a
social
scien0fic
variety
of
self-­‐consciousness.
It
means
that
the
researcher
recognizes
and
glories
in
the
endless
cycle
of
interac0ons
and
percep0ons
which
characterize
rela0onships
with
other
human
beings.
Research
is
a
series
of
interac0ons,
and
good
research
is
highly
aAuned
to
the
interrela0onship
of
the
inves0gator
with
the
respondents…
…As
long
as
qualita0ve
researchers
are
reflexive,
making
all
their
processes
explicit,
then
issues
of
reliability
and
validity
are
served.
(Delamont,
2002)

8. Bracke0ng
Epoché,
or
'bracke0ng'
(Ashworth,
1999;
Yegdich,
2000;
Moran,
2000)
Predisposi0ons,
predilec0ons,
biases,
prejudices
and
prejudgements
are
set
aside,
and
a
review
is
undertaken
with
new
and
recep-ve
eyes
(Moustakas,
1994).
Not
to
doubt
or
eliminate
everything,
only
the
natural
a4tude,
the
biases
of
everyday
knowledge
as
a
basis
for
truth
and
reality
(Husserl,
1931).
Adop0ng
the
stance
of
a
'stranger'
(Pring,
2000)

9. Objec0ve
Non-­‐par/cipant
‘Robust’
and
valid
Wri`en
words,
units
and
measurements.
Empirical
observa/on
Truth
Reflexive
Visual,
mul/modal,
mixed
media
Ethnography
Situated
Par/cipatory
Storytelling
Metaphor

10. Ethnography
In this way you will want to explore the COMPLEXITY of your work /
organisation with ‘thick description’.
ETHNOGRAPHY = PRINCIPLED EFFORTS TO EXPLORE:
• local meanings from ‘the inside’ – perspectives of the network / setting
• reflexive questioning of assumptions (including of the producer /
researcher)
• blurring / testing boundaries of personal, public, professional spaces
• patterns in practices and categories of thought / discourse
• power structures and complicity in them.

12. Ethnography
of
organisa/ons

14. Media
/
Visual
/
Digital
Ethnography
• Participant observation in the network / setting
• Open-ended, fluid interventions
• Artifacts / texts over words as data
• THICK DESCRIPTION
Potter (2012:49): …knowing how the reflexive project of the self with its anchored
and transient identities gets made & unmade over time in the various spaces online
and how we live with this and function in the new media.

15. Michael
Wesch

17. Themes
4
Project
Key themes from reading / presentation:
Epistemology and ontology, conceptual ‘mapping’ and paradigms
The notion of methodology
Data: coding, classification, grounded theory, typology, the Springer Spaniel analogy
Participation – observing, bracketing, reflecting / reflexivity
Action Research and power / hierarchy + CHANGE
Ethnography and thick description of / in / for the organisation
Participant fieldwork, forms of data, visual / digital / media fieldwork options