Balancing Breadth and Depth in Qualitative Research: Conceptualizing performativity through multi-sited ethnography

Abstract

While performativity, as a theoretical concept, has gained much purchase in the field of management and organization studies (MOS), there remains a dearth of empirical work operationalizing the idea. In this article, we argue that empirical studies on performativity in organizational settings have been scarce mainly due to two methodological challenges: (1) the problem of breadth, and, (2) the problem of depth. In terms of breadth, to study how a cultural/symbolic construction becomes performative, researchers need to follow threads of meanings and practices that stretch in time and space beyond the scope of what most methodologies afford. In terms of depth, studying performativity requires an in-depth, contextualized understanding of how people live in and through the symbolic world, which few methodologies offer. We posit multi-sited ethnography as a promising methodological approach that has the potential to concomitantly overcome both challenges. Through a vignette of a study that one of the authors conducted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, we illustrate how multi-sited ethnography enables empirical research on performativity in MOS.

Becoming Naturecultural: Rethinking sustainability for a more-than-human world

“…To empirically explore human–Earth power relations in everyday organizational practices, we conducted fieldwork at an organic cotton t-shirt supply chain in Turkey. A multi-sited research design (Marcus, 1995; Prasad & Shadnam, 2023) allowed following the movement of cotton seeds from the farms until becoming a “sustainable t-shirt.” We entered this supply chain through the cutting-and-sewing facility MaviKoy (a pseudonym) located in Turkey’s Aegean region. This is a respected contract manufacturer and supplies only European and United States apparel brands selling sustainable and organic garments.…”

“…Advancing becoming naturecultural conceptually guided us to engage in empirical work at an organic cotton t-shirt supply chain, and trace human-Earth power relations as they are produced in unfolding events and assemblage becomings. We conducted a multi-sited fieldwork (Marcus, 1995;Prasad & Shadnam, 2023) with affective ethnographic methodologies (Fox & Alldred, 2015a, 2015bGherardi, 2019;Knudsen & Stage, 2015) and reformulations of actor-network theory (ANT) (Latour, 2004a(Latour, , 2004b(Latour, , 2005. Working with the data collected, we produce a human "Nature is declining at an unprecedented rate, with nearly 1 million species at risk of extinction because of human activity.…”

Boundary work: a conceptual frame for workplace ethnographies in collaborative settings

“…Most prominently, this includes multi-sited studies of transnational and multi-sited companies and organizations (e.g. Prasad and Shadnam, 2023; Fishberg, 2022; Duijn, 2020; Trouillot, 2003; Garsten, 1994); netnographies of novel virtual technologies that allow remote working and working together (Lemmetty et al ., 2022; Purli, 2007) and network-ethnographies of hybrid and network-based organization of work (Kislov et al. , 2021; Berthod et al ., 2017).…”

“…Most prominently, this includes multi-sited studies of transnational and multi-sited companies and organizations (e.g. Prasad and Shadnam, 2023;Fishberg, 2022;Duijn, 2020;Trouillot, 2003;Garsten, 1994); netnographies of novel virtual technologies that allow remote working and working together (Lemmetty et al, 2022;Purli, 2007) and network-ethnographies of hybrid and network-based organization of work (Kislov et al, 2021;Berthod et al, 2017). Apart from these globalized and technology-driven dispersions of worksites, professional specialization also increasingly requires local coordination and collaboration across sectors, organizations and professions.…”

Balancing Depth and Breadth to Understand Macro Phenomena: Some Advice for Analyzing Global Qualitative Datasets

“…Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.Engaging large-scope phenomena requires innovative and specific qualitative methods (Hoon & Baluch, 2024;Marcus, 1995). In particular, gaining interpretive depth of insight into macro phenomena via large global-dispersed qualitative datasets represents unique challenges (Prasad & Shadnam, 2023). It can be important to seek breadth to comprehend the global nature of a phenomenon.…”