“Walking the line”: an at-home ethnography of bureaucracy

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a specific case of at-home ethnography, or insider research: The German Public Employment Service (BA) commissioned its own research institute (Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung)) to evaluate the daily implementation of its core management instruments (target management and controlling). The aim of the paper is to explain the challenges faced by the ethnographers and to reflect on them methodologically.Design/methodology/approachAt-home ethnography/insider research.FindingsIn the paper, it is argued to what extent conducting at-home ethnography, or insider research, is like “Walking the Line” – to paraphrase Johnny Cash. When examining a management instrument that is highly contested on the micropolitical level, the researchers have to navigate their way through different interests with regard to advice and support, and become micropoliticians in their own interest at the same time in order to maintain scientific autonomy. The ethnographers are deeply enmeshed in the micropolitical dynamics of their field, which gives rise to the question of how they can distance themselves in this situation. To this effect, they develop the argument that distancing is not so much about seeing what is familiar in a new light, as is mostly suggested in the literature, than about alienating a familiar research environment in order to avoid a bureaucratically contingent othering. It is shown what constitutes a bureaucratically contingent othering and how it should be met by an othering of the bureaucracy. Conclusions are drawn from this with regard to the advice and support required for the bureaucracy and concerning the methods debate surrounding insider research in general.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the method debate with regard to at-home ethnography, or insider research, and particularly addresses organisational researchers and practitioners facing similar challenges when conducting ethnographic research in their own organisation.

‘This Is the End’? An Ethnographic Study of Management Control and a New Management Initiative

“…Participants were promised anonymity both in relation to other organisation members and in the report to senior management. The insider ethnographer status enabled up-close exploration of the unexpected twists and turns of MES but it also involved tensions in terms of 'walking the line' (Gottwald and Sowa Staples, 2018). In other words, striking a balance when trying to navigate multiple and competing demands and roles in relation to the professional and academic contexts.…”

Tutkija vai sosiaalityöntekijä? Autoetnografinen tarkastelu tutkijasosiaalityöntekijän positioista

“…Se, että käytän käsitettä tutkijasosiaalityöntekijä, tuo eksplisiittisesti esiin toimintaani liittyneen kaksoisroolin: tutkijuuden ja sosiaalityöntekijyyden. Tutkijana ja sosiaalityöntekijänä toimi-miseen liittyy erilaisia tehtäviä, asemia, oikeuksia ja velvollisuuksia (Goffman 1971). Tarkastelen tutkimuksessani näitä kahta roolia ja tuon tietoa niiden yhdistämisestä osallistuen näin keskusteluun sosiaalityöntekijän tutkijana toimimisesta (esim.…”

“…Omat kokemukseni sosiaalityöntekijänä ja sitä myötä syntynyt ymmärrys ja arvostukset vai-kuttivat toimintaani, aineiston keräämiseen ja myös analysointiin (Scourfield 2001, 61-62). Vaikka juuri tämä yhteisö oli minulle lähes vieras, hyödynsin aiempaa kokemustani ja omaksumaani tapaa toimia iäkkäiden yhteisössä (Goffman 1971). Iäkkäiden yhteisöissä toimiminen ja sen tutkiminen oli minulle osittain tutun, arkisen tutkimista (ks.…”

“…Työskentelytavan kaipuu kuvaa osaltaan aiemman työkokemukseni merkitystä. Kun menin uudelle, itselleni vieraalle kentälle, kannoin mukanani aiempia kokemuksiani ja niiden luomaa tapaa työskennellä ja tulkita tilanteita (Goffman 1971). Kyse on myös moraalisen position (oikeuksien ja velvollisuuksien) ja persoonallisen position (aiempien kokemusten) välisestä jännitteestä.…”

Practical applications of naturalistic inquiry in intercultural education

“…(Potter & Shaw, 2018, p. 195) To that effect, the benefits of data-driven approaches to analyze everyday human experience have been recognized in various non-academic contexts. Especially business practitioners, in constant search for profitable solutions to improve internal functionality and effectiveness as well as service and production, increasingly draw on (sometimes simplified) versions of naturalistic inquiry, for example, ethnographic procedures for management or design (e.g., Anderson et al, 2017;Pink et al, 2017; see also Gottwald et al, 2018). This development may be traced back to the observation that a priori assumptions about people's behavior-or their orientations toward and uses of artifacts-divert from what actually happens in the often complex and unpredictable sphere of embedded social action.…”