A report written by Stefanie Buechner
A new workshop series for the qualitative research on organizations has started this year. Stefanie Buechner and Professor Dr. Maja Apelt host this unique platform for a lively exchange about new approaches and challenges for qualitative research. The series addresses the specific needs of graduates and post-docs by fostering exchange, networking and methodological qualification.
We were honored to start our course of workshops with Professor Dr. Werner Vogd from the University Witten/Herdecke who introduced the “Analysis of contextures”. Following this methodological approach, researchers of organizational science can differentiate and relate multiple references in their data to different functional contexts. Following the interactive approach of the workshop series, we explored the principles and heuristic value of “hands on” approaches, using interview data from a current research project of one of our participants. The second workshop took us on a road trip to ethnographic research strategies. Dr. Katja Hericks (University of Potsdam) gave us not only an excellent overview of the theoretical and practical challenges of participatory observation, she also provided authentic material for experimenting with strategies rephrasing, sorting and coding that are fundamental to the analysis of ethnographic field notes.
The series could be held thanks to the generous support of WIPCAD Research Training Group.
We are glad to offer three additional workshops starting in October which will give insights into the variety of approaches for researching organizations. Taking up the line of ethnography, Professor Dr. Thomas Scheffer from the Goethe University Frankfurt/Main will chair a workshop about “Trans-Sequential Analysis (TSA)”, an approach which combines ethnography and discourse analysis. Its object-centered research design unfolds complex cases, political positions, or public debates. The workshop introduces the methods, techniques, and obstacles of TSA from a practitioners' perspective and is held in English. The following workshop in November is held by Professor Dr. Jana Costas from the European University Viadrina. It offers a great opportunity to junior scientists with a commitment to qualitative research as an unpredictable process, riddled with surprises, uncertainties and doubts who are aiming to strengthen their international publication profile. It gives insights to productive ways of dealing with this “lively practice” in one’s research career. Starting with a discussion of the relevant stages of the research process, Jana Costas will take a look at a selection of her real-time research projects and papers published in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Organization Studies. The workshop will be held in English. The third workshop is still being planned but will focus on the challenges of exploring the construction and impact of digital work and digital interfaces: What changes in organizations with e-learning environments or digital case records? And how can we explore those architects of digitalization, who - literally speaking - sit on a screen and develop algorithms? We are currently in contact with different referees for this third workshop that will be held in German.
Program for the workshop “Qualitative Organisationsforschung” in autumn 2015.