Method in the Madness. Research Stories You Won't Read in Textbooks

Method in the Madness is presented as a companion to researchers investigating the complex world of work. Rather than a 'How to' text on performing research, this book presents a record of experiences. Research so often evolves in the field or the planning stages and a successful researcher need to be aware of serendipitous opportunities as they arise and how to solve problems as they occur. The book comprises an introduction written by the editors followed by thirteen chapters written by different contributors. The introduction draws together the disparate experiences that follow and discusses the ways in which the contributors, all of whom are respected researchers, dealt with and learned from the research experience. In the following chapters, the contributors describe and reflect on the research process, the challenges they met during their research and the lessons learned. The style varies, but includes narratives, anecdotes and descriptions of individuals' experiences as research was designed and carried out and the results generated. Presents twelve chapters of research experiences where the researcher learnt more about performing research whilst 'in the field' than they did from prescriptive texts Represents a fresh and accessible look at research and research methods PART 1 LIVING THE RESEARCH PART 2 ACCESS FOR RESEARCH PART 3 INTERVIEWS AS A METHOD PART 4 PREPARING AND RESPONDING THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT Serendipity and flexibility in social science research: meeting the unexpected Keith Townsend and John Burgess - Introduction - Emerging themes - Book organisation PART 1 LIVING THE RESEARCH There are ways and then there are ways: conducting research in social settings in Japan Kaye Broadbent - Introduction - So how did it all start? - In the beginning ... - Minamoto san's so-betsukai (farewell party) - Shatta- renkyu- - to Kusatsu we will go! - To summarise the experience - Acknowledgements 'On the mop-floor': researching employment relations in the hidden world of commercial cleaning Shaun Ryan - Introduction - Ethnographic approaches to work - Negotiating and securing access - Conducting research on the mop-floor - Life on the mop-floor: ethnographic approaches to understanding work - Conclusions - Acknowledgements Drinking with Dessie: research, mines and life in the Pilbara Bradon Ellem - Prologue - Thinking about the Pilbara: industrial relations, history, geography - Accidental ethnography? - Doing the research - Sites of research - Summing things up - Epilogue - Acknowledgements PART 2 ACCESS FOR RESEARCH Combating information suspicion: Guinness, sports and glassblowing Paul Ryan and Tony Dundon - Introduction - The research project and its methodology - The case-study context: Waterford Wedgwood Crystal - The interview narrative - Conclusion: lessons from our experience What lies beneath: the pleasures, pain and possibilities of focus groups Barbara Pocock, Jane Clarke, Philippa Williams and Ken Bridge - Introduction - The people with whom we have conducted focus groups - Why we like focus groups - The ethics of focus groups - Some ground rules for running focus groups: some lessons - The limitations of focus groups PART 3 INTERVIEWS AS A METHOD Looking through the haze of discontent: smokers as a data source Robin Price and Keith Townsend - Introduction - The ethnographic case study - Smoking in the workplace - hiding your butts - The three case studies - Finding a place for the social outcast - Conclusion Interviewing men: reading more than the transcripts Barbara Pini - Introduction - The context - Methodological overview - Background to the interviews - Listening to interview negotiations - Listening to silences in interviews - Listening to informal interactions - Conclusion Establishing rapport: using quantitative and qualitative methods in tandem Alan Felstead, Nick Jewson, Alison Fuller, Konstantinos Kakavelakis and Lorna Unwin - Introduction - Warming up a cold case - Setting up the next phase - Getting closer to the action - Becoming embedded in the action - Conclusion - Acknowledgements Wrong way, go back! Negotiating access in industry-based research Paula McDonald, Keith Townsend and Jennifer Waterhouse - Introduction - The context - Access as a methodological concern - Internal/external pressures - Differential support - Perceptions of risk - Concerns about research fatigue - Blockages and new opportunities - How access affected research outcomes - Recommendations for facilitating access A sporting chance: workplace ethnographies, ethics protocols and playing by the rules Jennifer Sappey - Introduction - Participant observation in the Queensland fitness industry - An occupational study of academic work - Vested interests and the politics of power - Unforeseen opportunities and serendipity versus science - The time-honoured method of participant observation - Research ethics and the double-bind of the search for 'truth' PART 4 PREPARING AND RESPONDING THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT Sitting on a wall in Northumberland crying: semi-structured interviews Vikki Abusidualghoul, John Goodwin, Nalita James, Al Rainnie, Katharine Venter and Melissa White - Introduction - Getting started - More fear - Online and comparative research - Conclusion Researching train-based working Donald Hislop - Introduction - Context - Aims and empirical details of the study - Issues/challenges related to distributing surveys on trains - Discussion A story about being engaged in research: buzzing bees, small business and Australian unfair dismissal laws Rowena Barrett - Introduction - Small business is the backbone of the economy ... - From observer to participant ... - Journalistic deadlines are quite different to academic ones! - Pitching the story ... - But there was still more evidence to be put forward ... - Ongoing action ... - A conclusion ... Lessons learnt from this madness Jennifer Sappey, Keith Townsend and John Burgess Content: Front matter , Pages i-iii Copyright , Page iv List of contributors , Pages xi-xix Acknowledgements , Page xxi List of acronyms , Pages xxiii-xxiv Foreword , Pages xxv-xxvii , Phil Taylor 1 - Serendipity and flexibility in social science research: meeting the unexpected , Pages 1-14 , Keith Townsend, John Burgess 2 - There are ways and then there are ways: conducting research in social settings in Japan , Pages 17-25 , Kaye Broadbent 3 - ‘On the mop-floor’: researching employment relations in the hidden world of commercial cleaning , Pages 27-38 , Shaun Ryan 4 - Drinking with Dessie: research, mines and life in the Pilbara , Pages 39-50 , Bradon Ellem 5 - Combating information suspicion: Guinness, sports and glassblowing , Pages 53-66 , Paul Ryan, Tony Dundon 6 - What lies beneath: the pleasures, pain and possibilities of focus groups , Pages 67-79 , Barbara Pocock, Jane Clarke, Philippa Williams, Ken Bridge 7 - Looking through the haze of discontent: smokers as a data source , Pages 83-93 , Robin Price, Keith Townsend 8 - Interviewing men: reading more than the transcripts , Pages 95-106 , Barbara Pini 9 - Establishing rapport: using quantitative and qualitative methods in tandem , Pages 107-118 , Alan Felstead, Nick Jewson, Alison Fuller, Konstantinos Kakavelakis, Lorna Unwin 10 - Wrong way, go back! Negotiating access in industry-based research , Pages 119-134 , Paula McDonald, Keith Townsend, Jennifer Waterhouse 11 - A sporting chance: workplace ethnographies, ethics protocols and playing by the rules , Pages 135-147 , Jennifer Sappey 12 - Sitting on a wall in Northumberland crying: semi-structured interviews , Pages 151-163 , Vikki Abusidualghoul, John Goodwin, Nalita James, Al Rainnie, Katharine Venter, Melissa White 13 - Researching train-based working , Pages 165-174 , Donald Hislop 14 - A story about being engaged in research: buzzing bees, small business and Australian unfair dismissal laws , Pages 175-189 , Rowena Barrett 15 - Lessons learnt from this madness , Pages 193-200 , Jennifer Sappey, Keith Townsend, John Burgess References , Pages 201-209 Index , Pages 211-214