essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

118 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––favoured by computer-experts. These yielded a further 27 stories bringing the total databaseof stories to 404.The interviewsThe interviews were loosely structured, seeking to evoke stories the respondents had recentlyheard, or memories of critical events which were then presented as stories. Following anexplanation of the research purpose (which included an explanation of the idea that throughstories we often express our real feelings), the researchers asked a small number of questions:1 ‘Do you see computers as your friends or as your enemies at the workplace?’2 ‘Can you recall an incident which was widely discussed between yourself and yourcolleagues?’3 ‘Are there any other incidents, not necessarily involving computers that were widelydiscussed?’4 ‘Can you recall an incident that made you laugh/concerned/sad/proud, etc.?’5 ‘Can you recall any practical jokes?’Respondents were also asked to try and describe their organization in terms of one of a listof metaphors (which included family, well-oiled or creaky machine, castle under siege,conveyor belt, dinosaur, football team and so on.) and then asked to think of a critical incidentwhich supported their preferred metaphor. The list of metaphors had been piloted withundergraduates being debriefed on their industrial placements and provided a light-heartedtopic of conversation between the researchers and the respondents which naturally led to somestories. 2 All but a handful of interviews were recorded. During the interviews, brief handwrittennotes were also kept to facilitate later transcriptions and analysis.Table 10.1Completed cardbox plus record432 Authors: Emma Roberts (pseudonym)Org: Utility, Division 2Type: comic, black humourTheme: Lorry killed cat: driver then kills wrong catText: There was a chap driving a lorry and he hit a cat so he got out of the lorry and saw this cat on the side of theroad and thought I’d better finish it off . . . smashed it over the head, got back in and drove off. A lady or chap phonethe police and said I’ve just seen a lorry driver get out and kill my cat. So they chased after the van and found it andasked the driver whether he had killed the cat so he said he had ran over it and couldn’t leave it like that . . . it’s cruelso I finished it off.So they said can we examine your van and he said yes by all means so they examined the van and found a deadcat under the wheel arch. So it was the wrong cat [he had killed] sleeping at the side of the road.Emotions: amusement, mild disparagementMoral:Similar stories 842, 917, 923Characters: cat, lady, lorry driver, police Quality: 10Key words: cat, lorry, mistake, killed, black humour