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

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION–––––––––– 163We’ve got to show them that we’re solid. If we do that, we’ll have the full weight of the‘T and G’ behind us. So, we want none of this ‘orderly meeting’ stuff. Say what you wantand open your bloody mouths. Raise the roof off. (Quoted in Waddington, 1987: 86)Thanks in no small measure to this preliminary activity, the members voted, virtuallyunanimously, in favour of continuing the strike. This meant that, notwithstanding theirgenuine misgivings about prolonging the dispute, the TGWU’s full-time representatives werepolitically obliged to pledge their organization’s financial and moral support.By joining the brewery workers on strike, I found myself capable of empathizing withmany of their cognitions and emotions. While it was clearly impossible for me to share thefull extent of their material hardship and psychological anxiety, I none the less experienceda wide spectrum of mental states ranging from temporary euphoria to exasperation anddespair. I see no need to apologize about the so-called softness and subjectivity of myapproach; rather I take an immense pride in the ‘thickness’ of my data and analysis (Denzin,1989), maintaining that no other methodology could have given me such an authentic insightinto the strikers’ subjective experience.CONCLUSIONS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––In this chapter I have used my own study of the 1981 Ansells brewery strike to examine someof the main features of participant observation, the principal methodology used in fieldresearch. We have seen how this method of investigation involves the researcher immersinghim- or herself, within a distinctive culture or social setting in order to study at first hand theactions and experiences of its members.The particular skills and abilities required of the participant observer are very different fromthose required in most other forms of psychological research. The majority of conventionalpsychological methodologies emphasize proficiency in sampling techniques, experimentaldesign and statistics. Participant observation, however, places a priority on such personalqualities as an open and inquiring mind, tenacity and determination, and a chameleon-likecapacity to adapt to different types of people and situations. As Van Maanen points out, ‘Thereare no easy or preformulated answers to the dilemmas of fieldwork since one cannot knowwhat one is getting into until one gets into it’ (1982: 138).There is a second reason why the researcher’s personal attributes are likely to be important.I have already indicated that certain of my status characteristics (notably my gender and classlocation) appeared to make it easier for me to gain access and develop an easy rapport withthe strikers. This emphasizes the crucial need for fieldworkers to be adequately reflexive,considering, for example, the various ways that structural variables like age, class and ethnicitycan influence the research process and affect the ‘reality perspectives’ of the observer andrespondents alike (Easterday et al., 1982).When conducting my Ansells research in 1981, I tried to delude myself and others intobelieving that I was capable of remaining like a fly on the wall: unaffected by emotions, andhaving little or no impact on the people I was observing. Similarly, when writing up myresearch I carefully avoided any significant discussion of my personal feelings and loyalties,fearing that this might provoke charges of subjectivity and emotionality and detract from theperceived validity of my analysis. Now I have acquired the confidence to concede that, whilst