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

–––––––––––––– CRITICAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS IN ORGANIZATIONS –––––––––– 181While critical research uses postmodern tools of deconstruction to examine the ways in whichlanguage positions people, critical researchers reject postmodernist relativism (Parker, 1999).Critical researchers argue that there are real, identifiable differences in power between groupsand that power differences influence what is taken for granted as true and right in ways thatoften oppress the less powerful. Kincheloe and McLaren’s points can be summarized as aconcern with context and ideology, language and power. Underlying these is a concern withreflexivity: as researchers are inevitably ideologically positioned they should acknowledge theirrole in the research and responsibility for its impact. There is a concern with ethicalresponsibility, both for the research process and for the social impact of research findings.Context and ideologySocial and power relations influence thought and knowledge so it is impossible to achieveunderstanding without examining the context in which any action takes place. As there is nosuch thing as a neutral or value free position, in order to carry out critical research we mustmake our taken for granted assumptions explicit and see how they operate to legitimize powerimbalances (Alvesson and Deetz, 2000).LanguageWords are not fixed in their meaning and the ways in which they are used will have an impacton our understanding of the world. This makes the interrogation of language central to manycritical approaches, especially critical discourse analysis (see Dick, Chapter 17, this volume).Critical analysis demands a sensitivity to different readings of texts, to the contested nature ofmeaning and to the impact of these readings on different groups (for example, Mumby, 1993;Parker, 1992).PowerPower is fundamental to critical analysis, and can be the thorniest issue. Postmodernismsupplies the tools to dismantle established meanings, and to introduce voices previouslyunheard, but is uneasy with simple realist claims about power. Conversely, critical theoristsargue that privileged groups can be identified. They draw links between power, knowledgeand language claiming that the most powerful are most likely to be heard and that theirinterpretation of reality is more likely to be accepted. Fundamental to this link between powerand language is the notion of voice. The powerful have voice: they are more likely to speak,to be heard and to be acknowledged.ReflexivityCrucial to the acknowledgement of context is the recognition of the researchers’ own positionand a critique of the research process itself. Since it is not possible to be neutral, it is importantto be open about our ideological positions. Researchers are privileged. We are responsible forthe impact of our work and we should not lose sight of our place in the social context inwhich the research takes place. Reflexivity involves both an openness and honesty about ourown position, and serious reflection on our responsibility as researchers.