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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Revealing the hidden performances of social work practice
T2 - The ethnographic process of gaining access, getting into place and impression management.
AU - Leigh, Jadwiga
AU - Disney, Tom
AU - Warwick , Lisa
AU - Ferguson, Harry
AU - Liz, Beddoe
AU - Singh Cooner, Tarsem
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - Whilst the empirical process of research highlights substantive findings, understanding the methodological approach in which access is gained and sustained on field sites is also an integral part of the data. Gaining access in ethnographic studies, in particular, is a complex task which requires researchers to continually negotiate systems and processes in order that they may reflect on the socially embedded practices of their chosen fields. However once the researchers are accepted, the ethnographer then has to be aware of the effect their presence has on the field and that access is continual process of negotiation and contestation. Based on a longitudinal study which conducted a 15-month ethnography in two social work organizations, this article will explore the dilemmas various members of a research team experienced when trying to blend into the different sites. And then, once having achieved their desired position, the challenges they encountered when they realized their presence was affecting the performances of their participants. We conclude by discussing the importance of reflexivity, power and ethics. Ethnographic research may be a more natural way for researchers to collect data but it is also a method which positions researchers in situations where they can easily influence encounters and, in effect, become part of the findings as well.
AB - Whilst the empirical process of research highlights substantive findings, understanding the methodological approach in which access is gained and sustained on field sites is also an integral part of the data. Gaining access in ethnographic studies, in particular, is a complex task which requires researchers to continually negotiate systems and processes in order that they may reflect on the socially embedded practices of their chosen fields. However once the researchers are accepted, the ethnographer then has to be aware of the effect their presence has on the field and that access is continual process of negotiation and contestation. Based on a longitudinal study which conducted a 15-month ethnography in two social work organizations, this article will explore the dilemmas various members of a research team experienced when trying to blend into the different sites. And then, once having achieved their desired position, the challenges they encountered when they realized their presence was affecting the performances of their participants. We conclude by discussing the importance of reflexivity, power and ethics. Ethnographic research may be a more natural way for researchers to collect data but it is also a method which positions researchers in situations where they can easily influence encounters and, in effect, become part of the findings as well.
KW - Ethnography;
KW - Gaining access;
KW - Performativity;
KW - Dramaturgy;
KW - emotional labour
U2 - 10.1177/1473325020929067
DO - 10.1177/1473325020929067
M3 - Journal article
VL - 20
SP - 1078
EP - 1095
JO - Qualitative Social Work
JF - Qualitative Social Work
SN - 1473-3250
IS - 4
ER -