Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Conference contribution/Paper › peer-review
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Conference contribution/Paper › peer-review
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TY - GEN
T1 - Problematizing the field
T2 - 35th International Conference on Information Systems: Building a Better World Through Information Systems, ICIS 2014
AU - Chughtai, Hameed
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The purpose of this paper is to problematize the idea of the ethnographic field that is usually taken for granted in Information Systems (IS) field research. The field is the touchstone of reality which the ethnographer encounters yet it is often thought of something fixed and merely 'out there' where the ethnographer goes to conduct the research. However, recent advances in anthropological scholarship disclose that the field might be in constant flux. In this paper, thus, we focus on just one aspect of the changing field, that of spatial volatility. We report some spatial issues during our eight months of ethnographic fieldwork among young information technology professionals in a large scale technology organization. We suggest that the hermeneutic of volatility can provide access to significant moments during fieldwork by taking spatial aspects into account. The study aims to contribute toward adding conceptual tools in the ethnographic toolkit for IS researchers.
AB - The purpose of this paper is to problematize the idea of the ethnographic field that is usually taken for granted in Information Systems (IS) field research. The field is the touchstone of reality which the ethnographer encounters yet it is often thought of something fixed and merely 'out there' where the ethnographer goes to conduct the research. However, recent advances in anthropological scholarship disclose that the field might be in constant flux. In this paper, thus, we focus on just one aspect of the changing field, that of spatial volatility. We report some spatial issues during our eight months of ethnographic fieldwork among young information technology professionals in a large scale technology organization. We suggest that the hermeneutic of volatility can provide access to significant moments during fieldwork by taking spatial aspects into account. The study aims to contribute toward adding conceptual tools in the ethnographic toolkit for IS researchers.
KW - Ethnographic theorizing
KW - Hermeneutics
KW - Qualitative research methods
KW - Spatiality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107715541&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution/Paper
AN - SCOPUS:85107715541
SN - 9781634396943
BT - 35th International Conference on Information Systems "Building a Better World Through Information Systems", ICIS 2014
PB - Association for Information Systems
Y2 - 14 December 2014 through 17 December 2014
ER -