TY - JOUR

T1 - Strong emotions at work

AU - Whiteman, Gail

AU - Müller, Thaddeus

AU - Johnson, John M.

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the emotional experiences from qualitative research can enrich organization and management studies.Design/methodology/approach– The paper's approach includes a review of the literature in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and feminist studies, in which scholars have argued convincingly for the explicit need to acknowledge and utilize the emotions of researchers as they study social and organizational phenomenon. Also, past research is emotionally re‐written as reflexive examples.Findings– The use of emotions as qualitative researchers can enrich the understanding of organizational and social life by offering new questions, concepts, and theories. At the level of methodology, this leads one to develop and reflect upon an emotional and cognitive orientation of the field.Originality/value– The majority of narratives in organization studies remain sanitized, emotion‐less texts. While a discussion of researcher‐emotion can remain a back‐stage activity between colleagues over dinner, It is believed that much can be gained by a more explicit discussion.

AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the emotional experiences from qualitative research can enrich organization and management studies.Design/methodology/approach– The paper's approach includes a review of the literature in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and feminist studies, in which scholars have argued convincingly for the explicit need to acknowledge and utilize the emotions of researchers as they study social and organizational phenomenon. Also, past research is emotionally re‐written as reflexive examples.Findings– The use of emotions as qualitative researchers can enrich the understanding of organizational and social life by offering new questions, concepts, and theories. At the level of methodology, this leads one to develop and reflect upon an emotional and cognitive orientation of the field.Originality/value– The majority of narratives in organization studies remain sanitized, emotion‐less texts. While a discussion of researcher‐emotion can remain a back‐stage activity between colleagues over dinner, It is believed that much can be gained by a more explicit discussion.

KW - Individual psychology

KW - Qualitative research

KW - Organizations

KW - Research work

KW - Research methods

U2 - 10.1108/17465640910951444

DO - 10.1108/17465640910951444

M3 - Journal article

VL - 4

SP - 46

EP - 61

JO - Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management

JF - Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management

SN - 1746-5648

IS - 1

ER -