Abstract
Descriptions of methodology and the content of research that treats them as separate endeavourscan hide the work done in how researchers come to make sense of and understand what they aredoing together. Dan Schendel, the joint founder of Strategic Management Review, expressed hisconcern thus: ‘The separation of content and method is artificial, and that processes must be studiedalongside or coincidentally with content (Schendel, 1992).’ This can be uncomfortable yet buildingmore sustainable research requires us to do just that, to look at our own practice, to be aware thatwe are both the subjects and objects of our own work (Empson, 2012) and how we shift ourapproaches in the face of experience and carry on. These are insights that can both shine a light onour methods as well as the content of our research.This is an exploratory autoethnographic case study (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2011) of our work together asan interdisciplinary research team – the team being us: R, J and A as we reflect on thedevelopment of an academic paper on the topic of leadership. We pay attention to the quality ofdifference, the challenge that occurs in conversation and how we sense and react. Here we seek todraw out implications for the researchers’ identities in what the ethnographer Melvin Pollnerdescribed as ‘an insecurity regarding the basic assumptions, discourse and practices used indescribing reality’ (Pollner, 1991) and its implication for the research process. In other wordspaying attention to our reflexive engagement with our different practices (Cunliffe, 2004; Johnsonand Duberley, 2003; Warwick and Board, 2013). We seek to notice and explore striking moments(Shotter, 2005) and unsettlement we experienced during the progression of the paper. We willtrack our sensemaking as we develop the paper, submit it to review and work through theachievements and disappointments. In doing so we hope to make a contribution to the discussionon the role of creative unsettlement in working across professional and institutional boundaries inresearch and the implications for sustainable research practices
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | BAM2016 Conference Proceedings |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Event | BAM2016: Thriving in Turbulent Times - Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom Duration: 6 Sep 2016 → 8 Sep 2016 https://www.bam.ac.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=3013 |
Conference
Conference | BAM2016 |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
City | Newcastle |
Period | 6/09/16 → 8/09/16 |
Internet address |