Hardback
Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Identity In and Around Organizations
Usual Suspects and Beyond
9781802207965 Edward Elgar Publishing
This practical yet cutting-edge Handbook includes both established and innovative methods for studying identity in management, organisations, and cognate fields. Incorporating a breadth of narrative, visual, ethnographic and embodied methods, as well as ways for analysing naturally occurring data, this Handbook offers exciting new interdisciplinary perspectives on the study of identity in and around organisations.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This practical yet cutting-edge Handbook includes both established and innovative methods for studying identity in management, organisations, and cognate fields. Incorporating a breadth of narrative, visual, ethnographic and embodied methods, as well as ways for analysing naturally occurring data, this Handbook offers exciting new interdisciplinary perspectives on the study of identity in and around organisations.
Notions of identity have gained much momentum in organisation and management studies over the past 20 years, however, identity scholars tend to rely on a limited set of methods in their research. Looking beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries, the Handbook draws on ideas from management studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the arts. With cutting-edge methods on the various facets and dynamics of identity, it is integral reading for the future progress of reflexive and dialogical social constructions for studying identity.
This refreshing Handbook will be valuable to scholars and students from a variety of disciplines including business and management, psychology and sociology, but with a common interest in studying identity in and around organisations. With consistent practical methodology, consultants, facilitators and management practitioners, who aim to develop identities among individuals, groups, and organisations will also benefit widely from this.
Notions of identity have gained much momentum in organisation and management studies over the past 20 years, however, identity scholars tend to rely on a limited set of methods in their research. Looking beyond narrow disciplinary boundaries, the Handbook draws on ideas from management studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the arts. With cutting-edge methods on the various facets and dynamics of identity, it is integral reading for the future progress of reflexive and dialogical social constructions for studying identity.
This refreshing Handbook will be valuable to scholars and students from a variety of disciplines including business and management, psychology and sociology, but with a common interest in studying identity in and around organisations. With consistent practical methodology, consultants, facilitators and management practitioners, who aim to develop identities among individuals, groups, and organisations will also benefit widely from this.
Critical Acclaim
‘The editors have brought together experienced and early career researchers from the social sciences, arts and humanities creating an excellent compilation of novel and engaging qualitative methods for studying identity in organisations. Chapters cover a range of methods offering new insights and providing sufficient detail to enable application.’
– Mark N.K Saunders, University of Birmingham, UK
‘This Handbook is highly recommended to all identity researchers. Empirically researching identity has traditionally been a swampy challenge. Readers will be inspired and spoilt for choice of intellectually well-grounded and well-guided distinct, creative and appealing approaches to data generation and analysis that have been drawn from across disciplines and are supported by practical illustrations of the method-in-use. The methods discussed facilitate empirical inquiry while at the same time enabling theory building.’
– Kate Black, Northumbria University, the UK
– Mark N.K Saunders, University of Birmingham, UK
‘This Handbook is highly recommended to all identity researchers. Empirically researching identity has traditionally been a swampy challenge. Readers will be inspired and spoilt for choice of intellectually well-grounded and well-guided distinct, creative and appealing approaches to data generation and analysis that have been drawn from across disciplines and are supported by practical illustrations of the method-in-use. The methods discussed facilitate empirical inquiry while at the same time enabling theory building.’
– Kate Black, Northumbria University, the UK
Contributors
Contributors: Miquel Alabernia-Segura, Ann Starbæk Bager, Cheryl K. Baldwin, Rachel M. Barczak, Antoni Barnard, Sarah V. Bentley, Viv Burr, Rosalía Cascón-Pereira, Anne Crafford, Tegan Cruwys, Jenny L. Davis, Rachel E. Davis, Guillem Feixas, William G. Fisher, Ercilia García-Álvarez, Christina Gossayn, Katherine H. Greenaway, Henning Grosse, Alex Haslam, Ryan Higgins, Nigel King, Isidora Kourti, Tony P. Love, Blake Mathias, Angela McGrane, Nick Mmbaga, Elham Moonesirust, Alyssa E. Motter, Johann Mouton, Ulrike Eva Posselt, Stefanie Reissner, Alexandra Samper-Martínez, Anne Smith, Nick Steffens, Mark Stephens, Arien Strasheim, Andrea Whittle, Ingo Winkler
Contents
Contents:
Acknowledgements by the editors xiii
Prologue: studying identities and identity work xiv
1 Introduction to the Handbook of Research Methods for Studying
Identity In and Around Organizations 1
Ingo Winkler, Rosalía Cascón-Pereira and Stefanie Reissner
PART I NARRATIVE METHODS
2 Plot and storyline analysis of personal identity narratives 13
Stefanie Reissner
3 Exploring identity interplay through performative textual analysis 26
Isidora Kourti
4 Organizational small storymaking and change: identity work as coming
into being in narrative story dynamics 40
Ann Starbæk Bager
5 The qualitative survey as research design in exploring organizational identity 56
Anne Crafford and Johann Mouton
PART II VISUAL METHODS
6 Social dream-drawing: a socioanalytic method for studying identity work 71
Antoni Barnard
7 A picture is worth a thousand words: social identity mapping as a way
of visualizing and assessing social group connections 87
Sarah V. Bentley, S. Alexander Haslam, Katherine H. Greenaway, Tegan
Cruwys and Nik Steffens
PART III ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS
8 Netnography: a route to explore identity evolution as online videogames
develop 104
Alexandra Samper-Martínez and Ercilia García-Álvarez
9 Mobile interviewing: harnessing the significance of place in identity research 117
Elham Moonesirust
10 The other: posing questions I am supposed to love –
autoethnographically exploring identities and identity work 130
Henning Grosse
11 Who am I when I am in flow? An introduction to autoethnography as
a method for studying identity 143
Ulrike Eva Posselt
PART IV EMBODIED METHODS
12 Researching individual somatic identity through movement and dance:
body-centred narrative inquiry 157
Cheryl K. Baldwin and Alyssa E. Motter
13 Examining identity using the creative art of mask-making 172
Mark Stephens and Ryan Higgins
PART V METHODS FOR ELICITING PERSONAL MEANINGS
14 Repertory grid for exploring managers’ identities in a coaching programme 188
Rosalía Cascón-Pereira, Guillem Feixas and Miquel Alabernia-Segura
15 A portrait in words: using self-characterization sketches as an
innovative method to explore work identities 204
Angela McGrane, Viv Burr and Nigel King
16 A multi-method approach for studying conscious and unconscious
identity work 217
Christina Gossayn, Anne Crafford and Arien Strasheim
PART VI METHODS FOR ANALYSING NATURALLY OCCURRING DATA
17 Using membership categorization analysis to study identities in talk and text 231
Andrea Whittle
18 Autobiographies and identity: using autobiographies to study identity in
organizational research 246
Nick Mmbaga, Blake Mathias and Anne Smith
19 Assessing collective identity (non-)verification with social media data
through web scraping, sentiment analysis, and qualitative coding 260
Tony P. Love, Jenny L. Davis, Rachel E. Davis, William G. Fisher and Rachel
M. Barczak
Epilogue: towards a methodological roadmap and beyond 274
Ingo Winkler, Rosalía Cascón-Pereira and Stefanie Reissner
Index
Acknowledgements by the editors xiii
Prologue: studying identities and identity work xiv
1 Introduction to the Handbook of Research Methods for Studying
Identity In and Around Organizations 1
Ingo Winkler, Rosalía Cascón-Pereira and Stefanie Reissner
PART I NARRATIVE METHODS
2 Plot and storyline analysis of personal identity narratives 13
Stefanie Reissner
3 Exploring identity interplay through performative textual analysis 26
Isidora Kourti
4 Organizational small storymaking and change: identity work as coming
into being in narrative story dynamics 40
Ann Starbæk Bager
5 The qualitative survey as research design in exploring organizational identity 56
Anne Crafford and Johann Mouton
PART II VISUAL METHODS
6 Social dream-drawing: a socioanalytic method for studying identity work 71
Antoni Barnard
7 A picture is worth a thousand words: social identity mapping as a way
of visualizing and assessing social group connections 87
Sarah V. Bentley, S. Alexander Haslam, Katherine H. Greenaway, Tegan
Cruwys and Nik Steffens
PART III ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS
8 Netnography: a route to explore identity evolution as online videogames
develop 104
Alexandra Samper-Martínez and Ercilia García-Álvarez
9 Mobile interviewing: harnessing the significance of place in identity research 117
Elham Moonesirust
10 The other: posing questions I am supposed to love –
autoethnographically exploring identities and identity work 130
Henning Grosse
11 Who am I when I am in flow? An introduction to autoethnography as
a method for studying identity 143
Ulrike Eva Posselt
PART IV EMBODIED METHODS
12 Researching individual somatic identity through movement and dance:
body-centred narrative inquiry 157
Cheryl K. Baldwin and Alyssa E. Motter
13 Examining identity using the creative art of mask-making 172
Mark Stephens and Ryan Higgins
PART V METHODS FOR ELICITING PERSONAL MEANINGS
14 Repertory grid for exploring managers’ identities in a coaching programme 188
Rosalía Cascón-Pereira, Guillem Feixas and Miquel Alabernia-Segura
15 A portrait in words: using self-characterization sketches as an
innovative method to explore work identities 204
Angela McGrane, Viv Burr and Nigel King
16 A multi-method approach for studying conscious and unconscious
identity work 217
Christina Gossayn, Anne Crafford and Arien Strasheim
PART VI METHODS FOR ANALYSING NATURALLY OCCURRING DATA
17 Using membership categorization analysis to study identities in talk and text 231
Andrea Whittle
18 Autobiographies and identity: using autobiographies to study identity in
organizational research 246
Nick Mmbaga, Blake Mathias and Anne Smith
19 Assessing collective identity (non-)verification with social media data
through web scraping, sentiment analysis, and qualitative coding 260
Tony P. Love, Jenny L. Davis, Rachel E. Davis, William G. Fisher and Rachel
M. Barczak
Epilogue: towards a methodological roadmap and beyond 274
Ingo Winkler, Rosalía Cascón-Pereira and Stefanie Reissner
Index
