PhD Courses in Denmark

Course Coordinators:
Anne Mette Møller & Kirstine Zinck Pedersen

Faculty
Anne Mette Møller, Associate Professor
Department of Organization

Kirstine Zinck Pedersen, Associate Professor
Department of Organization

Prerequisites

Participants are required to submit a short paper (2-4 pages) outlining their research topic, research design and reflections on methods one week prior to the course. 

Aim of the course

The course aims to develop participants' skills in designing, conducting and critically evaluating studies based on organizational ethnography

Learning objectives

Through the course, participants will gain:
1) Knowledge about organizational ethnography and its uses in organization studies and related disciplines
2) Ability to critically reflect on methodological choices and apply insights to their own project
3) Experience with different approaches to analyzing and presenting ethnographic data

Course content

The course is organized around three core themes with one day dedicated to each theme:
1) Deskwork (research design, planning for flexibility, data needs and choice of methods, analytical objectives)
2) Fieldwork (access, field relationships and contracts, writing fieldnotes and other ways of generating data, reflections on positionality, practical challenges, ethical considerations)
3) Textwork (analytical strategies, writing and other ways of presenting ethnographic data, issues related to representation, confidentiality, anonymity, publishing)

Teaching methods
Interactive lectures, student presentations, classroom discussion, exercises, teacher feedback, peer feedback

Lecture plan
The course coordinators will co-teach the course and will both be present at all times during the course and share the workload equally (coordination, lecturing, reading, etc.)

Each day (9-16) will have approx. 5 lecture hours (interactive approach) and 2 hours dedicated to project/paper development. Both teachers will read and and provide feedback on all papers and written exercises (two sets of eyes). Both teachers will be actively involved during all student activities.

Preliminary lecture plan
 

Course literature (preliminary)

• Czarniawska. B. (2007). Shadowing: And other techniques for doing fieldwork in modern societies. Frederiksberg: Copenhagen Business School Press. (Selected chapters)

• Cunliffe, A. L., Alcadipani, R. (2016), “The Politics of Access in Fieldwork: Immersion, Backstage Dramas, and Deception”, Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 535-561 (26 pages)

• Emerson, R. M., R. I. Fretz and L. L. Shaw (2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1, 2 3 and 4 (129 pages)

• Fujii, Lee Ann. 2012. Research ethics 101: Dilemmas and responsibilities. PS: Political Science & Politics 45(4): 717-23. (8 pages)

• Møller, Anne Mette (2021). Deliberation and Deliberative Organizational Routines in Frontline Decision-Making, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(3), 471–488 (18 pages)

• Neyland, D. (2007). Organizational Ethnography. London: Sage Publications (selected chapters).

• Pachirat, T. (2011). Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaugther and the Politics of Sight. Princeton: Yale University Press. Chapter 1.

• Pedersen, K. Z. (2018). Organizing Patient Safety. Palgrave Macmillan, Chapter 6

• Schwartz-Shea, P. and Yanow, D. (2009), “Reading and writing as method: in search of trustworthy texts”, in Ybema, S., Yanow, D., Wels, H. and Kamsteeg, F. (Eds), Organizational Ethnography: Studying the Complexities of Everyday Life, Sage, London, pp. 56-82 (24 sider)

• Timmermans, S. & Tavory, I. (2012). Theory construction in qualitative research: From grounded theory to abductive analysis. Sociological Theory, 30(3), 167-186. (19 pages)

• Van Maanen, J. (1991). ”The smile factory: Work at Disneyland” in Frost, P.J. et al. (eds.). Reframing Organizational Culture. London: Sage Publications, p. 58-76 (18 sider)

• Watson, T.J. (2011), Ethnography, Reality, and Truth: The Vital Need for Studies of ‘How Things Work’ in Organizations and Management. Journal of Management Studies, 48, 1, 202-217 (16 pages)

• Yanow, D. (2009), “Organizational ethnography and methodological angst”, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 186-199 (14 pages)

Exam

Active participation, including submission of short paper and active participation in classroom discussions and hand-in of written exercises.

Course Workload

Pre-class preparation 60 hours
Class sessions 21 Hours
Exercises 3 hours
TOTAL 84 Hours