Tensions in ethnographic observation: overt or covert?
Journal of Organizational Ethnography
ISSN: 2046-6749
Article publication date: 14 June 2018
Issue publication date: 16 July 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the tensions between being covert and overt during ethnographic observations. The example of an ethnographic study of the culture in a diagnostic imaging department will be used to provide examples.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a reflection on an ethnographic study, focussing on the participant observation.
Findings
This paper discusses the author’s reflections on the covert and overt nature of ethnographic observation.
Originality/value
The discussion is of value to all ethnographic researchers who experience this tension.
Keywords
Citation
Strudwick, R. (2019), "Tensions in ethnographic observation: overt or covert?", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 185-195. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-11-2016-0022
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited