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In multi-sited ethnography, “following” (of, e.g. persons, objects and events) is used as a device to structure fieldwork. The purpose of this paper is to problematize and substantiate the notion of following, illustrating that, when adopting a “following” strategy, the endless number of potential trails one could follow may lead a fieldworker to be both everywhere and nowhere at once.

This paper is based on the experiences and insights derived from a multi-sited ethnography of the strategic collaborations that emerged after the Dutch healthcare reform of 2015. Fieldwork was conducted between 2015 and 2017, and consisted of participant observations, shadowing and interviews.

An approach well suited to studying the contemporary problems that cut across organizational boundaries, multi-sited ethnography is both valuable and more challenging due to: (1) the continuous need to negotiate access, which stimulates the researcher to reflect on his or her positionality in the field; (2) the inevitable pressure it puts on a researcher to “unfollow” their field(s) and to regain critical distance and (3) its perplexing ability to highlight the lack of a whole, unveiling instead a plethora of perspectives across sites which may or may not align.

This paper ends with three key considerations for future multi-sited research endeavours.

Although the metaphor of following can help to structure fieldwork, the practice of following in multi-sited ethnography is not as straightforward as it appears: there are countless potential “paths” to follow, and researchers themselves must decide which trails to choose and when to step back and “unfollow” their field(s).

Multisited ethnography has primarily been portrayed as a challenge for the following field-worker, with the researcher taking the central role and neglecting research participants also experiencing a multisited nature of their work. The authors argue that literature on multisited ethnography merely discusses multisitedness as a methodological theme. In correspondence, the authors propose to think of multisitedness not just as a methodological theme but also as an empirical theme.

The authors contend etic and emic perspectives to address multisitedness empirically, which enables researchers to compare and contrast the multisited topic of inquiry in academic “outsider” terms with the etic analysis and considering the perspective of the research participants' multisited experiences using the emic perspective. To show the fruitfulness of discussing multisitedness using the complementary etic and emic analysis, the authors present the example of Mennonite entrepreneurial activities in Belize, a heterogeneous group of migrants that established themselves as successful traders and entrepreneurs.

Through an etic multisited ethnographic perspective, the authors compare and contrast four communities of Mennonites in terms of their entrepreneurial activities, technology and energy use. Through an emic perspective, the authors demonstrate how Mennonites, while preferring an in-group focus, navigate their multisited entrepreneurial activities, which require interaction with the outside world.

The authors highlight the value of combining etic–emic reflections to acknowledge and include the multisited nature of many social phenomena as experienced by the research participants.

The article contributes to affective ethnography focussing on the fluidity of organizational spacing. Through the concept of affective space, it highlights those elements that are ephemeral and elusive – like affect, aesthetics, atmosphere, intensity, moods – and proposes to explore affect as spatialized and space as affective.

Fluidity is proposed as a conceptual lens that sits at the conjunction of space and affect, highlighting both the movement in time and space, and the mutable relationships that the capacity of affecting and being affected weaves. It experiments with “writing differently” in affective ethnography, thus performing the space of representation of affective space.

The article enriches the alternative to a conceptualization of organizations as stable entities, considering organizing in its spatial fluidity and in being a fragmented, affective and dispersed phenomenon.

The article's writing is an example of intertextuality constructed through five praxiographic stories that illustrate the multiple fluidity of affective spacing in terms of temporal fluidity, fluidity of boundaries, of participation, of the object of practice, and atmospheric fluidity.

This paper considers the specific opportunities and challenges of engaging in ethnographic research with organisations in which the researcher participates as a volunteer ethnographer.

The findings in this paper are based on four years of ethnographic research within a social enterprise.

This paper finds that there are significant benefits of the role of the volunteer ethnographer and suggests ways to address some of the challenges.

As the field of social enterprise and ethnography grows and researchers engage with methodological discussions about participant observation, the authors suggest that attention should also be paid to the specifics of the role of the volunteer ethnographer.

There is growing interest in the use of ethnography in social enterprises. This paper offers unique insight into how this methodology has been applied in the context of self-reliant groups and the importance of the engaging with discussion about the specific role of the volunteer ethnographer.

To further develop research methodologies for multi-species ethnographic fieldwork, based on researcher's experiences with multi-species fieldwork in private wildlife conservancies in South Africa and inspired by San tracking techniques.

Reflections on methodological lessons learnt during multi-species ethnographic fieldwork in South Africa. The approach is rather “Maanenesque” in telling various types of tales of the field. These tales also implicitly show how all-encompassing ethnographic fieldwork and its accompanying reflexivity are; there is never time for leisure in ethnographic fieldwork.

That developing fieldwork methodologies in multi-species ethnographic research confronts researchers with the explicit need for and training in multi-sensory methods and interpretations, inspired by “the art of tracking” of the San.

Comes up with a concrete suggestion for a sequence of research methods for multi-species ethnography based on the trials and tribulations of a multi-species ethnographer's experiences in South Africa and inspired by San tracking techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the challenges, advantages and limits of ethnographical approaches to the study of parliament. Challenges in the study of political institutions emerge because they can be fast-changing, difficult to gain access to, have starkly contrasting public and private faces and, in the case of national parliaments, are intimately connected to rest of the nation.

Ethnography usually tends to be difficult to plan in advance, but especially so when parliament is the focus.

Research in parliament requires clear questions but an emergent approach for answering them – working out your assumptions, deciding on the most appropriate methods depending on what wish to find out, and continually reviewing progress. Its great strengths are flexibility, ability to encompass wider historical and cultural practices into the study, getting under the surface and achieving philosophical rigour. Rigour is partly achieved through reflexivity.

One implication of this is that not only will each study of parliament be different, because each is embedded in different histories, cultures, and politics, but the study of the same parliament will contain variations if a team is involved.

Ethnographical research is a social and political process of relating; interpreting texts, events and conversations; and representing the “other” as seen by observers.

Understanding customers is critical for service researchers and practitioners. Today, customers are increasingly active online, and valuable information about their opinions, experiences and behaviors can be retrieved from a variety of online platforms. Online customer information creates new opportunities to design personalized and high-quality service. This paper aims to review how netnography as a method can help service researchers and practitioners to better use such data.

A systematic review and analysis were conducted on 321 netnography studies published in marketing journals between 1997 and 2017.

The systematic review reveals that netnography has been applied in a variety of ways across different marketing fields and topics. Based on the analysis of existing netnography literature, empirical, theoretical and methodological recommendations for future netnographic service research are presented.

This paper shows how netnography can offer service researchers unprecedented opportunities to access naturalistic online data about customers and, hence, why it is an important method for future service research.

Netnographic research can help service firms with, for example, service innovation, advertising and environmental scanning. This paper provides guidelines for service managers who want to use netnography as a market research tool.

Netnography has seen limited use in service research despite many promising applications in this field. This paper is the first to encourage and support service researchers in their use of the method and aims to stimulate interesting future netnographic service research.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a discoursal approach on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability. A Quick Placement Test (QPT) was used to select 60 intermediate EFL learners as the participants of this study. Then, they were divided into experimental and control groups. Each group consisted of 30 learners. Prior to the treatment, the participants of both groups were given a pre-test to determine their reading comprehension levels. The experimental group was exposed to the Hymes’ model. In the control group the researcher used a traditional approach for teaching the reading skill. Then a post-test was administered to both groups. An independent samples t-test between post-tests of the study and a paired-samples t-test between the pre-test and post-test of the groups of the study were run. The results of the study indicated that applying Hymes’ model improved the learners’ reading comprehension while the traditional approach did not.

ﻛﺎ ن اﻟ ﮭد ف ﻣ ن ھذه اﻟ د را ﺳﺔ ھو اﻟﺗﺣ ﻘﯾ ق ﻓ ﻲ ﺗﺄﺛﯾ ر اﻟﻧﮭ ﺞ اﻟﺗد ر ﯾﺑ ﻲ ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻗد ر ة اﻟ ط ﻼ ب ا ﻹ ﯾ ر اﻧ ﯾﯾ ن ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﺗ ﻌﻠ م اﻟﻘ ر ا ءة واﻟ ﻛﺗﺎﺑ ﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻹﻧ ﺟﻠﯾ زﯾﺔ ﻛﻠ ﻐﺔ أ ﺟﻧﺑﯾﺔ. ﺗم ا ﺳﺗ ﺧدام ا ﺧﺗﺑﺎ ر ﺗ ﺣدﯾد اﻟ ﻣ ﺳﺗ و ى اﻟ ﺳرﯾ ﻊ (QPT) ( ﻟﻠﺗﺄ ﻛد ﻣ ن ﺗ ﺟﺎﻧ س ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣ ﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ اﻹ ﻧ ﺟﻠﯾ زﯾ ﺔ ﻛﻠ ﻐﺔ أ ﺟﻧﺑﯾ ﺔ اﻟذﯾ ن ﻛﺎﻧ وا ﻓ ﻲ ﻓ ﺻ ﻠﯾ ن د را ﺳﯾﯾ ن. ﺛم، ﺗم ﺗﻘ ﺳﯾ ﻣﮭم ﺑ ﺷﻛل ﻋﺷواﺋ ﻲ إﻟ ﻰ ﻣ ﺟﻣوﻋﺎ ت ﺗ ﺟرﯾﺑﯾ ﺔ وﻣراﻗﺑ ﺔ. ﻛل ﻣ ﺟﻣوﻋﺔ ﺗﺗﺄﻟ ف ﻣ 30 ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣﺎ. ﻗﺑ ل اﻟ ﻌ ﻼج، ﺗم إ ﻋطﺎ ء اﻟ ﻣ ﺷﺎ رﻛﯾ ن ﻣ ن ﻛ ﻼ اﻟ ﻣ ﺟﻣوﻋﺗﯾ ن ﻗﺑ ل ا ﻻﺧﺗﺑﺎ ر ﻟﺗ ﺣدﯾد ﻣ ﺳﺗ وﯾﺎ ت اﻟ ﻔ ﮭم اﻟ ﻘ ر ا ءة ﻟ دﯾ ﮭم. ﺗ ﻌر ﺿ ت اﻟﻣ ﺟ ﻣو ﻋ ﺔ اﻟ ﺗ ﺟ ر ﯾﺑﯾ ﺔ ﻟﻧ ﻣو ذ ج اﻟ ﺗ ر اﺗﯾ ل . ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻣ ﺟ ﻣو ﻋ ﺔ اﻟ ﺿ ﺎﺑ ط ﺔ، ا ﺳ ﺗ ﺧ دم اﻟ ﺑﺎ ﺣ ث اﻟﻣﻧ ﮭ ﺞ اﻟ ﺗﻘﻠﯾد ي ﻟﺗد ر ﯾ س ﻣﮭﺎ ر ة اﻟ ﻘ ر ا ءة. ﺛم ﺗدا ر ﺑ ﻌد ا ﻻ ﺧ ﺗﺑﺎ ر ﻟ ﻛ ﻼ اﻟ ﻔ ر ﯾﻘﯾ ن . ﺗم إ ﺟ ر ا ء ا ﺧ ﺗﺑﺎ ر ﻣ ﺳ ﺗﻘ ل ﻟ ﻌﯾﻧﺎ ت t ﺑﯾن ا ﻻ ﺧ ﺗﺑ ﺎ ر ﯾ ن اﻟﻼ ﺣ ﻘﯾ ن ﻟﻠد ر ا ﺳ ﺔ و ا ﺧ ﺗﺑﺎ ر t اﻟﻣﻘﺗ ر ن ﺑﺎﻟ ﻌﯾﻧﺎ ت ﺑﯾ ن ا ﻻ ﺧ ﺗﺑﺎ ر اﻟﻣ ﺳ ﺑ ق و ا ﻻ ﺧ ﺗﺑﺎ ر اﻟﻼ ﺣ ق ﻟ ﻣ ﺟ ﻣو ﻋ ﺎ ت اﻟد ر ا ﺳ ﺔ. أ ﺷ ﺎ ر ت ﻧﺗﺎﺋ ﺞ اﻟد ر ا ﺳ ﺔ إﻟﻰ أ ن ﺗ ط ﺑﯾ ق ﻧ ﻣو ذ ج ھ ﺎﯾ ﻣز ﻗد ﺣ ﺳ ن ﻣ ن ﻓ ﮭم اﻟ ﻘ ر ا ءة ﻟﻠﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣﯾ ن ﻓ ﻲ ﺣ ﯾ ن أ ن اﻟ ﻧ ﮭ ﺞ اﻟ ﺗﻘﻠﯾد ي ﻟ م ﯾﻔ ﻌل ذﻟ ك

The main purpose of this paper is to document the first author's experience of using institutional ethnography (IE) to “take sides” in healthcare research. The authors illustrate the points with data and key findings from a study of cardiovascular disease prevention.

The authors use Dorothy E Smith's IE approach, and particularly the theoretical tool of “standpoint”.

Starting with the development of the study, the authors trouble the researcher's positionality, highlighting tensions between institutional knowledge of “prevention” and other locations where knowledge about patients' health needs materialises. The authors outline how IE's theoretically and methodologically integrated toolkit became a framework for “taking sides” with patients. They describe how the researcher used IE to take a standpoint and map institutional relations from that standpoint. They argue that IE enabled an innovative analysis but also reflect on the challenges of conducting an IE – the conceptual unpicking and (re)thinking, and demarcating boundaries of investigation within an expansive dataset.

This paper illustrates IE's relevance for organisational ethnographers wishing to find a theoretically robust approach to taking sides, and suggests ways in which the IE approach might contribute to improving services, particularly healthcare. It provides an illustration of how taking a patient standpoint was accomplished in practice, and reflects on the challenges involved.

While quantification and performance measurement have proliferated widely in academia and the business world, management and organization scholars increasingly agree on the need for a more in-depth focus on the complex dynamics embedded in the construction, use and effects of quantitative measures (pertaining to the thread of research called ethnostatistics). This paper develops a pluralistic method for conducting ethnostatistical research in organizational settings. Whilst presenting practical techniques for conducting research in live settings, it also discusses how historical approaches which focus on source criticism and contextual reconstruction could overcome the limitations of ethnostatistics.

The methodological approach of this paper encompasses an in-depth discussion of the ethnostatistical method, its underlying assumptions and its methodological limitations. Based on this analysis, the authors propose a pluralistic method (model) for conducting ethnostatistical research in organizational settings based on the integration of 1) research practices employed by one of the authors conducting ethnostatistical research in a large multinational organization and 2) best practices from ethnographic and historical research.

This paper suggests how historical approaches can successfully join ethnostatistical enquiries in an attempt to overcome some limitations in existing conventional methods. The developed framework explores four levels of analysis (ethnography, statistics at work, rhetoric of statistics and history of statistics) and suggests practical approaches for each level that can contribute to strengthening the research output and overcoming limitations when using ethnostatistics.

This paper contributes to the ethnostatistical field by discussing the intersection between history and ethnography and the ways for their complementary use in organizational and management research on quantification processes. As such it offers unique insights and hands-on experience from conducting ethnostatistical enquiries in live organizational settings.