Documenting Work: From Participant Observation to Participant Tracing

Book section

This paper explores the methodological aspects of studying distributed work by focusing on the more tangible aspects of this work, namely documents. We show how 1) researchers should engage in an initial mapping of documents before starting to track them; 2) the ongoing flow of virtual organizing only becomes apparent by triangulating the digital flow of documents, observation of tangible documents (e.g., paper) and repeated behavioral inquiries; 3), documents supporting distributed organizing do not serve as stable information artifacts, but rather become snapshots in time, part of the general flow of work across numerous documents and applications. We evaluate how best to combine document tracking with interviews and participant observation, and discuss the challenges and benefits associated with digital instrumentation, practicality, privacy, and the production of knowledge.

Authors: Østerlund, C; Snyder, J; Sawyer, S; Sharma, S; Willis, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Host title: Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research: Innovative Pathways and Methods
• Publication date: 2015-11-19
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315849072
• Keywords: SBTMR