Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography

Institutional ethnography (IE) is an innovative approach to research that requires a significant shift in researchers’ ordinary habits of thinking. There is a growing body of methodological resources for IE researchers however advice about how to proceed with analysis remains somewhat scattered and...

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Main Author: Janet Rankin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-10-01
Series:International Journal of Qualitative Methods
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917734484
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author Janet Rankin
author_facet Janet Rankin
author_sort Janet Rankin
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description Institutional ethnography (IE) is an innovative approach to research that requires a significant shift in researchers’ ordinary habits of thinking. There is a growing body of methodological resources for IE researchers however advice about how to proceed with analysis remains somewhat scattered and cryptic. The purpose of the first of a two-paper series is to contribute to publications focused exclusively on analysis. The aim is to provide practical tips to support researchers to shift their ordinary habits of thinking. This first paper outlines how this must happen at the outset of the research design. Analysis of the phenomenon under study commences as the research is being formulated. The approaches to analytical thinking outlined in this paper are based on my own IE research and also my experience working with graduate students since 2008. In this first volume of the two-paper set I provide a brief background to the method and direct readers to important IE resources. I outline three core methodological concepts: standpoint, problematic and ruling relations. I discuss how these concepts guide the early analytical thinking that is embedded in the research design and the critical analysis of the literature that is part of the process of analysis in IE. The second paper provides practical advice for working with data.
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spelling doaj.art-e5550027e01e4ed7a3d1bf2c2edff1c22022-12-21T23:35:37ZengSAGE PublishingInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods1609-40692017-10-011610.1177/1609406917734484Conducting Analysis in Institutional EthnographyJanet Rankin0 University of Calgary in Qatar, Doha, QatarInstitutional ethnography (IE) is an innovative approach to research that requires a significant shift in researchers’ ordinary habits of thinking. There is a growing body of methodological resources for IE researchers however advice about how to proceed with analysis remains somewhat scattered and cryptic. The purpose of the first of a two-paper series is to contribute to publications focused exclusively on analysis. The aim is to provide practical tips to support researchers to shift their ordinary habits of thinking. This first paper outlines how this must happen at the outset of the research design. Analysis of the phenomenon under study commences as the research is being formulated. The approaches to analytical thinking outlined in this paper are based on my own IE research and also my experience working with graduate students since 2008. In this first volume of the two-paper set I provide a brief background to the method and direct readers to important IE resources. I outline three core methodological concepts: standpoint, problematic and ruling relations. I discuss how these concepts guide the early analytical thinking that is embedded in the research design and the critical analysis of the literature that is part of the process of analysis in IE. The second paper provides practical advice for working with data.https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917734484
spellingShingle Janet Rankin
Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
title Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
title_full Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
title_fullStr Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
title_full_unstemmed Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
title_short Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography
title_sort conducting analysis in institutional ethnography
url https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917734484
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