Benefits of Boredom: An ‘Interlopers’ Experience of Conducting Participant Observation on the Production Line

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12393
• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Date: 01 March 2020

Benefits of Boredom: An ‘Interlopers’

Experience of Conducting Participant

Observation on the Production Line

SARAH PASS

Nottingham BusinessSchool, Nottingham Trent University,Burton Street, Newton Building, Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK

Embracinga lyrical styleof writing, the paper discussesthe advantages of conducting participant observationand

calls for its increased use in businessand management research,especially the field of human resource management

(HRM). In a sector dominated by quantitative research methods, we are left withmany unanswered questions about

organisational life. Whilesurveys have providedus with an abundance of ‘hard’data,it has resulted in a lack of depth

and understanding around the employee experience. Reflecting on a research project that explored the concept of

high-performance work systems (HPWS), the paper discusses a chance opportunity to undertake participant

observation and how the experience not only changed the focus of the research project but provided a depth and

understandingcurrently missing fromthe HRM/HPWS paradigm. Structured around ‘lessons learnt’, the papercalls

for methodological eclecticism and hopes to encourage others to become ‘interlopers’and embrace the benefits of

conducting participant observation.

Keywords: Employeeexperience; ethnography; HRM; HPWS; participant observation; research methods

Introduction

Before I begin, I need to make a confession. I am an

‘interloper’in the world of participant observation (P-

O) and ethnography (see Yanow, 2009). With a

background in statistics, I was out of my depth when

given the opportunity to undertake P-O and would have

welcomed the opportunity to learn from the experiences

of others. As such, the aim of this paper is to provide

insight into the practicalities and difficulties of

undertaking P-O in a manufacturing organisation and

the associated emotional effects it had on me as a

researcher. The paper embraces a lyrical style of writing

(see Abbott, 2007) on my experiences as an ‘interloper’

in the world of P-O. Lyrical sociology aims to recreate

and engage the reader in the emotional and intense

participation in the object they studied (Abbott, 2007).

To do my experiences justi ce, this approach seems

fitting. I hope it will challenge other researchers to

consider P-O and experience the world they are

researching. In doing so, it will hopefully provide the

depth and understanding around organisational life that

is currently missing in research (especially in human

resource management (HRM) literature).

I did not set out on my PhD journey to undertake P-

O. Although I had read with interest ‘the classic’

examples of ethnography (e.g., Roy, 1959; Burawoy,

1979; Whyte, 1981), I had no intention of going down

that path. However, a chance opportunity presented a

new direction that not only reshaped my PhD research,

but has influenced my career since. Exploring the

concept of high-performance work systems (HPWS), I

was struck by the (over)reliance on quantitative

research and the lack of employee perspectives.

Consequently, the empirical focus of the research was

on employees and their experiences of work.

Theoretically, the aim was to look inside the ‘black

box’. To do so, required methodological eclecticism.

The intention was to undertake an employee attitude

survey and conduct interviews and/or focus groups.

However, when offered the chance to undertake P-O,

I was intrigued by the opportunity to discover not

simply what people said they were doing, but instead

to witness what they were actually doing in practice

(see Mintzberg, 1973). By doing so, I felt it would

allow me to not only look inside the ‘black box’,but

to essentially step inside it.

Correspondence: Sarah Pass, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham

Trent University, Burton Street, Newton Building, Nottingham, NG1

4BU, UK. E-mailsarah.pass@ntu.ac.uk

European Management Review, Vol. 17, 285–295, (2020)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12393

© 2020 European Academy of Management (EURAM)