Gaining access: methodological and ethical challenges of researching workplaces
Speaker(s):
Bio: Camille Allard is a researcher at the University of Birmingham. Her research interests include unpaid care, care ethics, gender, and organisational regimes of inequalities at work. She has previously worked on the implementation of carer's leave in workplaces in the UK. Her current research examines how employers invest in health and wellbeing promotion at work.
Abstract:
My presentation focuses on the challenges of researching workplaces. The process of gaining access to workplaces is very often overlooked when discussing research methods. This can leave researchers with little guidance on how to negotiate their way into workplaces and establish the relationships that facilitate the process of collecting in-depth organisational data. Using my research experience of facilitating case studies of large workplaces, I discuss how to build trust with participants, and gain consent. First, I start by emphasizing the importance of reflecting on both our own position as researchers and the parameters of our research object, then by revising our definition of what is a workplace. I then discuss the various methods one can use to access workplaces with an emphasis on navigating the challenging scenarios a researcher may face as they seek gather data while also maintaining productive relationships with key organisational gatekeepers.