Fieldwork as inquiry in management research: dancing with the field

François-Xavier de Vaujany (), Jeremy Aroles (), Vincent Berthelot (), Marine Dagorn () and Mickael Peiro ()
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François-Xavier de Vaujany: DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Jeremy Aroles: University of York [York, UK]
Vincent Berthelot: UCO - Université Catholique de l'Ouest
Marine Dagorn: EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, ARENES - Arènes: politique, santé publique, environnement, médias - UR - Université de Rennes - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Rennes - EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UR - Université de Rennes, IDM - Institut du Management - EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, RSMS - Recherche sur les services et le management en santé - UR - Université de Rennes - EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Mickael Peiro: LGCO - Laboratoire Gouvernance et Contrôle Organisationnel - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse, IUT Toulouse Auch Castres - Institut Universitaire de Technologie - Paul Sabatier - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse

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Abstract: Most approaches to qualitative research methods in management and organization studies (MOS) implicitly enact spatial perspectives, crystallized in the idea of "accessing the field". Field sites are thus performed as objective spaces in which research takes place. In this paper, we set out to challenge this spatial perspective by developing a processual approach that conceptualizes fieldwork as ‘inquiry' as defined by John Dewey. To this end, we draw on an inter-case analysis of four independent research projects to demonstrate the processual, fluid, continuous, and shared constitution of a field of inquiry. We call this alternative approach ‘dancing with the field'. It allows us to move beyond the highly spatialized notion of access to the field and to materialize or prioritize different forms of relationality. We understand ‘accessing the field' and ‘dancing with the field' as two intertwined and complementary modes of both attachment to and detachment from the field.

Keywords: Dancing with the the field; Accessing the field; Dewey; Pragmatism; Inquiry; Space; Time; Fieldwork (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12-11
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Published in Journal of Management Inquiry, inPress

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05414554

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