Recorded presentation

Ellen MacEachen, PhD, Institute for Work and Health, 481 University Avenue, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M5G 2E9, Canada, 416-927-2027 X2136, emaceachen@iwh.on.ca

Occupational health researchers are increasingly recognising the need to study work organization as a determinant of occupational health. A focus on work organization means moving beyond accounts of injured worker experiences, or treatments, or descriptions of particular hazards, to the study of people who organise work, such as workplace managers. The study of managers presents raises certain theoretical and methodological issues among qualitative researchers, in terms of how to make sense of, and make use of, what managers say. Managers tend to ‘talk the official line’, that is, they are well-organised participants, accustomed to managing people and information, and have a strong interest in portraying their practices in the most legally compliant and socially desirable light.

This paper argues that theoretical conceptualisation of data is a critical component of both data collection and analysis. Taking the example of a recent qualitative interview study of how managers handled the complex problem of RSI in their workplaces, this paper describes how certain analytic approaches, such as an interpretive, ‘insiders’ point of view were unproductive, and how a theoretical lens oriented to governance and discourse analysis yielded valuable insight into work organisation and health. This theoretical conceptualisation changed the data set from a lost opportunity to an opening to critically examine ideal realities and practices of workplace managers. A flexibility and sensitivity to the interaction between data and theory can make sense of what people say, even among managers who ‘talk the official line’.

Learning Objectives:

• The audience should be able to identify some of the important, distinguishing characteristics of qualitative research in the field of occupational health .
• The audience should be able to identify some of types of research problems and goals that qualitative research is well suited for in occupational health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation