The Shifting Nature of Relationality in the Blurred Boundaries of Hybrid Organizational Ethnography

Abstract

AbstractTechnology's impact on conducting organizational research is axiomatic. Studies on the topic focus on how digital technologies are used to collect data and how people use or interact with technology in online spaces. Although it is generally agreed that boundaries between online and offline realms are becoming increasingly blurred, few studies exist on the impact of digital technologies on the work and life of organizational ethnographers. Our contribution lies in alerting new and experienced ethnographers engaging in hybrid ethnography – a developing methodology encompassing both face‐to‐face and online interactions – to how boundaries may blur between space and time, professional and personal, participation and observation, and what is real and what isn't. We emphasize the importance of anticipating relational shifts – understanding how new forms of sociality emerge when digital and physical interactions are an integral part of the field; and we examine subsequent advantages and challenges. To illustrate, we offer examples from a hybrid ethnography conducted in an investigative police force, where smartphones and WhatsApp are embedded in work and consequently became an integral part of the research.