Proposals to solve drawbacks when doing research: Activating reseach materials and other resources

Abstract

In this article I reflect on the lessons to be learnt regarding methodology both from classic authors, such as Elias or Goffman, and from recent approaches whose aim is to renew some research techniques or to explore new realms from which to get research materials, as is the case with netnography. After this, I will explain how these classic and new perspectives were of help in order to solve setbacks while I was carrying out a qualitative research. This was about the new ways of controlling the workforce and producing in innovation-intensive industries. Thanks to the methodological strategies I used then, I could discover new research materials that let me become aware of ignored aspects of the problem under study and also know these sectors’ typical conflicts more deeply. To sum up, I argue for making the initial methodological design more flexible and restructuring it along the way. In this vein, we should use materials that we even come across during the research, if those may help us better approach the phenomenon which we are looking in, for this is our main goal after all.