Journal article
Anthropological Research for a Computer Manufacturing Company
Central Issues in Anthropology, Vol.1(2), pp.63-76
1979
DOI: 10.1525/cia.1979.1.2.63
Abstract
This paper discusses a corporation-financed anthropological study of office work carried out by a university-based research team. Two aspects of this project were unusual: carrying out ethnographic studies in the offices of a major American corporation and conducting applied ethnographic research for a profitmaking manufacturer. Adapting anthropological methods for use in a business setting proved not to be overly difficult and researchers were able to collect substantial amounts of useful data. Conducting research for a profit-making corporation, however, raised a number of issues unlikely to be encountered in other nonacademic anthropological work. These include corporation reluctance to finance research of uncertain potential profitability, concern that participant observation methodology might have negative effects on company sales, and fears that research findings would be reported to outsiders not authorized to hear them. Although anthropological work for corporations can thus involve unfamiliar constraints on how research is carried out, it presents opportunities to gain access to areas of American life seldom examined by ethnographic methods.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Anthropological Research for a Computer Manufacturing Company
- Creators
- Carole BrownerMichael Chibnik - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Central Issues in Anthropology, Vol.1(2), pp.63-76
- DOI
- 10.1525/cia.1979.1.2.63
- ISSN
- 1937-6227
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 1979
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology; International Programs
- Record Identifier
- 9983557635402771
Metrics
30 Record Views