Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: Volume 9 Issue 3

The use of ethnography to explore meanings that refuse collectors attach to their work

Alexander Simpson, Natasha Slutskaya, Jason Hughes, Ruth Simpson

The purpose of this paper is to detail how the ethnographic approach can be usefully adopted in the context of researching dirty or undesirable work. Drawing on a study of refuse…

Embodying emotional dirty work: a messy text of patrolling the border

Kendra Dyanne Rivera, Sarah J. Tracy

“Dirty work” is an embodied, emotional activity, and may best be expressed through narrative thick description. The purpose of this paper is to employ creative analytic techniques…

Researchers as dirty workers: cautionary tales on insider-outsider dynamics

Erica Southgate, Kerri Shying

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relatively hidden phenomenon of researchers who not only study dirty work but who also occupy the position of dirty workers. Drawing on…

Conducting “Dirty Research” with extreme groups: understanding academia as a dirty work site

Erin Sanders-McDonagh

The purpose of this paper is to explore dirty work sites within an academic context. Working with particular “unloved” groups (Fielding, 1993) can present a number of challenges…

Metaphors and sensemaking: understanding the taint associated with dirty work

Catherine Cassell, Vicky Bishop

The purpose of this paper is to consider how taxi drivers understand the customer service relationship as “dirty work” by examining the strategies they use to manage the taint…

Exploring media construction of investment banking as dirty work

Liz Stanley, Kate Mackenzie Davey, Gillian Symon

The purpose of this paper is to explore how two kinds of UK-based media positioned investment banking as dirty work during the financial crisis, thereby engaging in moral…

Doing dirty research using qualitative methodologies: lessons from stigmatized occupations

Gina Grandy, Sharon Mavin, Ruth Simpson