Ethnography, impression management and shifting practices

Knowing and doing are two related yet very different phenomena. An actor performing a practice will not separate his or her knowing from his or her doing. Focusing on practices can reveal important insights into this phenomenon. The use of the ethnographic method, shadowing allows the researcher to observe the doings of the actor. However, shadowing can trigger impression management by the observed. Impression management happens when the observed acts in a different way than he or she would routinely, due to the presence of the researcher. A study into collaboration practices on-site uses shadowing as its primary method for data collection. However, impression management presents a very noticeable challenge from the beginning of the study raising the question of whether the observed practice is an “authentic” practice. A construction manager has been shadowed. During the shadowing period, the researcher’s presence onsite prompts the construction manager to change behavior and reflect on his own practice in dialogue with the researcher. Shadowing on a building site allows for insights into the complicated practices on site. However, the observed practice can be influenced by the method. Over time, the continued performance of impression management by practitioners may even lead to changes in the observed practice. A researcher using shadowing as a method for data collection must be prepared to challenge his or her observations. The observations should be supported with in-depth interviews based on specific examples from the observations, so the observed can express, why he or she performed, as he or she did. In this way, the knowing aspect of the observed practice also becomes clearer.