A different way of looking at things: the role of social science film in organization studies

Miko-Schefzig, Katharina; Learmonth, Mark; McMurray, Robert

doi:10.1177/1350508420961526

A different way of looking at things: the role of social science film in organization studies

Miko-Schefzig, Katharina; Learmonth, Mark; McMurray, Robert

Authors

Katharina Miko-Schefzig

Mark Learmonth

Robert McMurray

Abstract

Despite growing interest in the use of moving images for representing management and organisation research, films are still widely considered as an addendum to the ‘proper’ textual work of the social sciences. Drawing on our own experience in social science film production, we consider the unique epistemological opportunities afforded by the production of moving images as compared to other methods rooted in the primacy of text. We discuss the techniques of eliciting and editing (by presenting actual editing decisions in detail) as a visual method for organisation studies and its theoretical and methodological implications. We demonstrate the ways in which the act of filming facilitates the production of contextually sensitive life accounts that place participants and viewers in the picture. The main contribution of the paper lies in its explanation of the ways in which film represents epistemic knowledge in itself – a particular way of seeing and relating – without recourse to written material. This includes the potential for film to elicit understanding that could not be accessed or represented in any other way. While not minimising the challenges involved in the production and assessment of social science films, we argue that such films warrant a status similar to that of the journal article.

Citation

Miko-Schefzig, K., Learmonth, M., & McMurray, R. (2022). A different way of looking at things: the role of social science film in organization studies. Organization, 29(4), 653-672. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508420961526

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Aug 17, 2020
Online Publication Date	Oct 8, 2020
Publication Date	Jul 1, 2022
Deposit Date	Sep 1, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Sep 15, 2020
Journal	Organization
Print ISSN	1350-5084
Electronic ISSN	1461-7323
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	29
Issue	4
Pages	653-672
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508420961526
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1257605

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).