Conducting Analysis in Institutional Ethnography: Analytical Work Prior to Commencing Data Collection

Institutional ethnography (IE) is an innovative approach to research that requires a significant shift in researchers’ ordinary habits of thinking. There is a growing body of methodological resources for IE researchers however advice about how to proceed with analysis remains somewhat scattered and cryptic. The purpose of the first of a two-paper series is to contribute to publications focused exclusively on analysis. The aim is to provide practical tips to support researchers to shift their ordinary habits of thinking. This first paper outlines how this must happen at the outset of the research design. Analysis of the phenomenon under study commences as the research is being formulated. The approaches to analytical thinking outlined in this paper are based on my own IE research and also my experience working with graduate students since 2008. In this first volume of the two-paper set I provide a brief background to the method and direct readers to important IE resources. I outline three core methodological concepts: standpoint, problematic and ruling relations. I discuss how these concepts guide the early analytical thinking that is embedded in the research design and the critical analysis of the literature that is part of the process of analysis in IE. The second paper provides practical advice for working with data.