Data Collection in Organizational Research

Abstract

Data collection in organizational research involves many unanticipated challenges. This article narrates the experiences of the author while collecting data from two microfinance organizations operating in India. It gives a reflective account of hurdles faced during the fieldwork and how the author had negotiated with these hurdles. Most of the challenges faced by author are structural in nature and are related to elicitation of respondent’s perspective. Author’s first-hand experiences of data collection are reported and discussed with an intention of informing the research practice in qualitative fieldwork. The experiences reported in this note may have interesting implications for any early career researchers planning to carry fieldwork in organizations.