This paper will question the philosophical positions for the professional practice of ergonomics and the academic discipline of ergonomics. A brief overview of qualitative methodology will be given, outlining the epistemological continuum with reference to quantitative methodology. The paper draws on an on-going case study to explore the role of qualitative methodology in ergonomics, citing both literature and interview data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BannisterP.BurmanE.ParkerI.TaylorM.TindallC. (1994). Qualitative Methods in Psychology - A Research Guide.Open University Press. Buckingham.
2.
CoffeyA.AtkinsonP. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data.Sage Publications. London. ISBN 0 8039 7053 6.
3.
DaniellouF. (2000). Epistemological issues about ergonomics and human factors. In KarwowskiW. (ed.) International Encyclopaedia of Human Factors.Taylor & Francis. London. (In press).
4.
FalzonP. (1999). Knowledge elaboration in ergonomics. In MarmarasN. (ed.). Proceedings of the Symposium ‘Strength & Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities of Ergonomics in Front of 2000’. 31 August - 1 Sept., Thera (Santorini)Greece. (pp. 29–33).
5.
FieldingN.G.FieldingJ.L. (1986). Linking data. Qualitative Research Methods, series 4.Sage Publications. London.
6.
GahanC.HannibalM. (1998). Doing Qualitative Research using QSR NUD*IST.London. Sage Publications.
7.
HignettS. (1999). Qualitative Methodology in Ergonomics. In HansonM.A.LoveseyE.J.RobertsonS.A. (eds.) Contemporary Ergonomics 1999.London. Taylor and Francis. (pp. 105–109).
8.
KanisH.WeegelsM.F.SteenbekkersL.P.A. (1999). The uninformativeness of quantitative research for usability focused design of consumer products. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 43rd Annual Meeting. (pp. 481–485).
9.
KarwowskiW. (1999). Symvatology: The science of an Artefact-Human Compatibility. In MarmarasN. (ed.). Proceedings of the Symposium ‘Strength & Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities of Ergonomics in Front of 2000’. 31 August - 1 Sept., Thera (Santorini)Greece. (pp. 9–19).
MilesM.B.HubermanM. (1994). An Expanded Source book. Qualitative Data Analysis.2nd Ed.Thousand Oaks: Sage.
12.
MorayN. (1994). ‘De Maximis non curat lex’ or how context reduces science to art in the practice of human factors. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 38th Annual Meeting. (pp. 526–530).
13.
NoyI. (1999). Welcome Address to the Symposium ‘Strength & Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities of Ergonomics in Front of 2000’. In MarmarasN. (ed.). Proceedings of the Symposium 'Strength & Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities of Ergonomics in Front of 2000'. 31 August - 1 Sept., Thera (Santorini)Greece. (pp. 1–8).
14.
OborneD.J.BrantonR.LealF.ShipleyP.StewartT. (1993). Person-centred ergonomics. A Brantonian view of Human Factors.Taylor & Francis. London.
15.
SandersonP.M.FisherC. (1997). Chapter 44. Exploratory sequential data analysis: Qualitative and quantitative handling of continuous observational data. In SalvendyG. (Ed.). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics.2nd Ed.John Wiley & SonsNY (pp. 1471–1513).
16.
ShipleyP. (1995). Chapter 34. The analysis of organisations as a aid for ergonomics practice. In WilsonJ.R.CorlettE.N. (eds.) Evaluation of Human Work. (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis. London. ISBN 07484 0084 2.
17.
VicenteK.J. (1997). Heeding the legacy of Meister, Brunswik, & Gibson: Toward a boarder view of Human factors research. Human Factors, 39, 2, 323–328.
18.
WelfordA.T. (1966). The Ergonomic Approach to Social Behaviour. Ergonomics, 9, 5, 357–369.
19.
WilliamsM.MayT. (1996). Introduction to the philosophy of social research.UCL Press Ltd. London. ISBN 1 85728 312 0.
20.
WilsonJ.R.HainesH.M. (1997). Chapter 15. Participatory Ergonomics. In SalvendyG. (Ed.). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics.2nd Ed.John Wiley & SonsNY. (pp. 490–513).
