A multi method approach to research into the changing of professional identities

This paper describes the methodology used for researching the inter-relationships between doctors and nurses during health reform as a progressive reflection through four stages: Ethnographic portraits, Quantitative methodology, Qualitative methodology and Constant Comparative Method (CCM). The cycle of comparison of and reflection on old and new material is iterative. Reflection on the dynamics of the social process was important consideration in the analysis, interpretation and writing up of the research. From the analysis of the survey questionnaire it can be concluded that superficially there is little subculture formation at the research site. However, the organisational culture appears much more complex when behaviours of people were observed. Patterns and lack of patterns of behaviour were identified through ethnographic observation, during interviews and between members of focus groups. These observations confirmed some of the espoused characteristics of organisational culture as was found through survey questionnaire, but were incomplete. Diagnosis of professional identity constructs and their use in the organisation using mixed methodologies confirmed that the quantitative methodology alone would have given an incomplete picture of the organisational culture makeup