Adventures in the field: conducting an interpretive case study of strategic management consultants

The paper presents the author´s approach and experiences in conducting an interpretive case study of strategic management consultants (H.K. Klein and M.D. Myers, 1999; W.J. Orlikowski and J.J. Baroudi, 1991) and their use of IT. The purpose of the study was to understand how knowledge workers learn to use information technology in their work and to build theory related to this topic. The situated learning theory, legitimate peripheral participation (J. Lave and E. Wenger, 1991), provided the basis for data collection and analysis. The paper discusses: the research strategy and design; issues related to data collection, analysis and interpretation; ethical and validity considerations; and lessons learned, which confirm and extend those presented in texts about conducting field research. The paper is intended to assist other researchers interested in conducting in-depth field studies in dynamic environments filled with information technology, especially when autonomous, highly educated knowledge workers are involved.