Methodological and Ontological Principles of Observation and Analysis

<p>In our daily experiences, we feel, perceive, designate, invoke or comment on a plurality of beings: people, artifacts, technologies, institutions, projects, animals, divinities, emotions, cultures, ideologies or opinions that are part of our world. While these beings are all part of our world, they present various forms of existence. Echoing recent developments in existential anthropology, Communication as Constitutive of Organization (CCO) research, and Actor Network Theory, here scholars from a variety of disciplines discuss how they study the types of beings that have been at the core of their respective research. Reflecting on the specific mode of existence, presence and action of the being they follow, they reveal the methodological innovations they deploy in order to analyze excerpts of field notes, filmed interactions, conversations, pictures, newspapers, narratives, etc.</p> <p>Introduction How to follow and analzye a diversity of beings: An introduction <i>François Cooren and Fabienne Malbois </i>Chapter 1Following and analyzing a human being: On the continuity and singularity of an individual <i>Marine Kneubühler and Albert Piette </i>Chapter 2Following and analyzing a project: On the intricacies of shadowing a messy being<i>Consuelo Vásquez </i>Chapter 3Following and analyzing public opinion: Invention and circulation of an authority figure <i>Laurence Kaufmann</i>Chapter 4Following and analyzing an artifact: Culture-through-things <i>Letizia Caronia</i>Chapter 5Following and analyzing a divinity: God speaks in public, or charismatic prophecy from intimacy to politics <i>Philippe Gonzalez </i>Chapter 6Following and analyzing an identity: The case of the public specular appearances of Chelsea (Bradley) Manning <i>Fabienne Malbois </i>Chapter 7Being followed by an organization: A <i>hauntological</i> perspective on organizational ethnography <i>Frederik Matte and Nicolas Bencherki </i>Chapter 8 Following and analyzing an idea: What does it mean to do so for a communication researcher? <i>Thomas Martine</i></p>