ABSTRACT
WORKPLACE STUDIES IS A BRANCH OF INTERACTIONAL SOCIOLOGY concerned with the analysis of knowledge and practice in work settings. This chapter provides an overview of the key conceptual features of the perspective and an outline of the methodological strategies that are typically applied within it. By drawing on a research study of optometric work practices, the discussion aims to show how this perspective can contribute to the analysis, understanding and design of clinical education. Our analysis of optometric work looks at how problems are established within consultations and at the conduct of a particular eye examination. The interactional practices used by optometrists in these sequences display communication skills that have been learnt in situ rather than through formal education contexts. As assessment relies in many cases on subjective reporting, these communication skills are crucial for establishing accurate evaluations of vision. By producing empirical findings such as those reported in this paper, workplace studies is able to generate important insights that can inform medical educational processes by, for example, preparing trainees to enter clinical professions.
