ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that the use of drawing in research has been limited to studies of visual representations produced by the culture observed or illustrations made by the ethnographer recording objects or scenes witnessed, akin to the use of photography. The chapter first considers the model provided by the discipline of Infant Observation as developed in the Tavistock tradition and applied to observations in organizational settings. It then considers the production of drawings by the observer/researcher as a means to access tacit knowledge and unconscious perceptions of which she/he has not been aware due to the work of internal censorship. Findings concerning the approach made in different settings are examined, and the hypothesis advanced by the chapter is that drawings of an observation may function as a dream “shared” by observed and observer. The records can then be explored by the observer with a peer group of researchers producing free associations to the (verbal, written, and) drawn accounts produced by the researcher of and about the culture described, thus resulting in richer data. The postscript describes the change of focus as the subject became the theme of subsequent doctoral research.
