'Academic Conferences and Publishing International - ACPIL'
Abstract
This paper explores the value of using the dérive and psychogeography as a means of teaching research methods to business students. It draws on the experience and reflections of undergraduate students who carried out a derive in a research methods course. It makes a novel contribution to qualitative research practices in business by applying a methodology established in literary circles and sociology to business. Using the dérive illuminates the importance of several issues such as the dominance of the visual and the importance of location. The paper also considers whether certain people are more open to dérives, whether first-year undergraduates are mature enough for such an activity, and whether undergraduates are able to deal with such an informal practice. It considers how early in their education and to what effect students should be exposed to fundamental issues of epistemology and the challenges to orthodoxy. The findings suggest that the setting of the project is consequential and that reflection is an important element in students’ learning from the experience. We may conclude that the deployment of dérive related to psychogeography in teaching research methods in business is viable and productive
