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This research seeks to develop a method for integrating historical analysis into qualitative studies of organizations.

June 3, 2026International Journal of Qualitative Methods0 citationsOpen Access

Unearthing Organizational Pasts: A Digging Method for Layered Qualitative Analysis in the Historic Turn of Organization Studies

Key Points

This research seeks to develop a method for integrating historical analysis into qualitative studies of organizations.
Introduced a four-stage Digging Method based on archaeological frameworks.
Stages include mapping temporal layers, collecting heterogeneous residues, layered analysis, and relational interpretation.
Highlighted quality and ethics safeguards like triangulation matrices and audit trails.
Demonstrated how the method surfaces persistent meanings and contested silences in organizations.
Illustrated application in various organizational contexts, showing relevance across different fields.
Outlined limitations and future directions for refining the method and integrating with existing research designs.

Abstract

Qualitative researchers often invoke history as backdrop rather than as a constitutive force. We introduce the Digging Method, an archaeologically inflected framework that integrates temporal depth into qualitative inquiry by treating organizations as stratified formations. The method translates four archaeological sensibilities; stratification, depth, residues/legacies, and erasure, into a transparent, auditable protocol comprising four stages: (1) mapping temporal layers through explicit periodization and reflexive rationale; (2) collecting heterogeneous residues across archives, intergenerational interviews, material artefacts, spaces, and symbols; (3) layered analysis via stratum-tagged coding that tracks continuities/ruptures and treats absence as data; and (4) relational interpretation that links strata to contemporary practices, ideologies, and governance. Hypothetical illustrations (a long-established university, a family firm, a public health agency, and a technology start-up) demonstrate how the approach surfaces persistent meanings, contested silences, and the co-presence of multiple pasts. We position the Digging Method as complementary to ethnography, grounded theory, narrative, and process research while adding explicit procedures for analyzing how accumulated layers shape present action. We also specify quality and ethics safeguards (strata x source triangulation matrices, audit trails, reflexive memos, protocols for handling sensitive archives). Framed as history-as-method, the Digging Method advances the historic turn by enabling temporally rich, cross-disciplinary, and ethically attentive analyses that are replicable and reviewable. We conclude with guidance on integrating stratigraphic coding into existing designs and discuss limitations (layer blurring, archive sparsity) and future directions (metrics for layer density/erosion, digital residues, and integration with longitudinal case designs).

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