Nature of the Study

The above cited literature makes this study a qualitative one facilitating the exploration of the issue
under consideration with the use of variety of sources for data collection. For understanding of the
multiple facets of the issue to reveal this qualitative study gives the surety that the phenomena
under consideration is explored through a variety of lenses from different perspectives.

Research questions
How do people experience aesthetic and emotional labor at workplace?
How are emotions embodied in aesthetic labor?
How people cope up with emotional and aesthetic labor at the same time?

Unit of analysis
The research will be conducted in 4 branded hotel having branches throughout Pakistan namely
pearl continental hotel, Serena Hotel , Marriott Hotel and Hotel Margala

Philosophical Underpinnings
The philosophical stance used in this study will be constructivism which claims that truth is not
objective rather relative to the people perceiving it (Searle, 1995). It is not rejecting objectivity but
rather giving importance to the subjective creation of meaning by people involved in the
phenomena under research. There is always close interaction between the researcher and the
respondents engaging them to narrate their stories. (Crabtree & Miller, 1999) with the help of
which they express their opinions and ideas about reality as perceived helping the researcher in
understanding the participant. (Lather, 1992; Robottom & Hart, 1993).

Methodology
According to Riessman 2008 narratives are considered as beginning of humankind whereas
Barthes noted it as start of mankind and remarked that there is no one without narrative and that
narrative is like life in itself (p.11).
The events and actions in any story are plotted together in an organized form, this emplotment
where one effect is linked with the other in order usually differentiates a story from an ordinary
fact (Pokinghorne). These effects, events or elements give association, consistency and logic
leading to a structured understanding (Carr, 1986, cited in Webster and Mertova, 2007, p.2).
On the other hand, it is important to note that narratives are basically subjective construction of
reality i.e how life is perceived by people (Webster and Mertova, p.3); built on one’s selected
experiences from lives. As by Riessmann (2008), the story tellers just talk about the important
events and link them sequentially to make a proper story for listeners to perceive. Stories are
considered as stream of experience to remember modify neglect moments (p.29).
Riessman (2008) argues in the process of social identification by storytelling is through contruction
of who we are and what we want to be known. With such creation of identity, we create our
affiliation with other members of the culture and similarly affiliates others with different identities.
(Menard-Warmick, 2011, p.565).
Narratives make knowledge more learnable by structuring and organizing the everyday
experiences. It gives meaning to the experiences and process it differently than others. It is way of
studying human experiences and knowing the world as experienced by humans.
Narratives are unrestricted from the distinctive objectivity which is in positivism and hence focuses
on interpretivism. Here the researcher and the participants are “in relationship with each other and
that both parties will learn and change in the encounter” (Pinnegar and Daynes, 2006, p. 10).
An interview topic guide will be prepared to facilitate the interviewing process. Efforts will be
made to capture all the relevant voices at different interactional[organizational] levels in
organization[s]. Data collection will be guided by the emergent field issues through the initial
analysis of the data. Data collection will remain continue till the data saturation is reached. In
addition to field interviews, field observation, field memos and field notes will also be used to
ensure the truthfulness of data through triangulation. All the ethical protocols will be followed
(consent of the participants, participants information sheet, access issues, anonymity of the
respondents, etc). Interviews will be tape-recorded and properly transcribed. Member checks will
be also performed to authenticate the accuracy of field data. For analysis, a constant comparison
will be made of the interviews. Specifically, thematic analysis will be used to analyze the data. It
is also submitted that various coding methods (e.g. descriptive coding, In-Vivo coding, line by line
coding, paragraph coding) and coding schemes (theoretical coding, focused coding, etc) will be
used to help in doing thematic analysis (Saldana, 2009).