Week 1 - Rules of the Game

BUSN 8018 Qualitative Research Methods with Professor Jacobs

Rules of the Game

This class was very interesting because it gave me a different perspective to look at my academic field.  There was a clear emphasis on this notion of the ‘rules of the game’.  It seems that the rules of the game are made by those in power.  If you want to play the game, you need to know the rules that apply to the game.  Otherwise, you don’t know what game you are playing and you cannot win.  I guess that these ‘rules’ are not made explicit but you need to figure them out for yourself. 

As the rules of the game are made by powerful players, they also have the ability to change/rewrite the rules as they have access to and control resources.  However, I think a very important point to note is that nothing is fixed.  That is, the rules of the game are not absolute, static or fixed, but rather, the rules are dynamic and change as they are subject to ever-changing societal expectations and values.  The rules of the game are socially constructed by powerful players.  Furthermore, the rules can also change and be rewritten if those in positions of power change.  For example, if the powerful players change, they will create a new set of rules and so the dynamics of the game changes.  This means that you need to keep up with these continuous changes.