S514: Social Aspects of IT

1. S514: Social Aspects of IT Week 3

2. Disciplines related to SI Management Social Science Computer Sci. Communication Information Science MIS Science & Technology Studies Social Informatics

3. Scholars: Theoretical Perspectives Management Social Science Computer Sci. Communication Monberg Qualman Webster Arora Castells Information Science MIS Suchman Turkle Markus Science & Technology Studies Kling Lamb Sismondo Beijker Sawyer Social Informatics Rosenbaum Wouters

4. Social Informatics (Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer, 2005) • Definition of SI: • The interdisciplinary study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts (Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer, 2005, p. 6). SLIS S514

5. Social Informatics (Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer, 2005) • 3 orientations in SI research • Normative ~= social realism • E.g., participatory design • Analytical ~= social theory • E.g., Web model; STIN • Critical • Question the standard model SLIS S514

6. Social Informatics (Lamb & Sawyer, 2005) Socio-technical perspectives People Environment Work Practice Technology SLIS S514

7. Social Informatics (Kling, et al., 2005) • How would you explain social informatics to a friend? • What is the difference between technological determinism and the contextual analysis identified in social informatics research? Technological determinism: Technology as an independent variable directly effecting social change SLIS S514

8. Consequences of ICTs for Organizations and Social Life (Kling et al., 2005) • Social Nature of ICTs • ICTs are interpreted and used in different ways • ICTs enable and constrain social actions and social relationships • ICTs provide a means to alter existing control structures • There can be negative consequences of ICT developments for some stakeholders SLIS S514

9. Consequences of ICTs for Organizations and Social Life (Kling et al., 2005) • Technical Nature of ICTs • ICTs play both communicative and computational roles • There are important temporal and spatial dimensions of ICT consequences • ICTs rarely cause social transformations • ICTs are not magic bullets • Institutional Nature of ICTs • Social and technical consequences are embedded in institutional contexts • ICTs often have important political consequences SLIS S514

10. Analysis of Arora’s Article • This paper won the ASIST SIG-SI best paper awards. • I was a discussant to talk about this paper (and another paper together). • What would be your comment to introduce Arora’s article if you were the discussant for the SIG-SI best paper awards? SLIS S514

11. Messy Shapes of Knowledge (The Virtual Knowledge Studio, 2008) • Impact talk • E-science (European perspective) vs. Cyberinfrasturcutre (US perspective) • “Media inscribes our situation” (p. 323) • Inscriptions are “self-producing” and “the product of labor” (p. 339) • Possibility for new methods with the Internet SLIS S514

12. Three Shuttles (Giebryn, 2003)

13. Social Construction of Technology (Bijker, 2001) • Technology is socially constructed • Criticize technological determinism • SCOT’s 3 research steps: • Relevant social group and interpretive flexibility (e.g., ordinary bicycle) • Closure and stabilization • Technological frame SLIS S514

14. Social Construction of Technology (Bijker, 2001) • Two important concepts of research on SCOT • Seamless web • Mutual shaping of technology and society • Symmetry • Human and non-human actors should be treated similarly SLIS S514

15. What is Actor Network Theory? • E.g., driving a car

16. What is Actor Network Theory? • E.g., driving a car

17. Actor-Network Theory • The notion of Actor-network theory (ANT) helps us to map out the set of elements (the network) which influence, shape, or determine action (Monteiro). • Methodologically, ANT has two major approaches. One is to "follow the actor," via interviews and ethnographic research. The other is to examine inscriptions (e.g., documents, images, graphics, etc.). (Van House, 1999) http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~vanhouse/bridge.html

18. Basic Concepts in ANT • Inscription • an artifact . . . embodies the innovators' beliefs, social and economic relations, previous patterns of use, legal limits, and assumptions as to what the artifact is about (Akrich, 1992). • The term inscription is used when designers formulate and shape technology in such a way as to lead and control users. Inscription can also refer to the way technical artifacts embody patterns of use, including user programs of action. (Faraj et al., 2004) See also Van House (2004)

19. Basic Concepts in ANT • Translation • Design is translation (i.e., users needs are translated into a set of specifications) • Once an innovator's beliefs and interests are embodied in forms of inscription and technical arrangements, networks of actors with their own chains of translations can react to them. These actors can form an alliance of interests and compete for standards. The actors race first to choose the technology that seems most beneficial for them and then enroll this technology in their own actor-network (Faraj et al., 2004). See also Van House, N. A. (2004). Science and technology studies and information studies. Annual Review of Information Science & Technology, vol. 38.

20. Basic Concepts in ANT (Allen, 2004) • Enrollment • The moment that another actor accepts the interests defined by the focal actor • Process of persuasion and control which creates, and maintains actor-networks see also Van House, 2004

21. Basic Concepts in ANT • Black-boxing • The way scientific and technical work is made invisible by its own success. When a machine runs efficiently, one need focus only on its inputs and outputs and not on its internal complexity. Van House, 2004

22. Group Activity • Form 3 teams (3 people each) for 4 articles assigned for this week: • A: Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer Ch1 & 2 • B: Arora • C: Wouters et al • List P+, M-, I!, and Q? for each article individually • Come up with a group decision of P+, M-, I!, and Q? SLIS S514