INFO 272. Qualitative Research Methods 5 November 2009

Outline 1. ‘Operationalizing’ theory – translating from theory into methodological procedure 2. Some theories about technology in society 3. Note on Ethnographic Writing

…from Tuesday’s Lecture Operationalizing Semiotics for Image Analysis

Social Construction of Technology [Bijker on the bicycle] High wheeled bicycle Concerned community members Athletic young men

Terms:  Relevant Social Groups  Interpretive Flexibility  Closure Social Construction of Technology

Operationalizing SCOT  Subject/Topic: a new, unsettled technology under development (or from historical archives)  Who are the relevant social groups?  Identify the divergent interpretations of the artifact held by these groups  Look for evidence of how interpretive conflicts are resolved materially resulting in closure

Network Approaches  Cowan on the “Consumption Junction”

Operationalizing Network Approaches  Subject/Topic: the “consumption junction”  Q: how do consumers arrive at the decision to choose one technology over its alternatives? How do we account for delayed success? Approach:  Parallel treatment of failed and successful tech  Center on the consumer – then move through and map out other domains -- household, retail, wholesale, production, government

Revisiting Grounded Theory

What Use for Theory?  Here’s a counter-argument to a grounded theory analytical approach Theory can sensitize, suggest ways of studying, analyzing a case Challenge received wisdom, ordinary, habitual interpretations To transcend our own socialization

The status of ‘things’ in society  In social theory - a new appreciation of the material world and the socializing effect of ‘things’ (in contrast to fixation on language, discourse, and a dematerialized social structure)  “the performative and integrative capacity of ‘things’ to help make what we call society.” [Pels, pg. 2]

Three theoretical frames for thinking about (technological) objects

1) Objects Enforce the Normative Order  Visible vs. invisible  The Humility of Objects – “The less aware of [things we are], the more powerfully they can determine our expectations by setting the scene and ensuring normative behavior.” [Miller, Material Culture and Mass Consumption] Research Question: what is visible or invisible? Who’s interests are served by this state of visibility?

[Source: Bowker and Star, Sorting Things Out]

2) Objects Form a Semiotic System  Function, exchange, symbolic, and sign values  Objects are realized through relations (i.e. Actor-Network Theory) [See Baudrillard, The System of Objects] Research Question: what systems of objects exist? In a home? In an office? How are the social properties of an object produced through its relationships?

3) The Self is Constructed Through Possession of Objects  "artifacts as culture derives…from their active participation in a process of social self-creation in which they are directly constitutive of our understanding of ourselves and others...” [Miller, Material Culture and Mass Consumption]  Identity display, class distinctions Research Question: how is status or identity accomplished through possessions? [see also Bourdieu, Distinction]

Ethnographic Writing

 Woolgar took a position within an IT company to study the development of a new technological object and a series of usability studies. What is his data? How does he reference his subjective position?

Usability vs. Ethnographic Research  A usability trial vs. ethnographic study of a usability trial  The broader institution within which research takes place

Summary  How theory can be used to guide site selection, suggest novel questions, and define procedures  A case for embracing existing theory rather than eschewing it entirely for ‘grounded’ theory.  Ways of thinking about objects/ documents/ info as integral to the social  Ethnography vs. Usability