Conceptual frameworks for research: Intermediate Concept Construction & Conceptualizing Units of Analysis zConceptual frameworks for research zConceptualizing social practices zUnit of analysis (activity theory) zIntermediate concept construction zSociocultural or cultural historical school zContexts zAlternative frameworks

Conceptual frameworks for research zConceptual frameworks for research ySelective by necessity xWhat do you want to know? xHow can you know about it? How can you see it? xWho to include? xAlways: Who, what, when, where, why and how? yBuilding up understanding along the way: as an individual researcher or in a research team xBuilding a cumulative picture xMapping knowledge and understandings

Conceptual frameworks for research zConceptualizing social practices, activities, and interactions yHow do you conceptualize your object of inquiry? yVisible Invisible yFront stage back stage yProduction Reproduction yRoles, relations & responsibilities yPerspectives, identities yHow is the phenomenon held together? xIntermediaries, coordination

Conceptual frameworks for research zContexts of activities yOrganizational context ySociohistorical context ySituated contexts yHow contexts interact & co-construct instances of activities

Intermediate Concept Construction & Conceptualizing Units of Analysis zUnit of analysis (activity theory, K. Kuutti) zIntermediate concept construction yActivity: between structures and individuals yBetween concepts (theory lenses) and data xWhat you see in the field, on the ground xHow concepts “live,” situated in contexts in the field xMaking sense of field research yWhere and how to see activities (social practices, interactions) xcommunication, coordination xcollaboration, co-construction x“Where” and how perspectives come together

Intermediate Concept Construction & Conceptualizing Units of Analysis zUnit of analysis (activity theory) y“One should be able to delineate the object of research and to draw a boundary between the object and the background, and one should be able to find an entity in which all the threads of research can be conveniently connected.” (Kuutti, p. 249) zActivity system (lifeworld) yObject(s) of activity xirreducibly material and ideal xshared object(s)

Intermediate Concept Construction & Conceptualizing Units of Analysis zUnit of analysis (activity theory) zActivity system (lifeworld) yDevelopmental work research xGraphical representation (Engeström) xMapping, analysis, visualization xCommunities of practice, larger communities xNetworks of activity systems, communities

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks: Cultural Historical Activity Theory zSociocultural, cultural historical school yVoice, social languages, genres yDialogicality, polyphony, heteroglossia (Bakhtin) yArgumentative structure of thinking, heterogeneity yConversation analysis, discourse analysis are common methods

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks: Cultural Historical Activity Theory zCultural Historical Activity Theory zInternal structure of activities (Leontiev) oriented by, guided by yactivity object of activity (motive) yactions goals yoperations conditions

Cultural Historical Activity Theory: Context, Intermediate Concepts & Units of Analysis zCultural Historical Activity Theory zUnit of analysis (activity theory, K. Kuutti) zContexts of activities yIn activity theory, the basic unit of analysis requires “an intermediate concept -- a minimal meaningful context for individual actions... an activity. Because the context is included in the unit of analysis, the object of our research is always essentially collective, even if our main interest lies in individual actions.” (Kuutti, p. 254)

Cultural Historical Activity Theory: Context, Intermediate Concepts & Units of Analysis Cultural Historical Activity Theory zDialectical materialist perspective yDevelopment over time; change over time yLearning, expansive cycles zContexts of activities yOrganizational context ySociohistorical context ySituated contexts yHow contexts interact & co-construct instances of activities

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks: Actor-Network Theory Actor-Network (for example) xHeterogeneous ensembles of people and artifacts, human and non-human actors/actants xSemiotic analysis xTechnologies, systems, applications, artifacts as actors ontologies of non-human actants ->actors xIntermediaries between actors, co-constructing, enrolling, translating, inscribing, aligning actor- networks

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks: Actor-Network Theory Actor-Network Theory xex: laboratory information system, defining the actor-network for standards-making (Hanseth & Monteiro) x ex: middleware for interoperability: virtual ethnography of technology-in-the-making and collaboration among competitors (semiotic analysis, including analysis of gestures, metaphors) (S. Newman)

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks Other examples yEx: Participatory design of IS for a Film- Television-Radio company: thinking about who to include in the research and development? (Kensing & Simonsen)

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks Other examples yEx: Unit of analysis for study of influence of television coverage of the Intefada, comparative study of Jewish and Arab Israeli families

Alternative Conceptual Frameworks Other examples...