140,901 research outputs found
Supporting ethnographic studies of ubiquitous computing in the wild
Ethnography has become a staple feature of IT research over the last twenty years, shaping our understanding of the social character of computing systems and informing their design in a wide variety of settings. The emergence of ubiquitous computing raises new challenges for ethnography however, distributing interaction across a burgeoning array of small, mobile devices and online environments which exploit invisible sensing systems. Understanding interaction requires ethnographers to reconcile interactions that are, for example, distributed across devices on the street with online interactions in order to assemble coherent understandings of the social character and purchase of ubiquitous computing systems. We draw upon four recent studies to show how ethnographers are replaying system recordings of interaction alongside existing resources such as video recordings to do this and identify key challenges that need to be met to support ethnographic study of ubiquitous computing in the wild
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Dialogues through design: ethnographic explorations of creative process
Ethnography has traditionally examined fashion in the context of consumption. This aligns with material culture's inclination for examining the meaning of objects through consumption rather than design, which should be considered the actual starting point of their meaningfulness. In spite of the wealth of perspectives interrogating fashion, there is a marked absence of literature exploring how it is actually created. Using an ethnographic study of women's shoe designers, this paper unpacks the real creative process. The research focused on the practical, material and social processes that bring the creative ideas of designers into the commercial sphere of the fashion system. Ethnography will be seen to be an integral method for revealing design from the perspective of its practitioners.
Central to the paper is an ethnographic dialogue between researcher, designers, ideas, materials and commerciality, bringing a more emotive perspective to design. Lasting eighteen months, the study involved observations of the practical stages of design and interviews with studio based designers, who apply a more handmade approach to their creativity. Ethnography was used to understand how design happens practically and commercially, as well as how it is experienced from the perspective of individual practitioners. A phenomenological approach was applied with the researcher learning to design and make shoes, enabling a reflective interpretation of data. Design was revealed to be fluid, sensory and reliant on tacit knowledge. The creative process for each designer was both experiential and personal, yet grounded in commerciality. The paper will tease out these tensions
Seeing ethnographically: teaching ethnography as part of CSCW
While ethnography is an established part of CSCW research, teaching and
learning ethnography presents unique and distinct challenges. This paper discusses a
study of fieldwork and analysis amongst a group of students learning ethnography as part
of a CSCW & design course. Studying the studentsâ practices we explore fieldwork as a
learning experience, both learning about fieldsites as well as learning the practices of
ethnography. During their fieldwork and analysis the students used a wiki to collaborate,
sharing their field and analytic notes. From this we draw lessons for how ethnography
can be taught as a collaborative analytic process and discuss extensions to the wiki to
better support its use for collaborating around fieldnotes. In closing we reflect upon the
role of learning ethnography as a practical hands on â rather than theoretical â pursuit
GTA: Groupware task analysis Modeling complexity
The task analysis methods discussed in this presentation stem from Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Ethnography (as applied for the design of Computer Supported Cooperative Work CSCW), different disciplines that often are considered conflicting approaches when applied to the same design problems. Both approaches have their strength and weakness, and an integration of them does add value to the early stages of design of cooperation technology. In order to develop an integrated method for groupware task analysis (GTA) a conceptual framework is presented that allows a systematic perspective on complex work phenomena. The framework features a triple focus, considering (a) people, (b) work, and (c) the situation. Integrating various task-modeling approaches requires vehicles for making design information explicit, for which an object oriented formalism will be suggested. GTA consists of a method and framework that have been developed during practical design exercises. Examples from some of these cases will illustrate our approach
Access to multiliteracies: A critical ethnography
This paper reports the key findings of a critical ethnography, which documented the enactment of the multiliteracies pedagogy in an Australian elementary school classroom. The multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group is a response to the emergence of multimodal literacies in contemporary contexts of increased cultural and linguistic diversity. Giddens' structuration theory was applied to the analysis of systems relations. The key finding was that students, who were culturally and linguistically diverse, had differential access to multiliteracies. Existing degrees of access were reproduced among the student cohort, based on the learners' relation to the dominant culture. Specifically, students from Anglo-Australian, middle-class backgrounds had greater access to transformed designing than those who were culturally or socio-economically marginalized. These experiences were influenced by the agency of individuals who were both enabled and constrained by structures of power within the school and the wider educational and social systems
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Research methods and methodologies for studying organisational learning
The purpose of this paper is to compare and evaluate the main research methods and methodologies
for studying organisational learning (OL), and propose a framework for their selection. It presents a
comprehensive review of literature on OL, learning organisation (LO) and research methods and
reports evidence on recent developments in research methods for studying OL. The paper highlighted
on the purists and pragmatistsâ views of research methodologies as basis of the study. The results
revealed that the research methods and methodologies for studying OL do not reflect on the differing
views of the purists and pragmatistsâ debate but rather conform to the convergence ideologies of the
two camps. Particularly, the outcomes augment the use of triangulation and suggest that the choice of
method(s) should be consistent with research aims and epistemological philosophy of OL.
Consequently, the study recommends OL Research Methods Framework as a useful guide for selecting
a suitable approach in the area. The paper recommends ethnography for future research
consideration
Mission drift in qualitative research, or moving toward a systematic review of qualitative studies, moving back to a more systematic narrative review
The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated. Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise techniques, inclusion of grey literature, scoping studies and meta-ethnography. A narrative inductive interpretive method to review qualitative research is proposed, using reflective teams to analyse documents. Narrative is suggested as a knowledge-generating method and its underlying hermeneutic approach is defended as providing validity and theoretical structure. Finally, qualities that distinguish qualitative research from more quantitative investigations are delineated. Starting points for reflecting on qualitative studies and their usefulness are listed. Key words: Qualitative Systematic Review, Evidence-Based Policy, Grey Literature, Scoping Studies, Delphi, âSignal and Noiseâ, Meta-ethnography, Narrative Review, Narrative Method, and Reflective Teams
Studies of Work: Achieving Hybrid Disciplines in IT Design and Management Studies
We explore the relationship between ethnomethodology (EM), ethnography and the needs of managers and designers in industry, considering both ethnomethodological and industrial criteria of adequacy and explicating their relationship through the concept of âaudience.â We examine a range of studies in this light, with a view to their possible candidacy as hybrid studies and identify three types of application of EM studies of work: market research, design, and business improvement. Application in the first of these fields we dub âanthropological,â in that it consists in studying and reporting back on the ways of exotic people (customers). This is the application most commonly found in studies of computer supported co-operative work (CSCW). A second CSCW application, âtechnomethodology,â involves the introduction of EM concepts into the design process. A further application, dubbed âholding-up-a-mirror,â involves reporting back to members of a setting upon their own activities. We argue that technomethodology and holding-up-a-mirror both offer the possibility of creating hybrid disciplines. We consider the objection that improvement and design involve the introduction of value judgements that threaten the practice of EM indifference, arguing that action research can serve as a guarantee of unique adequacy (UA) by testing the researcherâs understanding as analysis in action in the setting. Furthermore, the standard of reporting required by the UA criterion contributes to the effectiveness of proposed solutions
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