Scraping the Social? Issues in live social research

What makes scraping methodologically interesting for social and cultural research? This paper seeks to contribute to debates about digital social research by exploring how a ‘medium-specific’ technique for online data capture may be rendered analytically productive for social research. As a device that is currently being imported into social research, scraping has the capacity to re-structure social research, and this in at least two ways. Firstly, as a technique that is not native to social research, scraping risks to introduce ‘alien’ methodological assumptions into social research (such as an pre-occupation with freshness). Secondly, to scrape is to risk importing into our inquiry categories that are prevalent in the social practices enabled by the media: scraping makes available already formatted data for social research. Scraped data, and online social data more generally, tend to come with ‘external’ analytics already built-in. This circumstance is often approached as a ‘problem’ with online data capture, but we propose it may be turned into virtue, insofar as data formats that have currency in the areas under scrutiny may serve as a source of social data themselves. Scraping, we propose, makes it possible to render traffic between the object and process of social research analytically productive. It enables a form of ‘real-time’ social research, in which the formats and life cycles of online data may lend structure to the analytic objects and findings of social research. By way of a conclusion, we demonstrate this point in an exercise of online issue profiling, and more particularly, by relying on Twitter to profile the issue of ‘austerity’. Here we distinguish between two forms of real-time research, those dedicated to monitoring live content (which terms are current?) and those concerned with analysing the liveliness of issues (which topics are happening?)

The golden circle: A way of arguing and acting about technology in the London ambulance service

This paper analyses the way in which the London Ambulance Service recovered from the events of October 1992, when it implemented a computer-aided despatch system (LASCAD) that remained in service for less than two weeks. It examines the enactment of a programme of long-term organizational change, focusing on the implementation of an alternative computer system in 1996. The analysis in this paper is informed by actor-network theory, both by an early statement of this approach developed by Callon in the sociology of translation, and also by concepts and ideas from Latour’s more recent restatement of his own position. The paper examines how alternative interests emerged and were stabilized over time, in a way of arguing and acting among key players in the change programme, christened the Golden Circle. The story traces four years in the history of the London Ambulance Service, from the aftermath of October 1992 through the birth of the Golden Circle to the achievement of National Health Service (NHS) trust status. LASCAD was the beginning of the story, this is the middle, an end lies in the future, when the remaining elements of the change programme are enacted beyond the Golden Circle

Effet d'une expérimentation de brassage artificiel epilimnique par aération sur les poussées cyanobactériennes dans la retenue hypereutrophe de Grangent (France)

Dans la retenue hypereutrophe de Grangent, le phytoplancton estival est dominé par la cyanobactérie Microcystis aeruginosa. Dans le but de lutter contre la formation de ces blooms cyanobactériens, une expérimentation de brassage artificiel épilimnique par aération a été réalisée en 1997-1998. Ce dispositif avait pour but de créer des turbulences supprimant l'avantage adaptatif que constitue, chez M. aeruginosa, la faculté de réguler sa flottabilité. Il devait également permettre l'homogénéisation des teneurs en oxygène dissous, la réduction des pics de pH, de la turbidité des eaux superficielles et des teneurs en ammonium.Les résultats escomptés ont été vérifiés pour les paramètres physicochimiques. Les valeurs se sont révélées plus homogènes, mais seulement à proximité des lignes de brassage et uniquement jusqu'à 10 m de profondeur. En revanche, les blooms cyanobactériens n'ont pas été réduits. Il apparaît même au contraire que, sous l'influence du mélange, les cyanobactéries ont eu à leur disposition une plus grande quantité de nutriments qu'elles ont utilisés pour constituer des réserves glucidiques. Ainsi, en aval de la zone brassée, ces réserves ont permis une synthèse protéique plus importante.Sur la retenue de Grangent, le dispositif de brassage peut offrir une solution palliative du point de vue touristique en limitant l'accumulation de cyanobactéries en surface, mais il ne permet pas d'éliminer, ni même de diminuer, les proliférations de M. aeruginosa en période estivale.In the reservoir of Grangent, a highly eutrophic lake located on the upper part of the Loire River, about 10 miles south of Saint-Étienne (France), Microcystis aeruginosa usually dominates the phytoplankton community in late summer and early autumn for many years. Mass developments of this cyanobacterium led to serious difficulties in multi-purpose usage. In order to fight against blooms, an epilimnic artificial mixing was experimented. M. aeruginosa is adapted to stable stratification of the water column. Therefore, partial destratification or bubbling with air are employed to replace M. aeruginosa by better grazable, non- " blooming " and non-toxic species. This cyanobacterium is supposed to lose its advantage of buoyancy and to reduce his growth. This system was also employed to reduce peaks of pH, turbidity of surface waters and concentration of NH4 and to homogenize the dissolved oxygen concentration inside the water column. Three lines of mixing were tested in 1998: one located at "Châtelet", upstream of reservoir, measuring 700 m at 11 m depth; one near the beach of Saint-Victor, with the same length and immersed to 15 m depth and, finally, a line of 400 m, near the port, at 16 m depth (figure 1).Data were collected from representative sites, upstream, near and downstream the artificial mixing. They were sampled weekly since April to November 1998. At each site the vertical profiles of temperature and dissolved oxygen were measured (figure 2). For each sample, the parameters following were analyzed: pH, NO3, NH4, PO4, carbohydrates, proteins, chlorophyll a and phytoplankton enumeration.Concerning the physicochemical parameters, the assumptions were checked: the values appeared more homogeneous near the lines of mixing than at the other stations. For example, the average temperatures varied between 20,6°C (at 10 m depth) and 21,3°C (at 0,5 m depth) at Saint-Victor. This variation reached 1,3°C at the station Camaldules. On the other hand, this effect was perceived only up to 10 m of depth and at a limited distance of mixing.In the same way, the colonies of M. aeruginosa were mixed in the water column but only up 10 m depth and near mixing. Moreover, their growth has not decreased on the whole of reservoir. In period of bloom (August 25), G/P ratio was higher in the mixing zone than in the neighbourhoods, primarily because of an increase in carbohydrates (figure 3). In the mixed zone, M. aeruginosa seemed to benefit greater quantity of mineral elements it could use to constitute carbohydrates reserves (figure 4). In this way, when the conditions that became less favourable, like downstream, cyanobacteria were able to follow their development by synthesizing proteins starting from their reserves in carbohydrates.In the reservoir of Grangent, artificial mixing did not allow to fight effectively against blooms of cyanobacteria. Colonies of M. aeruginosa were simply diluted in the water column near mixing but did not reduce their growth

Towards practice-based studies of HRM: an actor-network and communities of practice informed approach

HRM may have become co-terminus with the new managerialism in the rhetorical orthodoxies of the HRM textbooks and other platforms for its professional claims. However, we have detailed case-study data showing that HR practices can be much more complicated, nuanced and indeed resistive toward management within organizational settings. Our study is based on ethnographic research, informed by actor-network theory and community of practice theory conducted by one of the authors over an 18-month period. Using actor-network theory in a descriptive and critical way, we analyse practices of managerial resistance, enrolment and counter-enrolment through which an unofficial network of managers used a formal HRM practice to successfully counteract the official strategy of the firm, which was to close parts of a production site. As a consequence, this network of middle managers effectively changed top management strategy and did so through official HRM practices, coupled with other actor-network building processes, arguably for the ultimate benefit of the organization, though against the initial views of the top management. The research reported here, may be characterized as a situated study of HRM-in-practice and we draw conclusions which problematize the concept of HRM in contemporary management literature

Actors and networks or agents and structures: towards a realist view of information systems

Actor-network theory (ANT) has achieved a measure of popularity in the analysis of information systems. This paper looks at ANT from the perspective of the social realism of Margaret Archer. It argues that the main issue with ANT from a realist perspective is its adoption of a `flat' ontology, particularly with regard to human beings. It explores the value of incorporating concepts from ANT into a social realist approach, but argues that the latter offers a more productive way of approaching information systems

Managing stress through the Stress Free app: Practices of self-care in digitally mediated spaces

In this paper we are concerned with the question of how we feel when living in concert with multiple technologies. More specifically, we are focused on the influx of digital apps designed to manage psychological wellbeing. We draw on empirical work exploring one such app, Stress Free, and focus on the experiences of stress and technological tools designed to lessen stress. Our concern is with the way that technologies become part of the experience of stress as opposed to solely understanding the app as a tool aimed to reduce the occurrence and severity of stress. This involves taking a theoretical journey through philosophies of technology that provide valuable resources for conceptualising the relational characteristics of digitally mediated stress. Our wider interest is to speak to broader concerns with the movement to ‘digital care’ and the implications for how we conceptualise technology, self and care therein