Monitor Screens of Market Risks: Managing Electricity in a Finnish Control Room

Electricity control rooms are the subject of many recent organizational studies. These studies have brought together the topics of technological risks and reliability with ethnographic methodologies and the broader themes in public policy and management. With a few exceptions, however, the technological artifacts of electricity control room work have received little systematic attention. This article tries to address this gap by discussing a technology that is pervasive in control room settings: the computer monitor. The research question asks what the effects of these devices are in electricity control room settings and especially in relation to the management of market risks in electricity supply. The article draws upon ethnographic research of an electricity control room in Finland. Motivated by sociological research on market devices, attention is paid to the ‘screened’ relationships between control room practices and the Nordic market of electrical energy. The analysis illustrates how market place bidding on monitors can discipline control room work and extend the capabilities that the control room workers have for calculating uncertainties and risk. However, while the screened market place on the monitors enacts a comprehensive global “economic world”, the analysis also shows how the screened market prices and energy quantities are always shaped by local work practices. One example of this concerns the weather. The local weather impacts energy generation and consumption levels directly. Hence while calculating energy market bids the control room workers need to ‘screen’ upcoming weather and stay alert to weather fluctuations. Emphasis on local practice is also relevant as it highlights a salient aspect of control room monitors: the monitors’ relation with working habits. Monitors, interacted with continuously in the control room, can become part of a working habit and appear to be mastered without that much constant reflection. The article concludes by relating its findings to debates on risks and markets. It claims that ethnographic knowledge from sites such as energy market control rooms adds to the understanding of market risks as it introduces a relevant and original aspect: management of uncertainties that works through real-time engagement with technological artifacts. In the case of the control room practice, market risks are not so much managed or ‘perceived’ by controllers alone. Rather they are dealt with through an assemblage of people, habits, numbers and monitors continuously working together to produce a reliable infrastructure service in ever-changing situations

Sociology of Interdisciplinarity

This Open Access book builds upon Science and Technology Studies (STS) and provides a detailed examination of how large-scale energy research projects have been conceived, and with what consequences for those involved in interdisciplinary research, which has been advocated as the zenith of research practice for many years, quite often in direct response to questions that cannot be answered (or even preliminarily investigated) by disciplines working separately. It produces fresh insights into the lived experiences and actual contents of interdisciplinarity, rather than simply commentating on how it is being explicitly advocated. We present empirical studies on large-scale energy research projects from the United Kingdom, Norway, and Finland. The book presents a new framework, the Sociology of Interdisciplinarity, which unpacks interdisciplinary research in practice. This book will be of interest to all those interested in well-functioning interdisciplinary research systems and the dynamics of doing interdisciplinarity, including real ground-level experiences and institutional interdependencies

Kätilön ja terveydenhoitajan kohtaaminen neuvolapalveluissa sateenkaariperheiden kokemana

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli kuvata sateenkaariperheiden kokemuksia siitä, kuinka neuvolapalveluissa työskentelevät kätilöt ja terveydenhoitajat heidät kohtaavat. Lisäksi tarkoituksena oli kuvata millainen sateenkaariperheiden mielestä on hyvä kohtaamistilanne. Tavoitteena oli tuottaa uutta tietoa neuvolapalveluiden kätilöiden ja terveydenhoitajien osaamisen kehittämiseksi sateenkaariperheiden kohtaamisessa. Opinnäytetyössä käytettiin kvalitatiivista tutkimusmenetelmää. Aineiston keruu suoritettiin esseellä. Kohderyhmänä oli Sateenkaariperheet Ry:n tietyn alueyhdistyksen sateenkaariperheet. Esseevastaukset saatiin viideltä perheeltä. Analysointimenetelmänä käytettiin aineistolähtöistä analyysiä. Opinnäytetyön tulokset olivat samankaltaisia kuin aiemmassa saman aiheen tutkimuksessa. Sateenkaariperheillä oli pääosin hyviä kokemuksia kätilöiden tai terveydenhoitajien kohtaamisesta neuvolapalveluissa. Sateenkaariperheillä havaittiin olevan myös yksilöllisiä eroja kokemuksissa. Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan hyvä kohtaamistilanne kätilöiden tai terveydenhoitajien kanssa oli kokonaisuus, joka muodostui useista asioista. Tietyt ilmiöt nousivat tutkimuksessa muita enemmän esille. Sateenkaariperheet korostivat sateenkaariperheiden kohtaamisen, sateenkaariperheellisyyden huomioinnin, koko perheen yksilöllisen huomioinnin, kätilön tai terveydenhoitajan kohtaamistaidon, asiakassuhteen jatkuvuuden, tiedonhankinnan, -puutteen ja – kulun sekä kätilön ja terveydenhoitajan työtä ohjaavien arvojen merkitystä.The purpose of this study was to describe rainbow families´ experiences of how midwives and public health nurses encounter them in maternity and child health clinics. In addition, the purpose was to describe the criteria of good encounters according to rainbow families. The aim was to provide new information for midwives and public health nurses in order to develop their competence related to encounters with rainbow families. A qualitative research method was used in the study. Data collection was carried out by using an essay. The target group was the rainbow families belonging to a certain regional association of the National Association of Rainbow Families called Sateenkaariperheet Ry in Finnish. Essay responses were received from five families. The method of data analysis was datadriven analysis. The results of the study were similar to those in a previous study on the same topic. The families had mostly good experiences of encounters with midwives or public health nurses in the clinics. However, the results also revealed individual differences in the experiences. According to the results, good encounters with midwives or public health nurses consisted of a variety of issues. Some phenomena distinguished themselves more than others. The rainbow families highlighted the importance of the following aspects: encountering rainbow families, paying attention to rainbow families, paying unique attention to the whole family, midwives’ or public health nurses’ professional encountering skills, the continuity of the client relationship, data acquisition skills, lack of information as well as the flow of information and, finally, the values guiding midwives’ and public health nurses’ work

On Theory-Methods Packages in Science and Technology Studies

Our review essay contributes to the long-standing and vibrant discussion in science and technology studies (STS) on methods, methodologies, and theory-method relationships. We aim to improve the reflexivity of research by unpacking the often implicit assumptions that imbue research conduct and by offering practical tools through which STS researchers can recognize their research designs and think through them in a new way. To achieve these aims, we analyze different compositions of theories, methods, and empirics in three different STS approaches-actor-network theory, the biography of artifacts and practices, and ethnomethodology-by employing the concept of a theory-methods package (TMP). A selection of theoretical cornerstone texts and case studies in infrastructure research from each tradition serves as our material. Our findings point, first, to differences between the TMPs of the reviewed approaches and to the internal diversity of theory-method relationships in each approach. Second, we found some intriguing similarities between the approaches and discuss potential complementarities of their theory-method fits.Peer reviewe

Sociology of Interdisciplinarity

This Open Access book builds upon Science and Technology Studies (STS) and provides a detailed examination of how large-scale energy research projects have been conceived, and with what consequences for those involved in interdisciplinary research, which has been advocated as the zenith of research practice for many years, quite often in direct response to questions that cannot be answered (or even preliminarily investigated) by disciplines working separately. It produces fresh insights into the lived experiences and actual contents of interdisciplinarity, rather than simply commentating on how it is being explicitly advocated. We present empirical studies on large-scale energy research projects from the United Kingdom, Norway, and Finland. The book presents a new framework, the Sociology of Interdisciplinarity, which unpacks interdisciplinary research in practice. This book will be of interest to all those interested in well-functioning interdisciplinary research systems and the dynamics of doing interdisciplinarity, including real ground-level experiences and institutional interdependencies

An Oral History of Programming Practices:Gender and Age Dynamics and Digital (Dis)Engagement Among Computer Programmers in Finland

Since the 1980s, educational policies in many countries have aimed at improving the computer literacy and programming competencies of the population. Over the same period, the possibilities that people have seen regarding programming and everyday programming practices have emerged as an area of strong interest within historical scholarship. The paper contributes to these discussions by drawing on techniques of oral history to focus on programming hobbies and practices in Finland. Examining data from a massive survey of computer hobbyists (N = 1,453) and their recollections about personal computer use (largely during the 1980s), the paper gathers new information on what leads to people’s pursuit of or interest in programming and how their programming habits have changed over time. The study links together the gender and age dynamics in programming and shows how the respondents not only engaged with but also could become disengaged from programming for various reasons.peerReviewe

Smelling Machine History Olfactory Experiences of Information Technology

This article analyses users' olfactory recollections of computers, based on large-scale, online inquiry material collected between 2002 and 2003 and in 2013. It discusses how olfactory experiences and recollections can be classified based on narration and the causes of odors. Furthermore, it explores the changes of olfactory recollections over the course of ten years, and deals with age and gender in these recollections and in their representations. This project develops new paths and possibilities for studying the cultural history of technology and the collection of research material, as well as the exhibition of the history of computing by examining the historical, cultural, political, and economic dimensions of sensations and senses

Habits Over Routines: Remarks on Control Room Practices and Control Room Studies

The evolution of computer tools has had profound impacts on many aspects of control rooms and control room studies. In this paper, we discuss some key assumptions underpinning these studies based on a new case of the electricity distribution control rooms, where the reliability of the electricity infrastructure is managed by a combination of planning and real-time maintenance. Some of these practices have changed remarkably little – partially because they have been considered to have been ‘digitalized’ since the 1950s and have continued to amass digital solutions from different periods. Hence, the gradual transformation of control room work demands nuanced attention, both conceptual and empirical. To outline a framework for this work, we provide a conceptualization of organizational routines, habits, and reflectivity and synthesize existing CSCW and control room literature. We then present an empirical study that demonstrates our concepts and shows how they can be applied to study cooperative work. By addressing these aims the paper complements, and advances, the important topics recognized in this special theme issue and hence develops new research openings in CSCW. We address the necessity to avoid implicit determinism when analyzing new digital support tools and suggest focusing on how working habits mediate social changes, distribution, and decentralization in representing the power distribution in control rooms

From Cut to Criticisms : Electric Power Failures as Events and Experiences

The degree of electrification is often connected with high standard of living, welfare, industry s structure and environmental factors. All of these have been thought to determine that Finland uses a lot of electricity. In this master s thesis, I take a different approach to electric power. The focus of research is the interruptions of electricity delivery, which are also called power outages. Power outages may last from couple of minutes to several months and in a country like Finland they have several consequences. In this thesis power outage is regarded as a cultural risk, interpreted as part of cultural practices and beliefs. The starting point is that ruptures make the electric power networks a novel subject of speech and action. Different groups conceptions of nature, institutions and social bonds are supposed to underlie the conception of outages. Main research theory of the thesis are the technology studies of Ulrich Beck, Charles Perrow, and Bruno Latour and the grid/group-theory formulated by Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky. Data analysis is done using the structural semiotic models of A. J. Greimas. Framing these happenings is the changed economic situation through the liberalization of Finnish energy markets that happened in the late 1990 s, and recent weather conditions that have been connected with global warming. Outages are dealt with concerning people s homes in one hand and the experts from power companies on the other hand. The data of thesis consists of three separate corpuses. Both Finnish lay electricity users (9 persons) and experts at Finnish power utilities (7 persons) were interviewed. These interviews were analysed to compare views on power outages. Additionally, 115 lay persons from Southern and Eastern Finland answered a survey part of the thesis. The survey sought to gain a larger picture of outages effects in homes. This data was interpreted by dividing it according to variables such as gender, age, number of experienced outages and geographical area. According to the data analysis, power outage is not a completely uncontrollable situation. Rather it evokes differing and sometimes contrasting types of action and representations. The electricity users tend to belittle the trouble of so-called easy outages. An easy outage is something that is manageable, causes egalitarian help from one s neighbours and even brings one closer to nature. But once the outage starts to cause trouble demanding active reactions, the users demanded certainty from the utilities. The line between an easy and difficult outage is relative and depends on for instance how much trouble power outages have caused for the user in the past. The experts, on the other hand, used hierarchist representations, hoping that users would think about their electricity use and be prepared for the chance of an outage. According to the experts the power network is very reliable, but power outages are still quite normal accidents. This is due to natural processes like storms and multiple faults at the same time, either of which can be prevented entirely.Sähköistymisen aste yhdistetään usein korkeaan elintasoon, hyvinvointiin, teollisuuden rakenteeseen ja ilmastotekijöihin. Kaikkien edeltävistä on katsottu määräävän sen, että Suomessa käytetään runsaasti sähköä. Tässä tutkielmassa sähkövoimaa katsotaan toisesta näkökulmasta. Tutkimuskohteena ovat sähkönjakelun keskeytymiset eli sähkökatkot. Sähkökatkot voivat kestää muutamista minuuteista useampaan kuukauteen, ja Suomen kaltaisessa valtiossa niillä on monenlaisia vaikutuksia. Tutkielma tarkastelee sähkön katkeamista yhtäältä sähköä kodissaan käyttävien ihmisten, toisaalta sähköverkon asiantuntijoiden kannalta. Tutkimustarkoituksena on käsitellä sähkökatkoa esimerkkinä riskistä eli vaaran mahdollisuudesta, joka tulkitaan osana kulttuurin käytäntöjä ja uskomuksia. Oletus on, että keskeytys tuo sähkötekniikan sekä siihen liittyvät käytännöt ja uskomukset uudella tavalla kielenkäytön ja toiminnan piiriin. Erityisesti asiaa tarkastellaan luontoon, instituutioihin, selviytymiseen sekä asiantuntija- ja maallikkotietoon liittyvien käsitysten näkökulmista. Lisäksi tutkielma katsoo, miten sähköverkkoyhtiöiden pitäisi tiedottaa sähkökatkoista kotitalousasiakkailleen ja millä tavalla tavallinen ihminen voi varautua sähkökatkoihin. Tärkeimmät teoreettiset lähteet ovat Bruno Latourin ja Charles Perrow n tekniikantutkimukset, Ulrich Beckin aikalaisdiagnoosi riskiyhteiskunnasta sekä Mary Douglasin ja Aaron Wildavskyn kulttuurinen riskitutkimus. Menetelmissä sovelletaan A. J. Greimasin strukturalistista semiotiikkaa. Tämän lisäksi tutkielmaa kehystävät Suomen sähkömarkkinoiden avaaminen kilpailulle ja sen yhteys tekniikan varmuuteen sekä viimeaikaiset myrskyt, jotka ovat aiheuttaneet sähkökatkoja Suomessa. Tutkielman aineistoja on kolme. Suomen sähköverkon parissa työskentelevien asiantuntijoiden haastattelut tavoittelevat niitä haasteita, joita sähkön toimittamiseen liittyy. Samalla katsotaan, miten asiantuntijat toivoisivat sähkön käyttäjien varautuvan sähkökatkoihin. Pääkaupunkiseudulla asuvien sähkön käyttäjien haastatteluista taas selvitetään tarkemmin, mitä vaikutuksia sähkökatkoilla on tavallisen sähkön käyttäjän kannalta. Haastatteluiden analyysimenetelmänä toimivat strukturalistis-semioottiset mallit tekstien perusrakenteista. Lisäksi suuremmalle joukolle etelä- ja itä-suomalaisia sähkön käyttäjiä lähetettiin kyselylomake. Tämä pyrkii saavuttamaan yleisemmän kuvan sähkökatkojen vaikutuksista kodeissa. Kyseistä aineistoa tarkastellaan ristiintaulukoimalla ja selittämällä löytyneitä eroja laadullisesti. Tutkielman perusteella sähkökatko ei muodostu vaativaksi arjesta täysin eroavaksi tapahtumaksi vaan jäsentyy erilaiseksi toiminnaksi ja käsityksiksi. Käyttäjien osalta tietynlaisten sähkökatkojen, joista ei seuraa ylimääräistä vaivaa, haittaa vähätellään ja niissä nähdään jopa luonnonomaista ja yhteisöllistä tunnelmaa. Sekä sähkön käyttäjät että asiantuntijat katsovat, että tietynlaisista katkoista pitäisi selvitä, erityisesti jos katkon aiheuttavat luonnontapahtumat. Toisaalta kun sähkökatko muuttuu hankalaksi, käyttäjät vaativat sähköverkkoyhtiöiltä toimitusvarmuutta. Raja siedettävän ja hankalan sähkökatkon välillä on suhteellinen ja riippuu esimerkiksi siitä, kuinka usein määrittelijä on kokenut sähkökatkoja. Kielenkäytön osalta asiantuntijat esittivät perusteluita sille, miksi käyttäjien pitäisi varautua sähkökatkoihin nykyistä enemmän. Sähkön käyttäjät, jotka korostivat sähkönsiirron tasa-arvoisuutta, asettavat kuitenkin vastuun luotettavasta sähkönjakelusta sähköverkkoyhtiöille