Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

The Production of Space

From the Publisher: 
A Question of Identity 
Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." 
Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. 
This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

行銷硏究 : Marketing research

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Pleo is one of the more advanced interactive toys currently available for the home market, taking the form of a robotic dinosaur. We present an exploratory study of how it was interacted with and reflected upon in the homes of six families during 2 to 10 months. Our analysis emphasizes a discrepancy between the participants' initial desires to borrow a Pleo and what they reported later on about their actual experiences. Further, the data suggests an apparent tension between participants expecting the robot to work as a 'toy' while making consistent comparisons with real pet animals. We end by discussing a series of implications for design of this category of toys, in order to better maintain interest and engagement over time.

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How do you play with a robotic toy animal?: a long-term study of Pleo

In contemporary research on construction-related ICT (information communication technologies), little distinction is made between the use of ICT in permanent line organizations and its use in tempo ...

The influence of contextual elements, actors’ frames of reference, and technology on the adoption and use of ICT in construction projects: a Swedish case study

This paper describes a case study of the initial reactions to a transport robot running in a semi-public hospital environment. The robot was transporting goods and samples for an orthopedic department, moving within and between different departments for 13 days, and was used by the staff for five days. Based on this case, we discuss how the robot was perceived by staff and visitors and purpose an initial framework, a utopian model, describing four different perspectives; an alien, a machine, a worker and as a work partner. This has been derived from interviews, questionnaires and observation, and exemplifies different qualities that the robot was ascribed. We discuss how the perspectives may mutually co-exist and change, and are affected by time and familiarity with the robot at work.

/pdf/hospital-robot-at-work-something-alien-or-an-intelligent-1njoudreaj.pdf

Hospital robot at work: something alien or an intelligent colleague?

The last decade has seen shifts in both practice and research regarding client–supplier relationships. Cooperative project client–supplier relationships have become increasingly common, and have sp ...

Towards a shift in mindset: partnering projects as engagement platforms

Purpose – This research note puts the role of transition back in the center of the temporary organization and lends to understanding the temporary organization as a transitory unit within the perma ...

Mattias Jacobsson

Papers

How do you play with a robotic toy animal?: a long-term study of Pleo

The influence of contextual elements, actors’ frames of reference, and technology on the adoption and use of ICT in construction projects: a Swedish case study

Hospital robot at work: something alien or an intelligent colleague?

Towards a shift in mindset: partnering projects as engagement platforms

The role of transition in temporary organizations: linking the temporary to the permanent