Lecture October 21

Analyzing Change.1 October 21, 2002

Overview of lecture:


1. Review of premises of course (from 1st lecture):

2. Overview of how to study “change’ (see Perrolle’s text)

3. Specific theories:

- Sproull’s and Kiesler’s approach (as sociologists) –look at “second-level effects”

- economists’ approach – look at “first-level effects”

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1. Premises of course:
Study “technologies” (primarily computers) and their uses to gather /store / retrieve / archive / generate / etc. information within an historical context

Study technics within their social context : focus on the EFFECTS they cause on individual users and society and natural environment:

- Concerned with changes to capabilities of the technics* but more concerned with how these have CHANGED us (our personal capabilities**) + CHANGED our economic, social, legal*** and political systems

· for example, changes of searching capabilities form print-based text to searching capabilities on the Web
** for example, because we moved from oral culture to literate culture we started to think differently
*** for example, shifting ideas about copyright.

Generally HOW* have various social scientists analyzed the effects of technology X (in our case information technologies)
and
WHAT have they found?

2. Develop a theory and then devise ways to test their theory
See Perrolle (chapter 2 “Social Change”)

Theory
Induction Deduction
Empirical Generalizations Hypotheses
Analysis Operationalization
Observations of the World  

(from Perrolle, Figure 2.1 and Section 2.1.1.)

Theories depend on “paradigms” -- ways to view the world. Perrolle suggests 3 social science paradigms to develop theories:

Functionalism (macro level):
- argue that societies evolve in their ability to deal with the world

- Conflict theory (macro level)
- “conflict is the source of social change”,
- “understand the computer in terms of power, social classes, and inter-group conflict.”

- Symbolic Interactionism (micro-level perspective) –
- look at social interaction between individuals and in groups

3. Specific Theories: Sproull and Kiesler

Sproull and Kiesler- they discount analyses of “first level effects”

1. First-Level Effects--implicit beliefs:

1. That there are simple causes and effects:

use latest technology** --> improve efficiency and productivity

improve efficiency and productivity -->increase profits

**Moore’s Law: computer power available on a chip doubles every 18 months..[implications of built-in obsolescence (remember “Future” film?)]

2. That you can accurately measure this gain in quantifiable terms... How?

with cost-displacement analysis - (see page 3 of kit)

with value-added analysis - (page 3)

Some of the problems with “efficiency” measurements

HIDDEN COSTS:

--> not taking into account the cost of employee training (cost of equipment is included in calculations but little else)

-->the real costs of implementing the technology have not all been accounted for (e.g., Year 2000 problem. “government tab for century date change could reach 30$ billion..)

Time lost (loss of efficiency):

--> IF there is no/little training and you have to ask workers, or read manuals

--> If we’re frustrated when we encounter “bugs” in software and reach the limits of hardware

--> IF we spend more time re-doing work if we lose data

-> IF (when) we suffer stress when we have escalation of expectations of our abilities (adding new programs to our set of skills)--same amount of time--more work

Even if you COULD measure accurately all costs, this approach doesn’t recognize:

--> that technology isn’t always used to lower costs, but to improve quality of service (e.g., ATMs)

--> the value of the old technology that was replaced (see S and K, page 4)

But the real reason to downplay the first-level effects is that the more important deviation-amplifying changes are happening to the social system (second- level effects on the users)
Sproull and Kiesler’s conclusions about the 2nd-level effects on communication technologies:

--> people pay attention to different things
--> have contact with different people
--> depend on one another differently

2. Examples of Second-level Effects

Example of typewriter:

1st level effect: to produce letters efficiently that looked like those from a printing press.

2nd level effects:

the typewriter changed the office—with increased paperwork needed more workers;

female clerics replaced male clerics;

lines emerged between male bosses and female clerics/secretaries

2nd-level (Qualitative) changes to :
interpersonal relationships,
about what is important in an office,
work procedures.

2nd example - ARPANET:

1st level effect: shared use of resources on large computers for scientists.

2nd level effects: networking allowed for the electronic mail to emerge as the most popular feature of ARPANET.

2nd-level (Qualitative) changes to:
interpersonal relationships;
way research was carried out.


This page last revised 9/17/02