Networked psychostimulants: a web-based ethnographic study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Caroline Robitaille
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Spaces ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Human Actors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand contemporary psychostimulant use among members of online discussion fora. Two objectives are addressed: to describe accounts of practices related to psychostimulant use, and to examine how these pharmaceuticals may shape contemporary subjectivities. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a qualitative analysis of three online discussion fora belonging to Reddit. Drawing on actor-network theory, psychostimulants are envisaged as networked actants to understand the underlying logics related to their use. Non-participant observation of r/Adderall was carried out over an 18-month period. A qualitative analysis of postings on the three selected fora was also performed. Findings For each discussion forum, a network comprised of human and non-human actors was observed: members of the forum, psychostimulants as objects and subreddits as agentic spaces. This study reveals the emergence of multiple subjectivities associated with psychostimulant use: productivity, wellness and enhancement‐related. Practical implications Findings open to a wider debate regarding public health’s and healthcare professionals’ understanding of psychostimulant use outside of the clinical setting and how this may contrast with how psychostimulant use is practiced in context. Originality/value This research shows new online socio-cultural spaces formed around psychostimulant use. Calling upon a web-based ethnographic approach, this research presents a new perspective on the contemporary use of psychostimulants.

Ritual as assemblage: feast of sacrifice experiences of Turkish consumers

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 476-494
Author(s):  
Ömer Torlak ◽  
Müjdat Özmen ◽  
Muhammet Ali Tiltay ◽  
Mahmut Sami İşlek ◽  
Ufuk Ay
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Assemblage Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theorize and empirically investigate the formation of consumer’s consumption ritual experiences and discourses associated with Feast of Sacrifice. Design/methodology/approach The authors have approached the data from assemblage theory perspective. By use of ethnographic participant observation and in-depth interviews, seven themes are uncovered and discussed: meaning of Qurban, preparation of the ritual, Qurban choice, meat, Qurban ritual, marketplace and framing of discourses. Findings This study provides a theoretical development in which it depicts that assemblage theory can be used in the context of religious rituals such as the Feast of Sacrifice. This suggests that parts forming the social phenomena include different meanings and functions in different assemblages to the ritual, which has a structure with a particular process, roles and content scenario. This implies that even the most structured social phenomena as religious rituals can be accepted as social assemblage where every individual experiences his/her own ritual with the parts that have ever-changing material and expressive roles. Originality/value This study will contribute to the literature on religious rituals and practices through viewing ritual as an assemblage including material and expressive features as well as human and non-human actors. Besides, this study aims to find out whether there is a constant consumer and the concept of ritual by focusing on buying experiences of consumer in Feast of Sacrifice in Turkey.

Supporting, tinkering, adjusting and resisting: a typology of user translations of the built environment

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahlam Ammar Sharif ◽  
Andrew Karvonen
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type

PurposeArchitectural theorists have a long tradition of acknowledging the centrality of building users to architectural production. This article contributes to the discourse on architecture, actor–network theory (ANT), and users by proposing a typology of user translations ranging from supporting to tinkering to adjusting to resisting.Design/methodology/approachThe research utilises an ANT-inspired ethnography of sustainable lighting scripts at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). It comprises semi-structured interviews with MIST designers and students, and site visits and participant observation to understand how the users interpret the scripts and how they interact and change them on a daily basis.FindingsThere is a shared understanding that users do not simply receive architectural designs but interpret and change them to suit their preferences. The findings reveal the multiple ways that users interpret and respond to the assumptions of designers and in the process, recast the relations between themselves and their material surroundings.Originality/valueThe research contributes to acknowledging the centrality of users to architectural design processes and the interpretation of design scripts, addressing the limitation in current literature in demonstrating the diversity of ways that users react to such scripts. The research suggests that user actions have significant implications on long-term building performance. It accordingly points to the need for devising multiple means of user involvement in the design process and allowing greater flexibility in design scripts to improve the alignment with user preferences.

Activity networks and the temporality of urban space: the case of a cul-de-sac square

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahlam Ammar Sharif
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Urban Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Activity Networks ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThis study draws on recent actor-network theory (ANT) literature to provide a nuanced understanding of the effect of time on activity networks in urban spaces. It investigates the role of time in multiplying these networks and producing urban change, which is limited in similar ANT-related research.Design/methodology/approachThis ethnographic study of a cul-de-sac square within a housing project in the suburb of Dahiyat Al-Hussein in Amman, Jordan, documents the changes in its activity networks when comparing the 1990s with 2019. Data were collected through interviews and site observations covering the two time periods to investigate the different activities that occurred constantly over time, which reflect the temporal network stabilisation within the square.FindingsThe findings demonstrate the profound effect time has on the stability of activity networks related to playing, observing, walking, vending and their interrelations. Their overlaps and conflicts with each other and with other networks in the space were observed. Unpacking the stability of activity networks and their interrelations demonstrates the change in their actor relations and temporalities over time. This is significant in understanding urban change.Originality/valueThe study investigates the importance of time in recognising and extending the multiplicity of urban activities, which suggests new ways of understanding urban change. This exploration highlights new possibilities for creating more adaptable spaces according to residents' long-term needs.

Tracing the Many Translations of a Web-Based IT Artefact

2010 ◽  
pp. 1668-1688
Author(s):  
R. Naidoo ◽  
A. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Healthcare Insurance ◽  
Self Service ◽  
The Many ◽  
Self Service Technology ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Complementary Channel ◽  
Case Based

This chapter adopts an interpretive, case based research strategy to discuss the centrality of meaning in implementing an Internet-based self-service technology. Actor-Network theory (ANT) is used to describe the complex evolution of a Web-based service at a healthcare insurance firm. Using processes of inscribing, translating and framing, this chapter explores the emergence of the technology from 1999 – 2005 using three technological frames, ‘channel of choice’, ‘dazzle the customer’, and ‘complementary channel’ as episodes of translation. ANT demonstrates that the Internet-based self-service technology at this particular healthcare context emerged out of many unplanned negotiations and mediations with both human and non human actors. Finally, this chapter argues that ANT’s socio-technical lens provides a richer understanding of the meaning of Internet-based self-service technology within a multi-channel context.

Peer and informal learning among hospital doctors

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-301
Author(s):  
Carlota Riera Claret ◽  
Miguel Ángel Sahagún ◽  
Clara Selva
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Peer Learning ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Organisational Learning ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse everyday interactions in a workplace from the point of view of organisational learning, informal learning and peer learning, as well as the possible relationships that can be established between all three. Design/methodology/approach Insights from nine months of ethnographic study provided an operational definition of equality in an organisation, a better understanding of interactions and informal learning between peers, and about psycho-social determining factors or contexts that favour the exchange of knowledge in an organisation. Findings The findings demonstrate the importance of articulating the three elements (organisational learning, informal learning and peer learning) in a joint interpretative framework. With the results generated, it is proposed to move away from the traditional organisational learning based on knowledge and know-how, to a new perspective focused on sharing and participatory opportunities. In other words, without opportunities to participate, without the support and equal access, the fostering of informal learning can be debatable in terms of democracy. Originality/value The results bring the authors closer to being able to design workplace learning strategies that carefully includes the value of participation opportunities and the influence of a dynamic concept of equality. The ethnography in a hospital setting has allowed the authors to gain a better understanding of the contribution of informal learning to the organisation. The focus on the social context and the roles of relationships in informal learning offers new insights into a complex phenomenon.

When hierarchy becomes collaborative

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Collaborative Processes ◽  
Individual Actions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to expand understandings of interorganizational collaboration among high reliability organizations (HROs). It proposes that HROs face unique needs for relationship building, pre-planning, and retrospective sensemaking that do not fit within prior models of collaboration. For HROs, definitions of collaboration vary contextually based on needs that arise during emergency situations. HROs have a need for both hierarchical structure and collaborative processes and use collaboration as a sensemaking frame that allows practitioners to attend to both needs. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a case study from an ongoing ethnographic study of an emergency response collaboration. The paper uses open-ended interviews about collaboration with all key members of the incident response hierarchy, and participant observation of collaboration before, during and after a key emergency incident. Findings The paper proposes a new framework for HRO collaboration: that collaboration is a sensemaking frame for HROs used to make sense of individual actions, that HRO collaboration is more complex during pre-planning and focused on individual decision making during incidents, and that members can communicatively make sense of the need for hierarchy and collaborative action by defining these needs contextually. Research limitations/implications The paper uses an in-depth case study of an incident to explore this collaborative framework; therefore, researchers are encouraged to test this framework in additional high reliability collaborative contexts. Practical implications The paper includes implications for best communicative practices to recognize the need to be both hierarchical and flexible in high reliability organizing. Originality/value This paper fulfills a need to expand collaboration literature beyond idealized and egalitarian definitions, in order to understand how practitioners use communication to understand their actions as collaborative, especially in organizations that also require hierarchy and individual actions. This case study suggests that collaboration as a sensemaking frame creates collaborative advantages for HROs, but can also limit sensemaking about incident management.

BSC and long-term deployment: an actors' perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-396
Author(s):  
Pierre-Laurent Bescos ◽  
Aude Deville ◽  
Philippe Foulquier
Keyword(s):  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Human Actors

PurposeThis paper examines the roles of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in a long-term perspective and with a large deployment along numerous hierarchical levels. For this purpose, we use a longitudinal analysis of an implementation in a mutual insurance company.Design/methodology/approachWe combine actor–network theory (ANT) with interventionist research (IVR) to analyze the interrelation between human and non-human actors. Our study is based on various materials like interviews, meeting reports, graphs and so on.FindingsThe BSC is considered as a non-human actor which influences the human actors and provides specific benefits from a long-term use, due to various roles played by this tool (a mediator role, completed by a role of translator and revealer).Research limitations/implicationsResearch based on larger cross-sectional studies are necessary to more deeply validate our results based on a single case study.Practical implicationsThis paper gives some insights on processes and on actors an organization can mobilize to maintain the benefits provided by a large BSC use in the long run.Originality/valueIn line with the ANT concepts, our main contribution is to explain the outcomes of an innovation in management accounting by the consequences of adaptation mechanisms grounded on actors, translations, alliances and trials of strength.

Adoption of DSpace by Indian libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surendran Cherukodan ◽  
Humayoon Kabir S
Keyword(s):  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
Google Search

Purpose – India occupies second position among the countries that have adopted DSpace open source software for institutional repositories (IRs)/digital libraries (DLs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for DSpace being preferred over other software. It inspects various instances of Indian web-based DSpace systems including the nature and growth of collection, the geographical distribution of DSpace systems and the types of institutions that adopt and maintain DSpace. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from the official website of DSpace, Google search and from online discussion forums during July 2013 to January 2014. The 132 Indian DSpace links provided in the official DSpace website were examined. Further search was carried out on Google to identify Indian IRs and DLs that are not listed by the official website. A list of Indian DSpace websites prepared by the authors was sent to the online discussion forums for further updating. An online directory of Indian DSpace websites was created using WordPress which provided for the adding of comments. The study is limited to the web-based DSpace IRs and DLs in India. Findings – The majority of the Indian IRs and DLs listed on the official website of DSpace are not visible on the internet. Many links lead to institution websites, commercial websites and personal pages of authors. Out of 132 DSpace links, only 55 are visible on the internet to search and use. Indian libraries prefer DSpace over EPrints, Fedora and Greenstone. Many institutions could not maintain continuity of their DSpace systems in the online environment. Institutions having more funding are maintaining web-based DSpace systems. The size, economic conditions, rate of literacy and number of universities in an Indian state do not influence the maintenance of digital systems. Academic institutions involving universities, technical institutions and colleges lead in the adoption and maintenance of web-based DSpace in India. Private universities and colleges have adopted DSpace for IR/DL. Public libraries constitute a minimum percentage of web-based DSpace instances. Indian courts and Parliament have adopted DSpace. Shodhganga, the Indian ETD project, is running on DSpace. Originality/value – This is the first paper examining the adoption of DSpace by Indian libraries with a focus on online visibility and the strength of collection. It can be used to understand the pattern of technology adoption by Indian libraries over the years.

Tensions in ethnographic observation: overt or covert?

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-195
Author(s):  
Ruth Strudwick
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Imaging ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Imaging Department ◽  
Ethnographic Observation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the tensions between being covert and overt during ethnographic observations. The example of an ethnographic study of the culture in a diagnostic imaging department will be used to provide examples. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a reflection on an ethnographic study, focussing on the participant observation. Findings This paper discusses the author’s reflections on the covert and overt nature of ethnographic observation. Originality/value The discussion is of value to all ethnographic researchers who experience this tension.

A collection and its many relations and contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-767
Author(s):  
Kathy Carbone
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Archival Collection ◽  
Object Biography ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
The City

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the results of an ethnographic study that used object biography with an archival collection of police surveillance files, the Police Historical/Archival Investigative Files, housed at the City of Portland Archives & Records Center in Portland, Oregon.Design/methodology/approachDocument analysis, participant observation, semistructured interviews, and object biography were conducted over four years, from 2013 to 2017.FindingsUsing object biography with the Police Historical/Archival Investigative Files uncovered numerous personal and public relationships that developed between people and this collection over several decades as well as how these records acquired, constructed, and changed meanings over time and space.Originality/valueThis paper argues that the biography of objects is a useful way for studying the relationships records form, the values people assign to them, and how people and records mutually inform and transform one another in shifting contexts of social lives. Recognizing records as having social histories and applying object biography to them contributes to and grows the greater biography and genealogy of the record and the archive—a genealogy important not only for discovering something about the lives of those who create, encounter, steward, and use records and archives but about our shared human experience.

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