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Social informatics is the study of information and communication tools in cultural or institutional contexts.〔Kling, R., Rosenbaum, H., & Sawyer, S. (2005). Understanding and Communicating Social Informatics: A Framework for Studying and Teaching the Human Contexts of Information and Communications Technologies. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc.〕 Another definition is the interdisciplinary study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts.〔Kling, "What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter?"〕 A transdisciplinary field,〔Sawyer, S. and Rosenbaum, H. (2000). Social informatics in the information sciences: Current activities and emerging directions. (Version ) Informing Science. 3 (2), 89-95 available at http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf〕 social informatics is part of a larger body of socio-economic research that examines the ways in which the technological artifact and human social context mutually constitute the information and communications technology (ICT) ensemble. Some proponents of social informatics use the relationship of a biological community to its environment as an analogy for the relationship of tools to people who use them. The (Center for Social Informatics ) founded by the late Dr. Rob Kling, an early champion of the field’s ideas, defines the field thus: :Social Informatics (SI) refers to the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization – including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change, the uses of information technologies in social contexts, and the ways that the social organization of information technologies is influenced by social forces and social practices.〔()〕 ==Research== Historically, social informatics research has been strong in the Scandinavian countries, the UK and Northern Europe.〔Williams, R., & Edge, D. (1996). The social shaping of technology. Research Policy, 25, 865-899. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from http://www.rcss.ed.ac.uk/technology/SSTRPfull.doc〕 Within North America, the field is represented largely through independent research efforts at a number of diverse institutions.〔Sawyer, S. and Rosenbaum, H. (2000). Social informatics in the information sciences: Current activities and emerging directions. (Version ) Informing Science. 3 (2), 89-95 available at http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf〕 Social informatics research diverges from earlier, deterministic (both social and technological) models for measuring the social impacts of technology. Such technological deterministic models characterized information technologies as tools to be installed and used with a pre-determined set of impacts on society which are dictated by the technology’s stated capabilities.〔(Williams & Edge, 1996)〕 Similarly, the socially deterministic theory represented by some proponents of the social construction of technology (SCOT) or social shaping of technology theory as advocated by Williams & Edge (1996) see technology as the product of human social forces. In contrast, some social informatics methodologies consider the context surrounding technology and the material properties of the technology to be equally important: the people who will interact with a system, the organizational policies governing work practice, and support resources. This contextual inquiry produces "nuanced conceptual understanding" of systems that can be used to examine issues like access to technology, electronic forms of communication, and large-scale networks.〔Kling, R. (2000). Learning about information technologies and social change: The contribution of social informatics. The Information Society, 16(3), 217-232.〕 Research in social informatics can be categorized into three orientations.〔(Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90〕 Normative research focuses on the development of theories based on empirical analysis that may be used to develop organizational policies and work practices.〔(Kling, 2000, p. 228)〕 The heart of such analyses lies in socio-technical interaction networks,〔(Kling, 2000, p. 219)〕 a framework built around the idea that humans and the technologies they build are “co-constitutive”, bound together, and that any examination of one must necessarily consider the other. Studies of the analytical orientation develop theory or define methodologies to contribute to theorizing in institutional settings.〔(Kling, 2000, p. 229, note 1)〕 Critical analysis, like Lucy Suchman’s examination of articulation work,〔Suchman, L. (1994). Supporting articulation work: Aspects of a feminist practice of office technology production. In R. Kling (Ed.), Computerization and Controversy (pp. 407-423). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.〕 examine technological solutions from non-traditional perspectives in order to influence design and implementation.〔(Kling, 200, p. 229, note 1; Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「social informatics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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