Also referred to as SCOT, this is a theory advocated by social constructivists that contends that technology does not determine human action, but, rather, that human action shapes technology. It also argues that the ways in which a technology is used cannot be understood without understanding how that technology is embedded in its social context.
Published in Chapter:
Adapting the Structurationist View of Technology for Studies at the Community/Societal Levels
Marlei Pozzebon (HEC Montreal, Canada), Eduardo Diniz (Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Brazil), and Martin Jayo (Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Brazil)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-659-4.ch002
Abstract
The multilevel framework proposed in this chapter is particularly useful for research involving complex and multilevel interactions (i.e., interactions involving individuals, groups, organizations and networks at the community, regional or societal levels). The framework is influenced by three theoretical perspectives. The core foundation comes from the structurationist view of technology, a stream of research characterized by the application of structuration theory to information systems (IS) research and notably influenced by researchers like Orlikowski (2000) and Walsham (2002). In order to extend the framework to encompass research at the community/societal levels, concepts from social shaping of technology and from contextualism have been integrated. Beyond sharing a number of ontological and epistemological assumptions, these three streams of thinking have been combined because each of them offers particular concepts that are of great value for the kind of studies the authors wish to put forward: investigating the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) from a structurationist standpoint at levels that go beyond the organizational one.