Notes from my MRes dissertation on 'Research practices in transition'. Online Mres in Educational and Social research, Institute of Education, University of London
Six Studies on Changing Research Practices. Summaries and selected quotes.aesposito
Â
This presentation summarizes main large-scale studies being utilized to ground my MRes dissertation on changing research practices in an higher education context.
How academic users
understand, discover,
and utilize reference
resources Junio 2017. Oxford University Press
This study explores usersâ and librariansâ perspectives on the role of reference
resources in research and teaching in todayâs academic institutions. It examines
how users seek contextual information and guidance for areas of scholarship as
they conduct research, and how reference resources can support their work.
the 3 strands of the research included
⢠A review of existing literature.
⢠In-depth qualitative interviews with 16 librarians and 18 end-users
(academic faculty and students).
⢠A survey of 164 librarians.
In this paper various approaches, steps and objectives of research are listed and briefly discussed.
This paper discusses four common research approaches, Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed methods and
Advocacy/participatory research, which were commonly used when conducting research. Research is indeed
civilization and determines the economic, social and political development of a nation. Research is Systematic
investigative process employed to increase or revise current knowledge by discovering new facts. All research
Approaches Examine and explore the different claims to knowledge and are designed to address a specific type
of research question.
HCI Research as Problem-Solving [CHI'16, presentation slides] Aalto University
Â
Slides from a talk delivered at CHI 2016, San Jose.
Authors: Antti Oulasvirta (Aalto University) and Kasper Hornbaek (University of Copenhagen).
Link to paper: http://users.comnet.aalto.fi/oulasvir/pubs/hci-research-as-problem-solving-chi2016.pdf
Overview: This talk discusses a meta-scientific account of human-computer interaction (HCI) research as problem-solving. We build on the philosophy of Larry Laudan, who develops problem and solution as the foundational concepts of science. We argue that most HCI research is about three main types of problem: empirical, conceptual, and constructive. We elaborate upon Laudanâs concept of problem-solving capacity as a universal criterion for determining the progress of solutions (outcomes): Instead of asking whether research is âvalidâ or follows the ârightâ approach, it urges us to ask how its solutions advance our capacity to solve important problems in human use of computers. This offers a rich, generative, and âdiscipline-freeâ view of HCI and resolves some existing debates about what HCI is or should be. It may also help unify efforts across nominally disparate traditions in empirical research, theory, design, and engineering.
Six Studies on Changing Research Practices. Summaries and selected quotes.aesposito
Â
This presentation summarizes main large-scale studies being utilized to ground my MRes dissertation on changing research practices in an higher education context.
How academic users
understand, discover,
and utilize reference
resources Junio 2017. Oxford University Press
This study explores usersâ and librariansâ perspectives on the role of reference
resources in research and teaching in todayâs academic institutions. It examines
how users seek contextual information and guidance for areas of scholarship as
they conduct research, and how reference resources can support their work.
the 3 strands of the research included
⢠A review of existing literature.
⢠In-depth qualitative interviews with 16 librarians and 18 end-users
(academic faculty and students).
⢠A survey of 164 librarians.
In this paper various approaches, steps and objectives of research are listed and briefly discussed.
This paper discusses four common research approaches, Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed methods and
Advocacy/participatory research, which were commonly used when conducting research. Research is indeed
civilization and determines the economic, social and political development of a nation. Research is Systematic
investigative process employed to increase or revise current knowledge by discovering new facts. All research
Approaches Examine and explore the different claims to knowledge and are designed to address a specific type
of research question.
HCI Research as Problem-Solving [CHI'16, presentation slides] Aalto University
Â
Slides from a talk delivered at CHI 2016, San Jose.
Authors: Antti Oulasvirta (Aalto University) and Kasper Hornbaek (University of Copenhagen).
Link to paper: http://users.comnet.aalto.fi/oulasvir/pubs/hci-research-as-problem-solving-chi2016.pdf
Overview: This talk discusses a meta-scientific account of human-computer interaction (HCI) research as problem-solving. We build on the philosophy of Larry Laudan, who develops problem and solution as the foundational concepts of science. We argue that most HCI research is about three main types of problem: empirical, conceptual, and constructive. We elaborate upon Laudanâs concept of problem-solving capacity as a universal criterion for determining the progress of solutions (outcomes): Instead of asking whether research is âvalidâ or follows the ârightâ approach, it urges us to ask how its solutions advance our capacity to solve important problems in human use of computers. This offers a rich, generative, and âdiscipline-freeâ view of HCI and resolves some existing debates about what HCI is or should be. It may also help unify efforts across nominally disparate traditions in empirical research, theory, design, and engineering.
Twitter and Teaching: to Tweet or not to Tweet?Sergej Lugovic
Â
As increasingly more new skills are necessary for graduates entering the workplace or seeking employment, business leaders, politicians and educators suggest that if students are to succeed in today's world, they will require 21st century skills. However, there is no single agreed-upon set of skills. We argue that social media skills are becoming ever more important for employment and society should class them as important 21st-century skills from maintaining well-rounded social media profiles to more advanced data science and analytic skills. At the same time, such a demand affects the teaching process since teachers have to acquire new knowledge about the available tools. Twitter as a microblogging platform is definitely one of the tools that is a part of 21st-century social skills. Thus, by integrating it into the teaching process, Twitter can generate new experiences for both sides, the students and the teachers. In this paper, we conduct a descriptive review of the recent literature that covers Twitter use in teaching. We reviewed results from the top 100 retrieved research results in Web of Science on Twitter and teaching in the domains of social science, science technology, and arts and humanities. We analysed the results quantitatively in terms of content, methods, and methodologies and qualitatively as the description of results found in selected papers that meet certain criteria. This paper also discusses different research departure points for use in further research of the topic.
Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.
How to write a "review of related literature"Husam BinSasi
Â
This file gives insights to researchers about the main concepts of composing a literature review, which is the second chapter of an empirical or phenomenological study. This file used APA style as a guiding style to the organisation, process and conduct of Literature Reviews.
Knowledge Transfer Offices in the Context of Knowledge Spillover Theory of En...Sergej Lugovic
Â
Aim of this paper is to present results from the EU Knowledge Transfer Study 2010-2012 and put them in the context of the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship (KSTE).
Findings are based on the questionnaire send to the Public Research Organisations (PRO) in 28 EU Member States and survey has to be fulfilled by the recommendation requirement that Member States should âinform the Commission by 15 July 2010 and every two years thereafter of measures taken on the basis of this Recommendation, as well as their impactâ.
The importance of studying & comprehending the literature on a subject that is being taken up for research at every stage ranging from the topic selection, methodology or discussion of results is sought to be explained in this PPT. Intended target audience would be PG students onwards with some useful inputs for UG as well.
Major trends in distance education research: a combination of bibliometric an...Nader Ale Ebrahim
Â
This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research catalogued in Web of Science (WoS) database during 1980-2016. Mainly bibliographic description and social network analysis was employed to investigate the structure and patterns of information exchanged within the field of distance education research and also to interpret the interrelationship between keywords indicated in these articles. A total of 500 most cited articles (out of 6,141 relevant to the topic) were reviewed to examine the impact of factors such as journal DOI and keywords on the number of citations that they received. We also identified major trends in distance education literature including variation across publication and citation year, top ranking of institutions and top ranking of published papers based on authors, subject area and co-authorship collaboration between countries. Our results show that the most cited articles are from two institutions of United States and United Kingdom and the most prolific years in terms of number of published articles and citations are 2013.We also found non-significant and very small correlation between the number of citation and DOI number of the journals. Our study serves as a resource for future studies by indicating how trends in distance education research have gradually developed over time and demonstrating the characteristics of the most cited articles in this literature.
Majority report. disrupting attitude and behavior with technologyJayant Murty
Â
This presentation explores how existing technology can be used to disrupt minds and markets and have profound effects on perceptions and actions. It shows how every category in the world now uses technology as a foundation or a glue to inspire their audiences. It is important that brand marketers who are keen to create disruptive ideas learn from categories and brands that are orthogonal to their industries
Twitter and Teaching: to Tweet or not to Tweet?Sergej Lugovic
Â
As increasingly more new skills are necessary for graduates entering the workplace or seeking employment, business leaders, politicians and educators suggest that if students are to succeed in today's world, they will require 21st century skills. However, there is no single agreed-upon set of skills. We argue that social media skills are becoming ever more important for employment and society should class them as important 21st-century skills from maintaining well-rounded social media profiles to more advanced data science and analytic skills. At the same time, such a demand affects the teaching process since teachers have to acquire new knowledge about the available tools. Twitter as a microblogging platform is definitely one of the tools that is a part of 21st-century social skills. Thus, by integrating it into the teaching process, Twitter can generate new experiences for both sides, the students and the teachers. In this paper, we conduct a descriptive review of the recent literature that covers Twitter use in teaching. We reviewed results from the top 100 retrieved research results in Web of Science on Twitter and teaching in the domains of social science, science technology, and arts and humanities. We analysed the results quantitatively in terms of content, methods, and methodologies and qualitatively as the description of results found in selected papers that meet certain criteria. This paper also discusses different research departure points for use in further research of the topic.
Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.
How to write a "review of related literature"Husam BinSasi
Â
This file gives insights to researchers about the main concepts of composing a literature review, which is the second chapter of an empirical or phenomenological study. This file used APA style as a guiding style to the organisation, process and conduct of Literature Reviews.
Knowledge Transfer Offices in the Context of Knowledge Spillover Theory of En...Sergej Lugovic
Â
Aim of this paper is to present results from the EU Knowledge Transfer Study 2010-2012 and put them in the context of the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship (KSTE).
Findings are based on the questionnaire send to the Public Research Organisations (PRO) in 28 EU Member States and survey has to be fulfilled by the recommendation requirement that Member States should âinform the Commission by 15 July 2010 and every two years thereafter of measures taken on the basis of this Recommendation, as well as their impactâ.
The importance of studying & comprehending the literature on a subject that is being taken up for research at every stage ranging from the topic selection, methodology or discussion of results is sought to be explained in this PPT. Intended target audience would be PG students onwards with some useful inputs for UG as well.
Major trends in distance education research: a combination of bibliometric an...Nader Ale Ebrahim
Â
This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research catalogued in Web of Science (WoS) database during 1980-2016. Mainly bibliographic description and social network analysis was employed to investigate the structure and patterns of information exchanged within the field of distance education research and also to interpret the interrelationship between keywords indicated in these articles. A total of 500 most cited articles (out of 6,141 relevant to the topic) were reviewed to examine the impact of factors such as journal DOI and keywords on the number of citations that they received. We also identified major trends in distance education literature including variation across publication and citation year, top ranking of institutions and top ranking of published papers based on authors, subject area and co-authorship collaboration between countries. Our results show that the most cited articles are from two institutions of United States and United Kingdom and the most prolific years in terms of number of published articles and citations are 2013.We also found non-significant and very small correlation between the number of citation and DOI number of the journals. Our study serves as a resource for future studies by indicating how trends in distance education research have gradually developed over time and demonstrating the characteristics of the most cited articles in this literature.
Majority report. disrupting attitude and behavior with technologyJayant Murty
Â
This presentation explores how existing technology can be used to disrupt minds and markets and have profound effects on perceptions and actions. It shows how every category in the world now uses technology as a foundation or a glue to inspire their audiences. It is important that brand marketers who are keen to create disruptive ideas learn from categories and brands that are orthogonal to their industries
Advertsing association of india annual leadership conference, goa 2012Jayant Murty
Â
This talk was delivered to heads of agencies and other senior agency professionals at Goa,India in 2012 at the Annual conclave. It takes a fresh look at the meaning of 360 degree branding and attempts to inform the process of making smart choices , thereby surrounding the consumer with coherent signals instead of a whole lot of noise. Brands should work to solve large problems that face humanity in an open and collaborative way. Good brands leave wide open spaces for the world to participate.Human generosity when combined with technology unleashes amazing and irreversible change
Graduate Management Admission Council . Business 3.0 ConferenceJayant Murty
Â
This talk delivered at the Intetnational GMAC Conference to Deans and heads of admission of MBA schools around the world seeks to examine what they can learn from brands across other industries. With MBA schools coping with declining admissions, strong overseas competition, disruption from MOOCs ( Massive Open Online Courses) and image parity across schools , there seems a dire need to disrupt and current model and embrace change with agility
The genesif of ideas and the future of imaginationJayant Murty
Â
What is going to drive the next wave of ideas. How will they be created , what forms will they take ? People with new ideas tend to be both illogical and contradictory. New ideas are sometimes at odds with the stern disciplines of management. When it comes to generating ideas, the distinction between visionary genius and erratic behavior is not always clear. The creation of ideas is now the most important economic objective. It will be used to better the human condition in unimaginable ways
Data is the new creative soil spikes lions asiaJayant Murty
Â
President's Address: Data is the New Creative Soil
Think about it (and give or take a few million) - there are over a billion people on social networks, 8 billion hours of video watched on the web each month - that's almost an hour of viewing for every single person on earth. There are around 180 million websites, on about 100 million servers and about 5 million terabytes of data on the internet. The search engines have about .004% of that information indexed. Only a tiny fraction of the digital universe has been explored for analytic value so far. There is hope that in the next 5 years 1/3rd of the information on the internet will be valuable if analysed. This is the most fertile ground for the best creative minds because you will find connections that defy logic and answers that are beyond reason. Stories will arise from patterns and and it will expose human irrationality like never before. This will be the foundation for the next generation of insights and what we do with them will be up to each one of us.
Scoping: The GO-GN Guide to Conceptual Frameworks Robert Farrow
Â
Slides from a webinar on the forthcoming GO-GN Guide to Conceptual Frameworks. This presentation discusses the rationale for a Handbook to guide doctoral students and reviews some literature on theories, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, models, and other constructs. This webinar is part of the scoping process for a forthcoming publication.
Presentation delivered at the doctoral defence of Monica Lassi, University of BorĂĽs, 11th June 2014. There is a full narrative to accompany these slides at http://hazelhall.org/2014/06/12/facilitating-collaboration-a-doctoral-defence-in-sweden/
CHAPTER 1 THE SELECTION OF A RESEARCH APPROACHResearch approacEstelaJeffery653
Â
CHAPTER 1 THE SELECTION OF A RESEARCH APPROACH
Research approaches are plans and the procedures for research that span the steps from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This plan involves several decisions, and they need not be taken in the order in which they make sense to us and the order of their presentation here. The overall decision involves which approach should be used to study a topic. Informing this decision should be the philosophical assumptions the researcher brings to the study; procedures of inquiry (called research designs); and specific research methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The selection of a research approach is also based on the nature of the research problem or issue being addressed, the researchersâ personal experiences, and the audiences for the study. Thus, in this book, research approaches, research designs, and research methods are three key terms that represent a perspective about research that presents information in a successive way from broad constructions of research to the narrow procedures of methods.
THE THREE APPROACHES TO RESEARCH
In this book, three research approaches are advanced: (a) qualitative, (b) quantitative, and (c) mixed methods. Unquestionably, the three approaches are not as discrete as they first appear. Qualitative and quantitative approaches should not be viewed as rigid, distinct categories, polar opposites, or dichotomies. Instead, they represent different ends on a continuum (Creswell, 2015; Newman & Benz, 1998). A study tends to be more qualitative than quantitative or vice versa. Mixed methods research resides in the middle of this continuum because it incorporates elements of both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Often the distinction between qualitative research and quantitative research is framed in terms of using words (qualitative) rather than numbers (quantitative), or better yet, using closed-ended questions and responses (quantitative hypotheses) or open-ended questions and responses (qualitative interview questions). A more complete way to view the gradations of differences between them is in the basic philosophical assumptions researchers bring to the study, the types of research strategies used in the research (e.g., quantitative experiments or qualitative casestudies), and the specific methods employed in conducting these strategies (e.g., collecting data quantitatively on instruments versus collecting qualitative data through observing a setting). Moreover, there is a historical evolution to both approachesâwith the quantitative approaches dominating the forms of research in the social sciences from the late 19th century up until the mid-20th century. During the latter half of the 20th century, interest in qualitative research increased and along with it, the development of mixed methods research. With this background, it should prove helpful to view definitions of these three key t ...
There are both challenges and opportunities in the existing scenario characterized by heavy emphasis on collaboration, digitization and onset of social media. One needs to be connected with theme, institution, industry and society. The web 2.0 technologies make it possible for a researcher to be a connected one.
This essay is a Walden University course (EDUC-8102) assignment. It overviews the philosophy of research core concepts and other approaches to research. Philosophical frameworks include empiricism, scientific method, positivism, post-positivism, social constructivism, pragmatism, and advocacy liberatory. The document is written in APA format and includes references.
1. Research practices in transition: investigating the relationship between emerging digital and open
scholarship in higher education settings
Antonella Esposito
November 2010
Introduction
These notes take cue from the reflection on my dissertationâs topic I am working on in current days:
so, the exploration of theoretical concepts identified in the selected readings is intended as a work in
progress towards a more thorough review of my initial proposal and the definition of a theoretical
approach.
Key readings
My early analysis of useful theoretical concepts for my prospective study was driven by the
following needs:
- To find definitions and frameworks of âscholarshipâ, in order to classify (digital) scholarly
activities.
- To find frameworks to interpret âknowledge production and distributionâ in academic work.
- To find frameworks to interpret (academic) work practices in transition.
Given the above choice, I am aware that I excluded other interesting strands of analysis on the same
topic, such as any application of a digital literacyâs framework, or theories of innovation or
organizational change.
Reading 1
Pearce, N. (2010), Digital Scholarship Audit Report, Open University, Milton Keynes
Summary
This paper reports research approach and findings of an internal audit recently carried out at the
Open University and focusing on digital scholarshipâs practices being adopted by a sample of OU
faculty. The aim of the research is to explore emergent open approaches in research behaviours, as
prompted by the use of digital tools. Sixteen interviews were conducted, after selecting as many
digital scholarsâ champions, belonging to a range of research areas.
Theoretical concepts
This exploratory study uses a conceptualization of âdigital scholarshipâ as devised by Pearce et al.
(2010) and built on the model of âscholarshipâ by Boyer (1990). Analyzing US higher education
sector at that time, Boyer tried to elaborate a more comprehensive understanding and valorisation of
the nature of academic scholarship, encompassing the following four dimensions: Discovery
(creation of new knowledge in a specific area); Integration (position of the individual discoveries in
a wider context); Application (engagement with the world outside university); Teaching
(management of all these procedure supporting teaching and learning). Pearce et al. (2010: 4)
compared the above four dimensions with as many âtrends towards opennessâ: âopen dataâ, âopen
publishingâ, âopen boundary between the academia and the publicâ and âopen educationâ. Therefore,
this conceptualization of âdigital scholarshipâ assumes âopennessâ as the only actual âbreakâ with
2. respect to traditional research practices. Pearce mainly considers individual researchersâ behaviours
coping with Web 2.0 tools, rather than their use of digital infrastructures. He explicitly states to
avoid any technological determinism, maintaining that any shift towards more open forms of
scholarship, as enabled by the use of technologies, is a potentiality whose ongoing enactement is to
be verified. However, he reports a quote underlining that âopennessâ implies the uptake of a certain
ideology and open values leading practices. It is worth noting that neither âdigital scholarshipâ or
âopennessâ here are being conceptualized as further dimensions that transform the other ones (as
explicitated in Boyerâs model): digital tools and practices are apparently thought as embedded in
current research practices, while âopennessâ is merely being defined by its identified practices (open
data, open publishing, open boundary, open education).
This adaptation of Boyerâs model of scholarship really lacks an authentic theoretical enhancement,
but I think is just being used as a springboard by the author, in order to rethink later the
conceptualization of research practices in transition only in the light of the interviews to faculty to
be carried out.
Relationship between concepts and data
The correspondence between scholarshipâs dimensions and trends towards openness is being used
to guide the collection of data in the interviewing process: the interviewees were invited to
recognize themselves in Boyerâs four dimensions and to count how their use of digital tools is
shifting their own behaviour towards different practices.
Indeed, the collected data challenge the above conceptualization of digital scholarship, giving
evidence that tools can be used for different purposes and activities: for instance, a blog can be an
instrument for open publishing as well as a means for researcher to communicate with the world
outside of academia. So, digital scholarship seems to blur boundaries between dimensions of
scholarship, in particular where communication activities are implied (âopen publishingâ and âopen
boundaryâ).
Relevance for my study
The approach, aim and limited extension of this study makes it close to the intent of my draft
proposal. Boyerâs notion of scholarship is popular enough (in an Anglo-saxon context) to be easily
used to spark reflection in the interviewed faculty on their own changing research practices as
driven by technology. However, I identify some issues that are not considered in this study and that
in my opinion would deserve a theoretical reflection:
- problematize the use of digital tools as a means to transform existing practice (i.e. the
concept of co-evolution of tools and practices as applied in educational technology studies);
- operationalise the four dimensions in Boyerâs model, so that they could be translated into
âscholarly activitiesâ (i.e. information access, communication, curation, etc.) to be
investigated as many evolving practices;
- take into account the research context with its concurrent drivers and inhibitors of
innovation.
Finally, the author momentarily draws my attention to the contextual and historical value of a
theoretical concept, inducing a more careful consideration, for instance, of the actual importance of
the dimension of âteachingâ in a definition of scholarship to be applied to a specific national higher
education setting (discrepancy between US and UK higher education contexts).
Reading 2
3. Houghton, John W., Steele, C. and Henty, M. (2004), âResearch practices and scholarly
communication in the digital environmentâ, report (in particular Chapter 2 â The production of
knowledge which focuses on theoretical frameworks).
Summary
This large-scale Australian study investigates how research practices are changing in the digital
environment, in order to draw policy recommendations at a national level. A wide-ranging
statistical and literature review constitutes the basis on which Houghton et al. build their framework
and grounding for analysis. The authors conducted a series of in-depth interviews to a small sample
of senior researchers working in a number of fields and institutional settings. The study focuses on
three aspects of academic activity: communicaton and collaboration; information search and access;
dissemination and publication. The authors aim to gain a systems view of the issue being
researched, through an analysis of the multiple factors (i.e. funding opportunities,
commercialisation of research outcomes and impact of ICTs) and conflicting forces at work (i.e. the
presence of international publishers and open access institutional repositories) which have
influenced the current landscape of research practices. They consider ICTs both as digital
infrastructures and as digital use for personal use by individual researchers. Their key findings
reveal that new forms of knowledge production and distribution are emerging: these forms are
shaping research practices, envisioning more sustainable and cost-effective ways to information
access and communication. These new modes of knowledge production and distribution are to be
strategically supported (through new forms of evaluation, incentives, facilities of communication,
publishing based on open accessâs principle) to yield sustainable approaches to research. To this
purpose, the authors suggest to take an holistic approach to âre-engineeringâ the system for the
creation, production and distribution of scientific and scholarly knowledge.
Theoretical concepts
In Chapter 2 they discuss four main frameworks which they retrieved from an international
literature review: the systems of innovation, that encompasses a wide body of study focusing on
functions of the systems in which the knowledge is being produced and communicated; the Triple
Helix, aiming to describe the interplay among academia, industry and state; the post-academic
science, that encompasses work analyzing the contrast between traditional âacademic scienceâ and
the emerging era of science; the new knowledge production (based on Gibbonsâs work, 1994),
which is based on the conceptualizations of a traditional mode of production of knowledge (Mode
1) and an emerging, transdisciplinary and problem-oriented mode of knowledge production (Mode
2).
In particular the authors widely use Gibbonâs conceptualization of Mode 1 and Mode 2 of
knowledge production, which is also of interest for my study.
Mode 1 of knowledge production refers to a complex of traditional values, practices, social norms â
originating from a Newtonian model of science - which must be followed âin the production,
legitimation and distributionâ of what is considered scientific knowledge and sound scientific
practices. Knowledge is being driven by disciplinary norms and communities and theory and
application are distinguished.
Otherwise, Mode 2 of knowledge production is characterized by a focus on problems more than on
techniques, and on interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research; by an
emphasis on collaborative approaches and diverse and informal modes of communication; by a
diversity of location of research activities. Knowledge is transdisciplinary, integrative and
4. consensual and there is a dynamic between theory, application and context.
âMode 1 is disciplinary, while Mode 2 is transdisciplinary. Mode 1 is characterised by
homogeneity, Mode 2 by heterogeneity. Organizationally, Mode 1 is hierarchical and tends to
preserve its form, while Mode 2 is more heterarchical and transientâ (Gibbson, 2001, as quoted in
Houghton et al., p. 5).
Gibbson maintains that there is interaction between Mode 1 and Mode 2 and that the latter
supplements rather replaces the former. Moreover, Mode 2 is critically dependent on new
information and communication technologies, due to its transdisciplinary, dispersed and interactive
nature.
Relationship between concepts and data
This conceptualization helps Houghton et al. to frame current tensions emerging in research
practices at a cultural, institutional and organizational level: for instance, the coexistence of
traditional (i.e. peer review) and emerging approaches (open peer review), as well the need for a
multidimensional system of rules, i.e. research evaluation, which should combine quantitative,
qualitative and ârelevanceâ factors, Mode 1 and 2 of knowledge production. It is worth noting that
in this study there is no conceptualization of digital or open scholarship, but the framework being
used allows us to gain an understanding of whether evolving practices enabled by technologies are
merely improvements of pre-existing ways of conduct or whether they are disruptive breaks against
tradition (i.e. open access repositories), which should be ruled and supported. ICTs are identified as
a key factor in Mode 2, while features of Mode 2 help to identify distinctive approaches to
âopennessâ â beyond ideological positions - as many signs in an evolving research landscape, driven
by a plenitude of contextual, political and economic factors.
Relevance for my study
The system view adopted by the authors is particularly relevant to understanding digital scholarship
as one of the variables at work when we look at research practices in transition. The framework of
the contrasting modes 1 and 2 of knowledge production provides me with a tool for interpreting
change in scholarly practices from a number of viewpoints, from economic to cultural, from
organizational to epistemological.
However, I think that Gibbsonâs model could be a starting point to analyse structures of knowledge
production and distribution. There are some problematic issues related to this framework, referring
to my study:
- given the selected framework and since they focus on a range of settings, the dimension of
teaching â so typical and controversial in academic scholarship â is quite missing;
- the âcommodification of knowledgeâ is seen as a given to be coped with and not as threat (as
in many higher education contexts and in postmodern debates);
- the role of ICTs is not critically thematized (thinking of the idea of âpedagogised societyâ by
late Bernstein);
- the transition from disciplinary to transdisciplinary knowledge sparks a good hint for
analysis focusing on evolving differences in diverse subject areas: this needs to be faced
using further instruments (i.e. vertical and horizontal discourse);
- the contrast beween Mode 1 and Mode 2 of knowledge prompts a new question: what are
the emerging modes of legitimation of knowledge in academia? Here I think that the use of
theory of Legitimisation Device by Karl Maton (2005) could help to render academic
5. disciplines as many fields of practice in transition, animated by agents competing for power
and control.
Reading 3
Bernadou, A., Constantopoulos, P. Costis, D. and Gavrilis, D. (2010), âA Conceptual Model for
Scholarly Research Activityâ, in iConference 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010 at:
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/14945
Summary
The paper presents a conceptual model of scholarly research activity, as being developed within a
European project aiming to define prerequisites for a digital infrastructure to be designed for
scholarly work in the humanities, arts and cultural heritage. The study originated from the statement
that in humanities effective research is increasingly dependent on expert use of an expanding mass
of scholarly resources. The aim is to formalise the research process in order to facilitate the design
and development of digital repositories which can support research in arts and humanities. The
model was founded on an empirical study carried out through an open-ended questionnaire and
used the Activity Theory framework to consider both historical development of inquiry work and
research planning.
Theoretical concepts
Activity Theory focuses on the concept of activity, intended as the âpurposeful interaction of a
subject with the worldâ. Using the AT framework (following Leontâevâs elaboration), the authors
define scholarly work as a purposeful process, carried out by actors, individuals or groups,
according to specific methods. The research process is thought of as a series of tasks and sub-tasks,
specified by procedures, which have a normative character and convey what in the related
community is being defined as good practice. Given that representation, the authors define the
research process as âan enactment of the corresponding procedureâ, carried out by an individual or
group of researchers for specific goals. These goals can be represented in a more specific way in the
different tasks of the research process and âcan be associated with the performance of the services
designed to support the respective tasksâ (Bernadou, p. 3). Three kinds of âobjectsâ in the research
process are identified: âphysical objectsâ, which are researched and stored (original domain
material); âconceptual objectsâ, which are concepts created and propositions formulated (the content
of scientific theories); and âinformation objectsâ, which are a particular class of conceptual objects
(content of digital repositories). The authors keep on elaborating their conceptual model of the
research process, combining it with another normalisation model (CIDOC CRM), internationally
utilized for historical and documentary purposes.
The use of the AT framework allows the authors to better detect and understand relationships
beween specific activities, goals, methods and tools, through a comprehensive description which
facilitates communication with the stakeholders.
Relevance for my study
The object and purpose of this study is quite different with respect to the intent of my initial
proposal. However, I find it interesting as an example of the conceptualization of scholarly
activities being investigated and as utilization of the cultural-historical Activity Theory framework
6. in order to capture the dynamics of scholarly work. The AT framework is an analytical lens
focusing on explaining social and cultural work practices through the environmental and historical
context in which the activity is taking place.
As a set of descriptive principles (Barab et al., 2006) it constitues a framework particularly suitable
to explain the goal-oriented, socially and culturally grounded work practices of scholars using
digital tools and artifacts. It can help highlighting the dynamics of scholarly practices in transition,
because it combines the active engagement of researchers with monitoring the developmental
change of participants.
Framed by the AT principles, the issue being researched can be analyzed to investigate scholarsâ
work practices in transition, as situated in a higher education context typically organized by
consolidated rules, driven by subjects within a community of peers, shared with students and non-
teaching staff, and mediated by digital artifacts which are affecting ways scholars establish rapport
with their own practices.
I think that the use of this analytical lens could be productively combined with other levels of
analysis - using theoretical constructions such as Gibbsonâs Mode 1 and 2 or Matonâs Legitimation
Device - aiming to identify deep structures of knowledge production and distribution.