This document explores the social shaping of digital research, emphasizing the role of social sciences in understanding technological developments. It addresses methodological opportunities, ethical issues, and biases in technology, alongside concepts like crowdsourcing and socio-technical networks. The paper proposes a critical examination of technology's influence, including its socio-political implications and the impact of current digital research practices.

1. The Social Shaping of Digital Research
Bill Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute
Oxford e-Social Science (OeSS) Symposium
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2. What is the
social shaping What is the social
of technology? shaping of digital
research?

3. How the Social Sciences Support Digital Research
Challenging Taken-for-Granted Assumptions
Understanding Methodological
Opportunities and Limitations
Providing Context to Data
Identifying Social, Ethical and Legal Issues
Studying the Social Shaping of Technology

4. • Momentum, path dependencies
Bias of Technology • Reconfiguring access
• Digital Research
Innovation • Collaboratories
• Crowdsourcing
• Human-Computer Interaction
User Centric • Computerization Movements
• Socio-Technical Interaction Networks (STIN)
Social and Technical • Social Shaping of Technical Choices
Social Construction of • Actor Network Theory (ANT)
Technology • Infrastructure Studies
Institutionalist • Political economy
• Ecology of Games
Perspectives
Critical Turns on • Edisons of the Digital Age (Carr)
Digital Research • Critical political economy (exploitation of unpaid labor)

5. Contributions
Multiple SST Growing Area
of Social
Perspectives of Research
Sciences

6. The Social Shaping of Digital Research
Bill Dutton
Oxford Internet Institute
Working Paper posted on SSRN
#oessinsight