The Social Study of Information Systems (SSIS) is interested in people developing and using technology and the "culture" of those people. SSIS brings social sciences concepts and methods to study information systems. SSIS studies these phenomena by drawing on and using "lenses" provided by social sciences, including
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
,
social psychology
Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
,
organisational theory
Organizational theory refers to a series of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also seeks to explain how interrelated units of organiza ...
,
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. Thus, it relates to
Social Informatics
Social informatics is the study of information and communication tools in cultural or institutional contexts. Another definition is the interdisciplinary study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into accou ...
,
Human-centered computing (HCC),
Science and Technology Studies (STS),
Design science
Design science refers to a scientific, i.e. rational and systematic, approach to designing. An early concept of design science was introduced in 1957 by R. Buckminster Fuller who defined it as a systematic form of designing which he applied especi ...
.
Key universities
Key Universities involved in SSIS are: the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
(LSE),
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
,
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
,
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
(MIT),
University of Salford
The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...
,
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
, the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
,
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, and
Peking University
Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
.
Key people
High profile people in the field are
Claudio Ciborra,
Jannis Kallinikos
Jannis Kallinikos (; b. 1954) is an organization and communication scholar and intellectual. He was born in the town of Preveza, western Greece. He is also a citizen of Sweden. Kallinikos is currently a professor in the Information Systems and In ...
,
Chrisanthi Avgerou
Chrisanthi Avgerou (; born 1954) is a Greek-born British scholar in the field of the Social Study of Information Systems, focusing on Information Technology in developing countries. She is currently Professor of Information Systems at the Londo ...
& Susan Scott (LSE),
Wanda Orlikowski
Wanda J. Orlikowski is a US-based organizational theorist and Information Systems researcher, and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Information Technologies and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of ...
(MIT),
Shoshana Zuboff
Shoshana Zuboff (born November 18, 1951) is an American author, professor, social psychologist, philosopher, and scholar.
Zuboff is the author of the books ''In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power'' and ''The Support Econ ...
(Harvard),
Lucas Introna
Lucas D. Introna (born 1961) is ''Professor of Organisation, Technology and Ethics'' at the Lancaster University Management School. He is a scholar within the Social Study of Information Systems field. His research is focused on the phenomenon of ...
&
Lucy Suchman
Lucy Suchman is professor emerita of Anthropology of Science and Technology in the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University, in the United Kingdom, also known for her work at Xerox PARC in the 1980s and 90s.
Her current research exten ...
(Lancaster),
Joe Nandhakumar
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage, based on the novel ''Joe'' (1991) by Larry Brown
* Joe (2023 film), an Indian film
* ''Joe'' (TV se ...
(Warwick),
Wendy Currie
Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activitie ...
(Greenwich), Geoff Walsham, Mathew Jones & Michael Barrett (Cambridge),
Kalle Lyytinen
Kalle Lyytinen (born August 19, 1953 in Helsinki) is the Iris S. Wolstein Professor of Management Design at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, and a director of its Doctor of Management programs Doctor of Managem ...
(Case Western),
Rob Kling
Rob Kling (August 1944 – May 15, 2003) was an American professor of information systems and information science at the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) and adjunct professor of computer science at Indiana University Bloomingto ...
(Indiana).
Key publications
*Quast, M., Handel, M. J., Favre, J.-M., Estublier, J. (2013) ''Social Information Systems : Agility Without Chaos,'' Enterprise Information Systems, Springer.
*Walsham, G. (1993)'' Interpreting information systems in organizations,'' John Wiley, Chichester.
*Zuboff, S. (1988) ''In the age of the smart machine: The future of work and power,'' Heinemann Professional, Oxford.
See also
*
Formative context
References
*WJ Orlikowski, JJ Baroudi (1991) 'Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions', ''Information Systems Research,'' 1991
*Avgerou C, (2000) ‘Information systems: what sort of science is it?’ ''Omega,'' vol 28, pp 567–579
External links
*http://ccs.mit.edu/Wanda.html
*http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/informationSystems/research/researchFoci/Default.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Study Of Information Systems
Information systems