Activity patterns in intellectual collaboration

CSCW 2002 – Workshop 5

Peter Jones, Redesign Research, Dayton

16 November, 2002

A Representation of Practice Knowledge in Information Behavior

Research Question … How do scientists seek and use

information in the conduct of research?

Focus on: Research with context of Program/Project Collaboration in research efforts Individual and social information use Analysis within & across disciplines

How is knowledge used in practice?

Background Elsevier Science sponsored study to

understand: Context of research work Information use by scientists Preparation of articles & use of journals

Approach: Current Review and Analysis Design of Field Study First Field Site – Case Western RNA Center

Research Methodology Rapid Ethnography (Millen, 2000)

Research Task Notebook Ethnographic interview, observing, analysis Individual & group walkthrough sessions

Grounded theory approach Glaser, Strauss: Process theories Iterative theory build & test Field data applied to both product & research

Activity Theory + Case Analysis Framework allows additive construction Supports multiple cases – research database

Analysis and Representation Approaches

Activity theory (Engeström)

Social cognition, analysis of multiple activities Motivation, internal & external, organization Focus on technology as instrument of work practice

Contextual Design CD Models useful to triangulate reps Physical, Info Flow, Cultural/Organizational, Artifact

Lifecycle concept Different temporal lifecycles of information use Borgman (1996) only ref to general info lifecycle

Analysis of 25 key studies …

Context Cognitive / Analytical Social / Collaborative

1. Scientific Discipline 4 2

2. Institution or Department 2 1

3. Research Program or Project 1 (Review study) None

4. Individual 13 3

Levels in Activity Theory – Activity (3), Action (4), Operation

Unit of analysis focused on Research Project … Activity levelWhere the work of science gets done.

Field Research Project

RNA Center for Molecular Biology 5 PIs and 10 Researchers Focus on info behavior in research Used diaries, interviews, observation,

artifacts analysis, walkthroughs Information use motivated by knowledge

production required for research:Experiments, Articles, Grants, Exploration

Outcome - Discovery,Publication, Findings,Internal reports

PROGRAM - PROJECT

Instruments - Researchplans, experiments, scientificinstrumentation, publishing,information resources,journals, notes, insights, etc.

Subject - PI, Leadresearcher, Gradstudent researchers

Community - Research interestgroup, colleagues, sponsors, othercommunities of interest

Rules - Research rules &guidelines, publishingrules, budgetary rules

Work Structure - Project roles -vary by type of project, discipline,program need, etc. Headed by PI,typically lead researcher withsupport from students &colleagues

Research Project – Focus of research work

Projects can be studied, are self-contained

Instruments include most research tools & content of interest

More defined work roles, project activity similar within discipline

Initial Findings Proposal Start Data Findings ValidationPublish

paper (Conference) Plan Collection Articles

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Info Use Score

Research Project LifecycleExperimental Study – Molecular Biologist example

Identify key issues

Prepare Proposal

Develop issues

Exhaustive review

Admin wait

Project start,Collect data

Develop findings,Compare studies

Validate findings:References & lit

Prepare article

Review & publishCycle

1

2

3

Where’s the Collaboration? All PIs and most PhDs collaborate with other

researchers (in this field)Not evident from observation

Motivated by knowledge gaps: Required expertise for research Specific equipment needed for exp’s Desire to work with best researchers

Mediated by: Conferences and specific meetings Email, phone calls, shared artifacts

(Initial) Information Flow Model

PhD StudentResearcher

Principal Investigator

Experiments

Research Articles

Discussion of Findings

Review of DataStructuring Paper

Collaborator

Finding latest in the area

New data every day

Paper ideas, shared findings

Specific contributions

Addressing Analysis Issues Data overload?

Inductive analysis – drawing from the field details means leaving stuff out

Losing focus across findings? Grounded theory approach Coding transcripts for themes Iterating analysis, co-analysts

Bridging design - Walkthroughs, field focus groups, analyzing data

across independent studies

Addressing Representation Issues

Iterative abstraction Not modeling further than the data shows Moving “up” but “keeping it real”

Multiple models – Beyond CD A good lesson from CD – Use multiple

visualizations to build a complete story Not being constrained by CD – try:

Activity models, Temporal cycles, Social networks

Glued together with case details