A new role for anthropology? : rewriting "context" and "analysis" in HCI research

• In this paper we want to reconsider the role anthropology(both its theory and methods) can play within HCI research. One of the areas anthropologists can contribute to here is torethink the notion of social context where technology isused. Context is usually equated with the immediateactivities such as work tasks, when and by whom the task isperformed. This tends to under represent some fundamentalaspects of social life, like culture and history. In this paper,we want to open up a discussion about what context meansin HCI and to emphasize socio-structural and historicalaspects of the term. We will suggest a more inclusiveanalytic way that able the HCI community to make “better”sense of use situation. An example of technology use in aworkplace will be given to demonstrate the yields this kindof theoretical framework can bring into HCI.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Mänsklig interaktion med IKT (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Human Aspects of ICT (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Medieteknik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Media and Communication Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Anthropology

context of use

ethnography

socio-cultural

socio-structural

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)