The Organizational Accountability of Technological Work

Bibliographic Data

ID24304347
AuthorsGraham Button ((GB) Xerox Research Centre Europe, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, UK; fax: +44 1223 341510), Wes Sharrock ((WS) Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; fax: +44 161 275 2514)
Year1998
Volume28
Issue1
Pages73-102
Publication date1998-02-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/030631298028001003
OpenAlexW2033012283
LanguageEN
Citations received30

We address a problem examined by sociologists of `Big Science': the co-ordination of individuals on large-scale projects - in this case, industrial technology projects. We consider co-ordination to be a problem of social order which can be addressed through ethnomethodology's understanding of accountable action. We propose that the technology producers studied attend to the problem of the co-ordination of their work in the design of their actions and interactions as organizationally accountable. We subsequently examine the methodical practices through which they interrelate their actions within an organizational context, and thus organize the co-ordination of their technological work and the production of their technology outcomes.

big science · Ethnomethodology · organizational accountability · Social order · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies