Scale matters: doing practice-based studies of contemporary digital phenomena

Authors
Barrett, M 
Orlikowski, W 

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Type
Article
Change log
Abstract

“As a practice scholar of contemporary digital phenomena, I feel increasingly challenged to better account for scale. My conceptual toolbox, which has served me well in conducting ‘classic’ workplace studies of technology, has not helped me attend to scale in my practice-based studies of digital phenomena. Should I relinquish this responsibility to those researchers whose tools and methods seem to address scale more naturally or obviously? Or are there ways to develop practice approaches to scale in studies of contemporary digital phenomena?” In recent years, we have heard these questions raised by experienced practice researchers and pondered them ourselves. Why and how does scale matter in practice? And relatedly, how should we as practice scholars conceptualize and examine scale in our research?

Publication Date
2021-03
Online Publication Date
2021
Acceptance Date
2020-10-19
Keywords
46 Information and Computing Sciences, 3503 Business Systems In Context, 4609 Information Systems, 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Journal Title
MIS Quarterly
Journal ISSN
0276-7783
2162-9730
Volume Title
45
Publisher
Management Information Systems Research Center
Rights
All rights reserved