Research
Updated: May 29th, 2010
Curriculum Vitae
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General research interests:
- Socio-Technical Information and Communication Systems
- Computer-Mediated Communication, Distributed Knowledge Work, Relational Practice
- Cyberinfrastructure, Collaboratories, and e-Science
- Distributed Research Groups, International Scientific Collaboration, e-Science and Development, Databases and Data Sharing
- User-Centered Design of Information and Communication Technology
- Computer Supported Cooperative Work; Human-Computer Interaction; Participatory Design
Below I outline some of the research projects I’ve worked on.
Cyberinfrastructure Research
I have studied distributed scientific collaboration since 2001. As a post-doctoral scholar, my primary research focus has been the development and use of cyberinfrastructure, or large socio-technical systems to support scientific research. This work is being conducted with Dr. Charlotte Lee in the department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington.
I have been involved with several cyberinfrastructure projects, including:
Collaboration in the Development of Cyberinfrastructure (NSF Award IIS-0712994, Charlotte Lee, PI) Cyberinfrastructures are large-scale distributed scientific enterprises supported primarily through advanced technological infrastructures such as supercomputers and high speed networks. This ongoing project is systematically studying the actual practices of cyberinfrastructure development and use and is also examining the transformations that it is created to engender. Ethnographic methods are being used including participant-observation and semi-structured interviews. A nascent metagenomic cyberinfrastructure project is serving as the field site.
Leveraging Development Expertise Across Cyberinfrastructures (NSF Award OCI-0838601, Charlotte Lee, PI) This ongoing project is undertaking an unprecedented 18-month comparative ethnographic study of two large cyberinfrastructure building and research organizations: the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Each of these organizations hosts and participates in multiple cyberinfrastructure projects of varying size and complexity. Qualitative research methods will include participant-observation and semi-structured interviews to understand how work practices change and develop over time.
International AIDS Research Collaboratory (IARC) This project, led by Gary Olson, worked with AIDS research groups collaborating among the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Botswana. Our research focused on how scientists use electronic resources and communication technologies in their work, and how the use of electronic tools affects the scientists, their institutions, and the fields to which they belong.
The Science of Collaboratories This was an NSF-funded project at the University of Michigan School of Information that looked across a large number of collaborative scientific projects in order to generate a set of technical and behavioral principles that may lead to better, more successful design of cyberinfrastructure in the future. SOC Web Site
Interactivity and Electronic Communication: An Experimental Study of Mediated Feedback (Dissertation)
The use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and other electronic communication technologies can affect not only what information is communicated, but also how we make sense of that information. In my dissertation, I studied how mediating interpersonal communication technologies shape how individuals give, interpret, and use critical feedback.
This research focuses on the ability of some CMC technologies to create inequalities in individual participation in conversation. For example, some virtual meeting technologies give one participant the ability to communicate through video and audio, while restricting others to sending only text messages. In such a situation, the technology can disrupt backchannel communication, interfere with communication norms, and enforce power differentials among participants. In my dissertation, I explore these issues through a series of experiments in which pairs of participants give each other critical feedback using a variety of communication media.
I received my Ph.D. in April, 2008.
Dissertation Committee:
- Dr. Gary M. Olson, School of Information (Chair)
- Dr. Judith S. Olson, School of Information
- Dr. Michael D. Cohen, School of Information
- Dr. Jason D. Owen-Smith, Sociology & Organizational Studies
Usability Research
In 2000-2001, I worked on a project with Judith S. Olson and AT&T’s User Experience Engineering Division that looked at the relationship between usability (as understood by those in the Human Computer Interaction profession) and customer satisfaction. The work was presented at the 18th International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications.