Research

Updated: November 13th, 2010

General research interests:

Sociotechnical Information and Communication Systems
Computer-Mediated Communication, Distributed Knowledge Work, Relational Communication in Virtual Organizations
Cyberinfrastructure, Collaboratories, and e-Science
Distributed Research Groups, International Scientific Collaboration, Databases and Data Sharing
User-Centered Design of Information and Communication Technology
Computer Supported Cooperative Work; Human-Computer Interaction; Participatory Design

I study the design and use of collaboration technologies in distributed knowledge work. I draw on sociotechnical theories that illuminate the complex interplay of social and technological phenomena. Many of my recent studies have involved qualitative studies of the role of information technologies in everyday work. I have also conducted quantitative research, including experimental studies for my dissertation research.

My research speaks generally to the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) domain, and primarily appears in the Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) conferences and journals. I have become involved in the growing community of scholars studying cyberinfrastructure and e-science, including organizing and participating in workshops and co-editing a journal special issue on the topic. I have also presented my work at Academy of Management (AoM) and Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) conferences.

Below I outline some of the research projects I’ve worked on.

Cyberinfrastructure Research

I have studied distributed scientific collaboration since 2001. Key topics include:

  • Building productive collaborative relationships in distributed laboratories,
  • Data and databases as sociotechnical collaborative artifacts,
  • The development of large computational and human infrastructures to support big science, and
  • How information and communication technologies are (or are not) changing scientific methods, practices, and outcomes.

I have been involved with several cyberinfrastructure projects, including:

Collaboration in the Development of Cyberinfrastructure (NSF Award IIS-0712994, Charlotte Lee, PI), an ethnographic study of the development of the CAMERA cyberinfrastructure to support research in the new science of metagenomics.

Leveraging Development Expertise Across Cyberinfrastructures (NSF Award OCI-0838601, Charlotte Lee, PI), a comparative ethnographic study of two large cyberinfrastructure building and research organizations.

International AIDS Research Collaboratory (IARC) a study of HIV/AIDS research groups collaborating across laboratories in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Botswana.

The Science of Collaboratories, 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.

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