Please note that you are expected to do the readings for each session before class. Certain readings in the syllabus are preceded by the symbol “★★★”. This symbol indicates that this particular reading is either a case study or an empirical study dealing with the current topic. All of the readings are required, but this designation should help you if some of the more theoretical readings become difficult to follow.

[Kollock]: Kollock, Peter and Marc Smith, eds. (1999). Communities in Cyberspace. New York, Routledge.

[Fisher]: Fischer, C.S. (1992). America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940. Berkeley, University of California Press - available online. (You must access it from berkeley or via berkeley proxy.

The Social Nature of Technology: Why study technology and information?

Week 1

Jan 17th: Course Introduction: The Social Science Perspective on Information and Information Technology

Capurro, Rafael and Birger Hjorland. 2003. "The Concept of Information." Chapter 8 in Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. Vol 37, 2003. (Blaise Cronin, Ed.) [Reader 1]

McGinn, Robert. 1991. "Why Study Science and Technology in Society?" Chapter 1 in Science, Technology and Society. [Reader 1]

Week 2

MacKenzie, Donald. 1996. "Economic and Sociological Explanations of Technological Change." Chapter 3 in Knowing Machines. pp. 49-65. [Reader 1]

Week 3

Seely Brown, John and Paul Duguid. 2000. The Social Life of Information., MA: Harvard Business School Press - Introduction, Chapters 1-2. [Reader 1]

Seely Brown, John and Paul Duguid. 2000. The Social Life of Information., MA: Harvard Business School Press - Chapters 3-4. [Reader 1]

The Social World, Social Problems, and Information: What we study (introduction to micro, meso and macro level problems)

Week 4

Geroski, P.A. 2000. "Models of technology diffusion," Research Policy, 29(4-5), pp. 603-625. [Reader 1]

Valente, Thomas. 1995. Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations. Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc. - Chapters 1-3. [Reader 1]

Hurlbert, Jeanne S., Valerie A. Haines and John J. Beggs. 2000. "Core Networks and Tie Activation: What Kinds of Routine Networks Allocate Resources in Nonroutine Situations?" American Sociological Review, 65 (4) (Aug., 2000), pp. 598-618. [Reader 1]

★★★ Ebadi, Yar M. and James M. Utterback. 1984. "The Effects of Communication on Technological Innovation." Management Science, 30 (5) (May, 1984), pp. 572-585. [Reader 1]

Week 5

Wellman Barry, Janet Salaff, Dimitrina Dimitrova, Laura Garton, Milena Gulia, and Caroline Haythornthwaite. 1996. "Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and Virtual Community." Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 22. ( pp. 213-238. [Reader 1]

★★★ Nass, Clifford I., Youngme Moon, John Morkes, Eun-Young Kim, and B.J. Fogg. "Computers Are Social Actors: A Review of Current Research." Chapter 8 in Human Values and the Design of Computer Technology. 137-162. [Reader 1]

Kiesler, Sara and Lee Sproull. "'Social' Human-Computer Interaction." Chapter 10 in Human Values and the Design of Computer Technology. pp. 191-199. [Reader 1]

★★★ Matzat, Uwe. 2003. "Academic Communication and Internet Discussion Groups: Transfer of Information or Creation of Social Contacts?" Social Networks. [Reader 1]

McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin and James Cook. 2001. "Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks." Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 27, pp. 415-444. [Reader 1]

Week 6

Mack, R.L. 2001. The Digital Divide: Standing at the Intersection of Race and Technology. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press - Chapters 2, 4, and 8. [Reader 1].

★★★ Solop, Frederic I. 2001. "Digital Democracy Comes of Age: Internet Voting and the 2000 Arizona Democratic Primary Election." Political Science and Politics. 34(2) (Jun., 2001), pp. 289-293. [Reader 1]

Rheingold, Howard. 2002. "Always-On Panopticon... or Cooperation Amplifier?" Chapteer 8 in Smart Mobs. [Reader 1]

★★★ Lankshear, Gloria and David Mason. 2001. "Within the Panopticon? Surveillance, Privacy and the Social Relations of Work in Two Call Centres." (Draft Paper.) [Reader 1]

Week 7

MacKenzie, Donald. 1996. Knowing Machines, Chapter 10, "Tacit Knowledge and the Uninvention of Nuclear Weapons." [Reader 2]

★★★ Osterloh, Margit and Bruno S. Frey. 2000. "Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms." Organization Science, Vol. 11, No. 5. (Sep. - Oct., 2000), pp. 538-550. [Reader 2]

Lessig, Lawrence. 1999. Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. New York: Basic Books. - Chapters 8, 10, and 11. [Reader 2]

Social Science Research Methodology: How do we study information and information technology?

Week 8

Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. - Chapters 4 and 5. [Reader 2]

Dooley, David. 1995. Social Science Research Methods. Chapter 1: "The Logic of Social Research: ruling out rival hypotheses". [Reader 2]

Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. - Chapters 1 and 6. [Reader 2]

Week 9

Greenfield, Tony. 2002. Research Methods for Post-Graduates. - Chapters 29-31. [Reader 2]

You should have read Chapter 9 of Creswell, but the lecture for it will be next Tuesday.

Week 10

You should have already read: Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. - Chapter 9. [Reader 2]

Read for Thursday: Willis, Paul. (1995). Learning to Labor, chapters 1 (pages 1-3) and 2. [Pick up a copy outside Coye's office

Skim for thursday: Creswell, John W. 2003. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. - Chapter 10. [Reader 2]

March 23rd "Real" Ethnography, HCI/CSCW Ethnography and "Virtual" Ethnography (Yuri)

Richard Harper (2000) "The Organisation in Ethnography: A discussion of Ethnographic Fieldwork Programs in CSCW", in CSCW: An International Journal, Amsterdam: Kluwer, Vol 9, pp.239-264. [PDF - accessible from Berkeley campus or through the proxy]

Ducheneaut, N. and Moore, R.J. (2005). "More than just 'XP': Learning social skills in massively multiplayer online games." Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 2(2), pp. 89-100.[PDF]

SKIM: Lofland, John and Lyn Lofland. 1995. Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis. - Introduction, Chapters 1-5. [Reader 2].

Interpersonal Issues in Information and Information Exchange: What we study (continued) - focus on micro-level

Week 11

Marsh, Stephen and Mark R. Dibben. 2003. "The Role of Trust in Information Science and Technology." Chapter 10 in Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. Vol 37, 2003. pp. 465-498. [Reader 2]

★★★ Hertzum, M., Andersen, H. H. K., Andersen V., & Hansen, C. B. 2002. "Trust in information sources: Seeking information from people, documents, and virtual agents." Interacting with Computers, 14(5), 575-599. [Reader 2]

Cheshire, Coye and Karen S. Cook. 2004. "The Emergence of Trust Networks: Implications for Online Interaction." Analyse and Kritik, Vol 28. [Reader 2]

Fisman, R. and T. Khanna. 1999. "Is Trust a Historical Residue? Information Flows and Trust Levels," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 38, 1992.

Week 12

★★★ Kollock, Peter. 1999. "The production of trust in online markets," in "Advances in Group Processes," vol. 16, E. Lawler, M. Macy, S. Thyne, and H. Walker, Eds. Greenwich, CT.: JAI Press [Reader 2], see also http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/online_trust.htm

Resnick, Paul, Richard Zeckhauser, Eric Friedman, and Ko Kuwabara. "Reputation Systems," Communications of the ACM, 43(12), Dec. 2000, pp 45-48. [Reader 2 or PDF].

Rheingold, Howard. 2002. The Evolution of Reputation. Chapter 5 in "Smart Mobs". [Reader 2]

★★★ Donath, Judith. 1999. "Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community." Chapter 2 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

★★★ Burkhalter, Byron. 1999. "Reading Race Online: Discovering Racial Identity in Usenet Discussions." Chapter 3 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

★★★ O'Brien, Jodi. 1999. "Writing in the Body: Gender (Re)Production in Cyber Interactions." Chapter 4 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

Macro-level and Organizational Issues in Information Technology: What we study (continued) - focus on macro-level

Week 13

Kollock, Peter. 1999. "The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace." Chapter 9 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

★★★ Gurak, Laura J. 1999. "The Promise and the Peril of Social Action in Cyberspace: Ethos, Delievery, and the Protests over MarketPlace and the Clipper Chip." Chapter 10 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

★★★ Mele, Christopher. 1999. "Cyberspace and Disadvantaged Communities: The Internet as a Tool for Collective Action." Chapter 12 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

Week 14

April 25th: Community Structure and Dynamics

Wellman, Barry and Milena Gulia. 1999. "Net Surfers Don't Rida Alone: Virtual Communities as Communities." Chapter 7 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

★★★ Smith, Marc. 1999. "Invisible Crowds in Cyberspace: Measuring and Mapping the USENET." Chapter 8 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

April 27th: Social Order and Control

Cowan, Ruth S. "Communication Technologies and Social Control." Chapter 12 in A Social History of American Technology. pp. 273-300. [Reader 2]

Reid, Elizabeth. 1999. "Hierarchy and Power: Social Control in Cyberspace." Chapter 5 in Communities in Cyberspace, Kollock and Smith, eds. [Kollock]

Week 15

★★★ Powell, Walter W. 1998. "Learning From Collaboration. Knowledge and Networks in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries," California Management Review. 40(3), pp. 228-40 (Spring 1998). [Reader 2 or HTML].

Rousseau, Denise M. 1979. "Assessment of Technology in Organizations: Closed versus Open Systems Approaches" . The Academy of Management Review 4(4) (Oct., 1979), pp. 531-542. [Reader 2]

OPTIONAL: DeSanctis, G. and P. Monge. 1999. "Introduction to the special issue: Communication processes for virtual organizations." Organization Science, 10(6): 693-703. [Reader 2 or JSTOR]