Despite the diversity of social science research, most cyberinfrastructure work has focused on social science research that is similar in approach to the natural sciences. Yet all the social sciences, be they theoretical or empirical, qualitative or quantitative have potential to be transformed with collaborative technology. Meeting this potential will rely upon understanding the diverse forms of intellectual and collaborative work that make up the social sciences in ways distinct from work in the natural sciences. Transforming research on culture, language, philosophy or practice will depend not just on data grids or online archives, but on appropriate technologies that fit with the diverse intellectual and collaborative practice involved in social science research. To meet these opportunities, this project focuses on studying ethnographically the diverse intellectual practices of social science research, using these findings to build new transformative social science cyberinfrastructure.
Drawing on science and technology studies as well as computer supported collaborative work, the project will investigate the distinct challenges that social science research faces by exploring the role of theoretical debate and discussion around conceptual questions alongside the diversity in approach, definitions, and methods of research. The research will take a threefold approach: questioning intellectual practice, conducting empirical investigations, and building and testing technological interventions in three ?social science virtual organizations.? Each of the three sites was chosen to represent a distinct form of virtual organization: Vl2 is a major NSF funded multi-site project studying language use; UC Links is a UC wide organization that brings together research and practice around after school clubs; and, XMCA is an organization that brings together an intellectual community around journals and a long lived (25 years) and heavily used email discussion list. The results of this research will be used to develop new collaborative mobile and online systems that assist collaboration. These tools will advance our understanding of how collaboration can be better supported amongst researchers. By improving the productivity of the social sciences through the findings and resulting tools, this project will bring a range of benefits to an important aspect of academic work currently underserved by cyberinfrastructure.
