This study examines the social and technical dimensions of computerization in work groups where they are dominant elements of work life. The basic research question posed in the study is, "How does worklife change (if at all) when computing is a pervasive and salient feature of work places and information handling?" The study focuses on desktop computing, defined as computer-based services accessible through terminals or microcomputers near people's immediate work places. This style of computing is the focus of most scenarios of offices of the future and is of tremendous practical and theoretical importance. The study examines the use of desktop computing and changes in work life as they are experienced by a variety of white collar workers. A longitudinal study of 25 work groups with substantial amounts of desktop computing over a period of three years will provide data to analyze characteristics of these groups (e.g., work organization, technology) in their organizational contexts, as well as individual jobs. The primary forms of data collection are a questionnaire administered to approximately 300 users at three points in time and interviews with a variety of users and resource controllers in those same work groups at the same point in time. The study is the first systematic, empirically based, one on the subject and is significant for the contribution to theory about the role of computers in organizations and for the knowledge it can shed on the integration of desktop computing with human work in organizations.
