Difference between revisions of "Boundary object theory"

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== Originating area ==
 
== Originating area ==
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Sociology
  
 
== Level of analysis ==
 
== Level of analysis ==

Revision as of 15:57, 26 October 2015

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Boundary object theory


This theory is waiting to be summarized!

Acronym

Alternate name(s)

Main dependent construct(s)/factor(s)

Main independent construct(s)/factor(s)

Concise description of theory

A boundary object is a concept in sociology to describe information used in different ways by different communities. They are plastic, interpreted differently across communities but with enough immutable content to maintain integrity. The ideas was introduced by Susan Leigh Star and James R. Griesemer in a 1989 publication:[1]

“ Boundary objects are objects which are both plastic enough to adapt to local needs and constraints of the several parties employing them, yet robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites. They are weakly structured in common use, and become strongly structured in individual-site use. They may be abstract or concrete. They have different meanings in different social worlds but their structure is common enough to more than one world to make them recognizable means of translation. The creation and management of boundary objects is key in developing and maintaining coherence across intersecting social worlds.


Diagram/schematic of theory

Originating author(s)

Seminal articles

^ Star SL & Griesemer JR (1989). "Institutional Ecology, 'Translations' and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39". Social Studies of Science 19 (4): 387–420. doi:10.1177/030631289019003001. ^ Bowker, G. C.; & Star, S. L. (1999). Sorting things out: classification and its consequences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Originating area

Sociology

Level of analysis

IS articles that use the theory

Links from this theory to other theories

External links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_object

Original Contributor(s)



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