End User Creativity: A Critical Realist Perspective
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University of Canterbury. Human Interface Technology Laboratory
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Abstract
There has been a recent trend in the IS literature
toward viewing IT systems less as material
artifacts and more as imbricated, socio-technical a
ssemblages. This suggests that greater
attention must be paid to the detailed processes be
hind the interaction of users with systems.
In this thesis, I explored the creative process tha
t occurs when end users discover or develop
novel and useful ways to appropriate IT systems. I
used Eisenhardt (1989)’s framework for
inducting theory from case studies, and conducted a
n embedded multiple-case study of users
who have implemented creative ways to apply existin
g IT systems. I applied Critical Realist
assumptions and employed theoretical lenses drawn f
rom cognitive science (distributed
cognition), cognitive psychology (dual-process theo
ry) and Markus and Silver (2008)’s
variant of Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST). I a
ddressed the research question: What are
the causal mechanisms that explain the creative app
ropriation of IT systems by end users?
Using AST as a foundation, I developed a theoretica
l framework to represent the problem
space that must be traversed by users making approp
riation moves, which I have named
Affordance Field Theory. I employed Narrative Netwo
rks (Pentland & Feldman, 2007) for my
primary retroductive analysis, then re-analysed the
data using Framework Matrices (Ritchie
& Lewis, 2003). The complementary logical forms (pr
ocessual and thematic, respectively) of
the analytical tools provide empirical corroboratio
n for the findings. I have derived a set of
cognitive mechanisms that describe the information-
processing operations involved in end
user creativity. Using metaphors provided by distri
buted cognition, I have demonstrated how
these mechanisms can be used to explain information
processing at both the individual and
collective levels. I have also developed an integra
tive model to explain how the mechanisms
work together to explain creative action at the ind
ividual level. I have maintained my primary case study database in
NVivo 10.
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ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::08 - Information and Computing Sciences::0806 - Information Systems::080602 - Computer-Human Interaction