Explaining culture: an outline of a theory of socio-technical interactions

This paper presents four criticisms of positivistic research in cross-cultural human-computer interactions. An outline of a theory of cultural influences in socio-technical systems is then presented. Based on the ecological approach to perception and action and the philosophical approach to intersubjectivity, the dual aspects of interaction in socio-technical systems- (a) interacting with technologies and (b) interacting with social others using technologies are respectively theorized as (a) perception and appropriation of affordances and (b) structures and functions of intersubjetcivity. Affordances are action-taking possibilities and meaning-making opportunities in a socio-technical system relative to actor competencies and system capabilities. Technological intersubjectivity refers to the production, projection and performance of identities and subjectivities in technology supported social relationships. The comparative informatics methodological framework is then presented followed by a brief description of the experimental evaluation of the theoretical framework. Implications for design of computer supported intercultural collaboration systems and a set of open research questions are discussed.

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