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Forms of Positioning in Interdisciplinary Science Practice and Their Epistemic Effects
Author(s) -
OSBECK LISA M.,
NERSESSIAN NANCY J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal for the theory of social behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.615
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5914
pISSN - 0021-8308
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5914.2009.00430.x
Subject(s) - citation , library science , sociology , computer science
We illustrate the usefulness of positioning theory for analyzing identity formations and their relation to problem solving and innovation in research science contexts. We analyze discursive strategies in terms of rights and duties enabling forms of sense-making in two biomedical engineering laboratories engaged in cutting-edge research in a major university setting. We organize selected examples into three categories to emphasize qualitatively different ways positioning can be seen to function in laboratory practice in an interdisciplinary context. Interview text examples coded as involving positioning display the highly integrated nature of social, cognitive, and affective aspects of the “speech acts” of researchers recorded as interview material.