1. Elfreda A. Chatman
The Impoverished Life-World of Outsiders (1996),
A Theory of Life in the Round (1999)
2013-2 정보이용자론 :: 석사2학기 송예슬
1
2. Background in sociology
Ethnographic approaches in researching information seeking behaviors
Focused among understudied or minority groups
‘Elfreda A. Chatman Research Award’
Elfreda A. Chatman (1943-2002)
poor people
the elderly
retired women
female inmates
janitors
2
3. Elfreda A. Chatman (1943-2002)
Information
Poverty
Life in the
Round
Normative
Behavior
Small World
The way “Studying social groups”
Applying existing theories
Diffusion Theory
Opinion Leadership Theory
Alienation Theory
Gratification Theory
Developing her own theories
Information Poverty
Life in the Round
Normative Behavior
Small World
not enough
to explain
3
4. Elfreda A. Chatman (1943-2002)
Information
Poverty
Life in the
Round
Normative
Behavior
Small World
The way “Studying social groups”
Information
Poverty
Life in the
Round
<The Impoverished Life-World of Outsiders>
<A Theory of Life in the Round>
4
5. Chatman, E. A. (1996).
The impoverished life-world of outsiders.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47(3), 193-206., 47, 193-206.
5
6. “What factors are present that would account for an information-
poverty lived-experience?”
Introduction
6
Question
Existing
Frameworks
Theory-driven
Research
New Concepts
Diffusion Theory, Opinion Leadership Theory, Alienation Theory,
Gratification Theory…
Theory Construction Begins with…
Anomalies: intellectual dilemmas, unexpected relationships
4 “DNA factor” for information poverty
Deception, Risk-Taking, Secrecy, Situational Relevance
7. Deductive
Theory
application
Theory Development
7
4 Concepts
6 Propositions
Inductive theorizing
that arose from
3 field experiences
“Because needs are not being met,
this information world is viewed by an insider as dysfunctional”
Understanding an
impoverished information world
8. Insiders/Outsiders
8
STUDY INSIDERS OUTSIDERS
Lindbeck &
Snower, 1988
The notion of localized integration:
share common cultural, social… perspective
Lives in a stratified life-world
Becker, 1973 Acting appropriately whereas others are Somehow deviating from the collective standards
Merton, 1972 Claim privileged access to certain kinds of
knowledge protect the worldview from
contamination by others
More cosmopolitan view of the world
easy access to its resources
Why Information barriers exist between two worlds
• The idea that things can only be understood by other insiders
• Insiders shield themselves from resources of outsiders
Sociology works of insiders/outsiders
11. 11
어, 쿠키가 어디 갔지?
이거 홍콩에서 1시간 줄 서서 겨우 산 제니 쿠키…
줄 사람 따로 있는데…
누가 먹었어?
누가 먹었어?
누가 먹었어?
누가 먹었어?
나도 아직 안 먹어봤는데…
12. Insiders/Outsiders
Secrecy
• Definition
- Anything as a secret if its intent is intentional concealment (Bok, 1983)
• Purpose
- Protect ourselves for unwanted intrusion from whatever source
- To guard against disclosure
- Preserve our autonomy and personal lives (Redlinger & Johnston, 1980)
• Features
- Secret information includes the element of control (Ericson, 1989)
- If disclosed, a secret carries an enormous amount of risk
- Extraordinary power of secrecy is that it is not to inform about our true state of affairs
12
응?
13. Insiders/Outsiders
Deception
• Definition
- Falsehood intended by persons not taken in by their own fabrication (Goffman, 1974)
- Secrecy
• Purpose
- To hide our true condition
• Features
- Shrink the possibility of receiving useful information
- Lead to a precarious position in which information sought is irrelevant
- Hinder persons from making use of relevant knowledge
13
Deception
저 안 먹었는데요???
14. Insiders/Outsiders
Risk-Taking
• Related Concepts
- Relative advantage
- Cost (correspond to ‘risk’) vs Possibility (correspond to ‘benefit from Information’)
• Secrecy, Deception, and Risk-Taking
- The purpose of secrecy and deception is self-protection (not to risk-taking)
• Trust is an important factor of the risk-taking
- Trust is needed to benefit from information
- Not trustworthy person/source?
Too costly to themselves to share information
14
혼자 저걸 다 먹었다고 하면
내 이미지는…
언니와의 관계는…
15. Insiders/Outsiders
Situational Relevance
• Related Concepts
- Utility (Cooper, 1973), Usefulness (Cuadra & Katter, 1967), Applicability to individual concerns or
interests (Wilson, 1973), Sense-making (Dervin, 1977)…
• Relevance in an everyday context
- Useful in response to some concern or problem
- Explain why some potentially helpful sources of information were being ignored
• 3 levels of relevance
- 1st: generalized information / e.g. daily conversations
- 2nd: one’s personal need / e.g. medical problems
- 3rd: very personal thing Protected, Secrecy, Too risky to share
15
내 꼭 범인을 찾아내리라.
16. Risk-Taking
• Hindrance to information sharing
Research Findings: Empirical Support for the Theory of Information Poverty
STUDY FINDINGS
CETA • Not share information, esp., job information
• Everybody wants job information Too risky to share, no advantages
Janitor • Shared information would be used against them
• “that no one cares”: not trust anyone and keep concerns private
• Information is not discussed freely with others
Aging • Fear: being institutionalized, support decreasing
• Do not share concerns to appear healthier than they were
• Do not want to take on the responsibilities for caring each other
16
17. Secrecy
• Guard oneself against unwanted exposure
• Most critical kind of information was not being asked for or shared
Research Findings: Empirical Support for the Theory of Information Poverty
17
STUDY FINDINGS
CETA • No one will help
• Both “the good” and “the bad” are being treated alike
• e.g. Afraid of telling about bad members to protect herself
Janitor • Jealous, distrust, distaste of each other
• Act out a good person in order to keep the job
• e.g. Secretive about her relationship with supervisor
Aging • Mistrust of others to keep the information confidential
• The audience wouldn’t sympathize
• “Not to be a bother”
18. Deception
• Deliberate attempt to act out a false social reality
• Meaningless information is shared
Research Findings: Empirical Support for the Theory of Information Poverty
18
STUDY FINDINGS
CETA • e.g. Engages in anti-social behavior to belong to appear to be an “insider”
• e.g. Need to “put on airs” sometimes
Janitor • e.g. Eating a poor lunch alone not to call attention
Aging • Desperately in need of information but pretended they are healthy
• To maintain their independent living
19. Situational Relevance
• Useful information means that it is related to one’s situation, concern or problems
Research Findings: Empirical Support for the Theory of Information Poverty
19
STUDY RELEVANCE INFORMATION REALITY
CETA • How to improve her interpersonal skills • Distrust and resistance based on racial barriers
Not pursue information
• “white women didn’t understand”
Janitor • Person to wary (robberies, rapes,
murders…)
• Job news, weather…
• A direct and immediate impact on the social
world of the janitors
Aging • Information regarding their most serious
problems
• Self-protective behaviors Devoid of the most
critical kind of information, Keep private
• Fear of losing the affection of their children
20. Theory of Information Poverty
Proposition 1 information poor는 그들에게 도움이 될 만한 정보가 없다고 생각한다.
Proposition 2 information poverty는 계급구분과 부분적으로 관련이 있다.
Proposition 3 Information poverty는 social norms에 대응하기 위해 자기 방어적 행동을 한다.
Proposition 4 secrecy와 deception은 자기보호 매커니즘이다.
information poverty는 다른 이들이 유용한 정보를 제공해줄 것을 믿지 않는다.
Proposition 5 이익보다 부정적 결과가 클 것이라는 생각에, 위험을 감수하면서까지 문제 노출을 하지 않는 경우가 종
종 있다.
Proposition 6 새로운 지식은 poor people의 information world에 선택적으로 소개될 것이다.
일상의 문제, 관심사에 관련되었느냐의 여부가 이에 영향을 미친다.
20
• A guide to examine information-seeking behaviors and information poverty
• To provide explanations or information about an aspect of reality
21. Why ‘Poverty Life-World’? (not a situational approach)
• Contextual approach: problems must be viewed within a bigger frame
• Sense-making process should be viewed within our insiders/outsiders context
Poverty Life-World
21
Poverty life-world
Local customs and norms
Members
Problem, Situation, Information need and use
22. Shape and define appropriate problems
provide a legitimate channel
Each person holds a social reality together
Poverty Life-World
22
Social
Norms
Information Seeking
• Suggests a fundamental process: why some sources are
sought and others ignored
Exchange of Information
• Set parameters around the communication process
• Which information sharing might be expected to occur
• Life-world is not private, but intersubjective
“Customs, traditions (…)
all criteria of conduct which are
standardized as a consequence of the
contact of individuals.” (Sherif, 1936)
Contextual
Others
Related Concepts
23. World of Outsiders
23
• Temporary workers
• Social norms regarding
work behaviors and
attitudes were deeply
established
• No association with
permanent workers
Closure to interpersonal
communication channels
were perceived as
unhelpful
Devoid of support or
mutual caring
• Call ‘invisible people’
themselves
• Barren information
climate
• Minimal association with
either coworkers of other
members of the university
Stratification of information
acquisition and use
Person enriched by
information sources:
removed from the
everyday life-worlds of
janitors
Most socially isolated from
both formal and
interpersonal sources of
information
• Undergoing emotional,
social, and psychological
adjustments for their new
world
• Afraid of expulsion form
their apartments
Keep problems to oneself
Appear as normal as
possible
Extremely selective in
making friends
CETA women Janitors Aging
Why They are Outsiders?
24. • Temporary workers
• Social norms regarding
work behaviors and
attitudes were deeply
established
• No association with
permanent workers
Closure to interpersonal
communication channels
were perceived as
unhelpful
Devoid of support or
mutual caring
• Call ‘invisible people’
themselves
• Barren information
climate
• Minimal association with
either coworkers of other
members of the university
Stratification of information
acquisition and use
Person enriched by
information sources:
removed from the
everyday life-worlds of
janitors
Most socially isolated from
both formal and
interpersonal sources of
information
• Undergoing emotional,
social, and psychological
adjustments for their new
world
• Afraid of expulsion form
their apartments
Keep problems to oneself
Appear as normal as
possible
Extremely selective in
making friends
CETA women Janitors Aging
World of Outsiders
24
Why They are Outsiders?
View themselves as outsiders, even not part of their world
(US - THEM >> I – THEM)
View others with skeptical and self-protective eyes
25. Summary
• Information world of specialized populations
Contributions
• Observed information needs of outsiders “from their perspective”
• Information need of the poor has been overlooked
• Offer basis for further understandings and researches
• “It is the [recognition] of the existence of a critical situation which converts what was otherwise
mere information into news.” (Park, 1952)
Conclusion
25
26. Chatman, E. A. (1999).
A Theory Life in the Round.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(3), 207-217.
26
27. Chatman’s studies of information poverty
Small World of Women Prisoners
• An information world was functioning quite well
• There was standard ways of presenting themselves to each other
• Individual perspectives communal view
• Prison was not an uncomfortable place to be for them
• Reshape their private views to embody the norms, for the security it brings
Introduction
27
Study of
aging women
Study of
women prisoners
1996 1999
Borrowed theories
Diffusion theory
Opinion leadership
Alienation theory
Gratification theory
~1991 1992
Study of
retired women
28. Introduction
Populations, Information in Prison
Noteworthy Information: ‘easily fits into the everyday reality of life’
28
women prisoners Information in a prison
• Color and poor people (Harm, 1992)
• With minor offense (Barlow, 1988)
• Who are also mothers (Beckman, 1994)
• Carries a specific, great purpose
• Facilitate the change people from outsider to
insider (whose value lie inside the prison)
A consistent source of conversation: probation, who is close to leaving,
how one manages living in prison to reduce one’s time…
29. Introduction
Foundation Concepts
29
Small World Social Norms Worldview Social Types
• “A world defined by
beliefs shared by its
members”
(Luckmann, 1970)
• Activities are routine,
and predictable
• Mutual worldview
• “An individual just
what he may do and
what he can expect of
life” (Berger, 1963)
• Codes of behavior
• Customary patterns in
a small world
• Collective set of beliefs
in a small world
• Mental picture /
cognitive map
• the concept conveys
shared expectations
about the other
• Distinguish persons
from other member of
the world
30. Introduction
• From common ideas about a shared experience
• Result because new members understand how to interpret the prison system
30
Outsiders (Cosmopolitans)
interested in outside the prison
Insiders (Locals)
the prison is their own world
Related Concepts (1/2)
Insiders/
Outsiders
(Merton, 1968)
Meaning
Location
• “Man is more concerned with what is near at hand” (Wilson, 1983)
• e.g. Health concerns of inmates
31. Introduction
• Imbedded in social norms that holds a world together
• Defines everyday routine activities of those who share it
31
Related Concepts (2/2)
Insiders
Code
Community
• With agreed-upon standards
• The essential characteristic: smallness
• Has great understanding of the social norms
• Reference for observing and controlling behavior, and information
32. Introduction
32
• World of approximation, but…
• Routine manner
• Taken for granted
• Normal language, worldview, and codes
• The process that permits social meaning to happen
“Understanding life in the round results
when information is clear enough
to give sensible meaning to things”
Life in the
Round
Life in the Round
33. Theory of Life in the Round
33
Proposition 1 small world의 개념화는 life in the round의 필수적 요소이다.
small world의 첫 insider가 행동의 경계를 설정함으로써, life in the round가 가능하다.
Proposition 2 social norms으로 인해, 개인의 행동은 공공의 감독을 받게 된다.
이를 통해 개인은 행위의 적절성을 판단하게 된다.
Proposition 3 적절한 행동 구축의 결과로, worldview가 만들어진다.
worldview는 언어, 가치, 의미, 상징, 맥락을 포함한다.
Proposition 4 우리 대부분에게, worldview는 life in the round에 의해 생겨난다.
이는 ‘당연한 삶’으로, 대부분의 경우는 예측가능하며, 정보탐색이 필요하지 않다.
Proposition 5 in the round에 사는 구성원은 정보추구에 있어 그들의 세계에 대한 경계를 가로지르지 않는다.
Proposition 6 단, 아래의 조건에서는 정보 경계를 넘는다.
1) 정보가 중요하다고 지각 될 때
2) 정보가 의미 있다는 공통의 기대가 있을 때
3) life in the round가 더 이상 기능하지 않는다는 지각이 있을 때
Propositional Statements based on fundamental 4 concepts
34. 34
small world의 개념화는 life in the round의 필수적 요소이다.
small world의 첫 insider가 행동의 경계를 설정함으로써, life in the round가 가능하다.
Proposition 1.
35. 35
social norms으로 인해, 개인의 행동은 공공의 감독을 받게 된다.
이를 통해 개인은 행위의 적절성을 판단하게 된다.
Proposition 2.
36. 36
적절한 행동 구축의 결과로, worldview가 만들어진다.
worldview는 언어, 가치, 의미, 상징, 맥락을 포함한다
Proposition 3.
37. 37
우리 대부분에게, worldview는 life in the round에서 기능한다.
이는 ‘당연한 삶’으로, 대부분의 경우는 예측가능하며, 정보탐색이 필요하지 않다.
Proposition 4.
38. 38
in the round에 사는 구성원은 정보추구에 있어 그들의 세계에 대한 경계를 가로지르지 않는다.
Proposition 5.
39. 39
단, 다음 조건에서는 정보 경계를 넘는다. 1) 정보가 중요하다고 지각 될 때, 2) 정보가 의미 있다는 공통의 기대가 있을
때, 3) life in the round가 더 이상 기능하지 않는다는 지각이 있을 때
Proposition 6.
40. Theory of Life in the Round
40
Proposition 1 small world의 개념화는 life in the round의 본질적 요소이다. small world에서 합법화된 첫 insider
가 행동의 경계를 설정하기 때문이다.
Proposition 2 social norms으로 인해, 개인의 행동은 공공의 감독을 받게 된다. 이를 통해 개인은 행위의 적절성을 판
단하게 된다.
Proposition 3 적절한 행동 구축의 결과로, worldview가 만들어진다. worldview는 언어, 가치, 의미, 상징, 맥락을
포함한다.
Proposition 4 우리 대부분에게, worldview는 life in the round에 의해 생겨난다. 근본적으로 이는 당연한 삶이다.
즉, 대부분의 경우는 예측가능하며, 정보탐색이 필요하지 않다.
Proposition 5 in the round에 사는 구성원은 정보추구에 있어 그들의 세계에 대한 경계를 가로지르지 않는다.
Proposition 6 단, 아래의 조건에서는 정보 경계를 넘는다.
1) 정보가 중요하다고 지각 될 때
2) 정보가 의미 있다는 공통의 기대가 있을 때
3) life in the round가 더 이상 기능하지 않는다는 지각이 있을 때
Life in the round will have a negative effect on information seeking.
People will not search for information if there is no need to do so.
Exceptional Cases
Propositional Statements based on fundamental 4 concepts
41. Theory of Life in the Round
41
Life in the Round Outer World
• Everyday life
• Insulted from the undesirable aspects of their
former lives
• Capable of influencing in the inner world
• The most imperfect view of a larger world
• Information makes them sad
• Incapability of assisting outer world
“Here you are protected, you don’t have the
drug culture to bother you…”
“My concern here is what do I need to do to
survive this place.”
“I want to stay in touch with my close family,
but it won’t be good for me.”
“Don’t give me no bad news!”
Application of Life in the Round to Prison Life
42. Prisoners’ Worldview
Localized worldview, centered on everyday concerns
It’s not unique to this environment:
Life in the Round
Taken-for-granted life
It acknowledges everyday reality at its most routine
Both liberating and constraining
Conclusion and Discussion
42
“This paper examined factors that constitute a small world being live in the round.”
“The influence that others, specifically insiders, have on holding this world together.”
(Social control is a critical factor.)
