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This paper re-traverses the author's investigations across several years as he sought to pin-down the meaning of the in vivo category 'domain'. The paper is a methodological reflection on the grounded theory approach to concept development, with a focus on the technical terms: in vivo category, iteration on the code, and sensitizing category. It is also a substantive theoretical contribution, elaborating the concept of a domain in computing, data and information science, and how it has long served as an organizing principle for developing computational systems. Four tricks of the trade for studying the 'logic of domains' are offered as sensitizing concepts to aid future investigations.
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The logic of domains
The logic of domains has become a key organizing principle for contemporary computing projects and in broader science policy. The logic parses collectives of expertise into ‘domains’ that are to be studied or engaged in order to inform computational advancements and/or interventions on the domains themselves. The concept of a domain is set against a proposition that there is a more general, domain independent or agnostic technique that can serve to intermediate the domains. This article contrasts instances of this discourse, organizing and techne, drawing from cases in artificial intelligence, software engineering, and science policy to illustrate three ongoing figurations of the logic as i) experimental research, ii) formalization in method and software tools, and iii) a de facto organizing principle for science policy and technology development.
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- PAR ID:
- 10524475
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Social Studies of Science
- Volume:
- 49
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0306-3127
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 281-309
- Size(s):
- p. 281-309
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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