Capturing Complex, Distributed Activities: Video-Based Interaction Analysis as a Component of Workplace Ethnography

Abstract

Organizations increasingly carry out their work by relying on complex, distributed activities supported by a wide range of technologies for synchronous and asynchronous communication and collaboration. How do we capture complex, distributed activities? What tools do we use in settings where even a team of trained ethnographers could not comprehend , much less record, all the interplays between team members, the subtleties of a look or tone, the shifts in orientation to people or objects in the workspace? In this paper, we explore the use of video-based Interaction Analysis to extend the ability of traditional ethnographic methods for data collection and analysis. We draw on a study of a distributed organization's use of remote meeting technologies to illustrate how this A. S. Lee et al. (eds.), Information Systems and Qualitative Research © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1997 Capturing Complex, Distributed Activities approach contributes to the depth of insights to be garnered from workplace ethnography.