Experiences using situated and non-situated techniques for studying work in context

Abstract

In this paper, we draw a distinction between situated techniques and non-situated techniques for studying work context. We define a situated technique as one in which the data collection takes place in the normal working environment of the person being studied. We describe our experience of a case study in which we applied a combination of situated and non-situated techniques to analyse work practice in context. To coordinate these different types of technique, and to provide adequate validation, we adopted an iterative model building approach. Our case study demonstrates the feasibility and the value of combining these different techniques, and emphasises the value of model building and validation.