London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Modules

Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences - Units

Sociology of information systems [112] (half-unit)

Prerequisites (if taken as part of a BSc degree):
21 Principles of sociology or 10 Introduction to sociology or 60 Introduction to information systems.

Things in the world: What is one thing? Prescriptive and descriptive definitions; coping with ambiguity?
Rules and rule following: Following rules; specifying rules in advance; skill acquisition and rule following; situations where there are no rules.
Speech act theory: Saying something, doing something; conditions for successful speech acts; social facts; creating a new status, social facts and information systems.
Inscription devices and mediation : Inscription devices; technologies of mediation; scientific facts.
Temporal impacts of information technology : Understanding how our understanding of time has changed as a result of information technology; monochronic and polychronic work.
The sociology of translation: The diffusion of innovation; obligatory passage points; innovation and information systems; plans and purposeful actions; situated actions, planning and information systems.
Humans and non-humans : considering the non-humans; the symmetry principle; agency and structure.