• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Circuits of power : a study of the development of computer software and its use in general medical practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    01_front.pdf (583.5Kb)
    02_whole.pdf (23.44Mb)
    Export to EndNote
    Abstract
    This thesis explores several phases in the life history of a software package developed in New Zealand for the primary healthcare market in order to show how the package is implicated in maintaining or changing existing distributions of power. The theoretical concepts which inform the study come primarily from Wiebe Bijker who works within the constructivist tradition of technology studies. The methods include documentary research and fieldwork, including open-ended interviews with five people involved with the package at the development site and seven who work in large and small general practice sites. The study concludes that the introduction of computers into general medical practice is associated with a small shift in the balance of power within general practice which has significant consequences for those who are unable or unwilling to acquire computing expertise. It also concludes that computerisation of general practice is associated with changes in the autonomy of general practitioners as their work becomes open to greater surveillance and in the GP-patient relationship where the computer has the capacity to substantially alter the nature of the interaction. The main findings of the study are that the groups most influential in the development of the package continue to exercise their influence as the package is deployed and used in a general practice setting. In this way the package both reflects and reinforces their power as it moves between development and use. The study also shows that those most influential in all phases of the package's existence draw on a number of skills and resources such as business acumen, clinical knowledge and computing expertise but that the most significant resource is money in the form of purchasing power or economic authority.
    Date
    2000
    Author
    Cornford, Elizabeth Phillipa
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/11959
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1
     

     

    Tweets by @Massey_Research
    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1