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Dissertation Information for Elisabeth Davies

NAME:
- Elisabeth Davies

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Western Ontario (Canada) (2007)

ADVISORS:
- Gloria Leckie

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Laura Lei Miller
- Pamela Jane McKenzie

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Epistemic practices of theatre production professionals: An activity theory approach

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify the epistemic or knowledge practices of theatre production professionals within the framework of cultural-historical activity theory. The script of the play was considered to be the principal mediating artefact used by theatre professionals to accomplish the object of producing the play.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 theatre production professionals on two separate productions of the same play. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Transcripts of the interviews and copies of some of the participants' scripts formed the data for analysis.

Data analysis comprised identifying (1) theoretical themes related to theatre production as practice or activity; (2) instances of the script in the role of mediating artefact; and (3) specific epistemic practices.

Seven epistemic practices were identified: reading, classifying and inscribing, gathering, representing, learning, remembering, and standardizing. The epistemic practices identified represent how theatre production professionals do their work. Epistemic practices are seen to be a subset of epistemic capital that theatre production professionals accumulate over time through formal education and professional work experience.

Four factors were found to affect the epistemic practices and the epistemic capital: the cultural-historical setting, "slip" time, professional roles, and the mediating artefact itself.

Activity theory could enhance research in Library and Information Science, especially for the ability to emphasize the role that documents play in people's working lives. The project-based, temporary nature of theatre work is depicted in a model of theatre as an accelerated activity system in which epistemic capital, epistemic practices, time and the situatedness of the activity are accounted for.

MPACT Scores for Elisabeth Davies

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2009-05-16 23:43:59

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