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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Emergence

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Toward A New Understanding Of Virtual Research Collaborations: Complex Adaptive Systems Framework, Arsev U. Aydinoglu Oct 2013

Toward A New Understanding Of Virtual Research Collaborations: Complex Adaptive Systems Framework, Arsev U. Aydinoglu

DataONE Sociocultural and Usability & Assessment Working Groups

Virtual research collaborations (VRCs) have become an important method of conducting scientific activity; however, they are often regarded and treated as traditional scientific collaborations. Their success is measured by scholarly productivity and adherence to budget by funding agencies, participating scientists, and scholars. VRCs operate in complex environments interacting with other complex systems. A holistic (or organicist) approach is needed to make sense of this complexity. For that purpose, this study proposes using a new perspective, namely, the complex adaptive systems theory that can provide a better understanding of a VRC’s potential creativity, adaptability, resilience, and probable success. The key concepts …


Complex Adaptive Systems Theory Applied To Virtual Scientific Collaborations: The Case Of Dataone, Arsev Umur Aydinoglu Aug 2011

Complex Adaptive Systems Theory Applied To Virtual Scientific Collaborations: The Case Of Dataone, Arsev Umur Aydinoglu

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is the exploration of the emergence of DataONE, a multidisciplinary, multinational, and multi-institutional virtual scientific collaboration to develop a cyberinfrastructure for earth sciences data, from the complex adaptive systems perspective. Data is generated through conducting 15 semi-structured interviews, observing three 3-day meetings, and 51 online surveys. The main contribution of this study is the development of a complexity framework and its application to a project such as DataONE. The findings reveal that DataONE behaves like a complex adaptive system: various individuals and institutions interacting, adapting, and coevolving to achieve their own and common goals; during the process new …