From controlled experiments to formative interventions in studies of agency: methodological considerations

Anne Laitinen; Annalisa Sannino; Yrjö Engeström

doi:10.15448/1981-2582.2016.s.24321

Authors

Anne Laitinen University of Helsinki
Annalisa Sannino University of Helsinki
Yrjö Engeström University of Helsinki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1981-2582.2016.s.24321

Keywords:

Waiting experiment. Double stimulation. Agentive action. Control. Formative interventions

Abstract

The article explores the possibility of developing a methodology for studying the emergence of agentive action experimentally. It discusses the limitations of classic experimental research and seeks a different perspective on the issue of control. The argument starts by reviewing how the concept of an experiment has been expanded throughout the years in social scientific research. Then new openings are considered toward experiments beyond the control paradigm and a methodology of formative interventions, particularly suitable to the study of the emergence of agentive actions. Three central qualities of experiments beyond the control paradigm within the cultural- historical approach are suggested, namely (1) building on participants’ conflicts of motives, (2) focusing on the formation of participants’ agentive actions of making sense of and transforming the experimental situation, and (3) following temporal and spatial expansions beyond the initial frame of the experiment. The article concludes with a discussion of the broader methodological implications of these new openings.

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Author Biographies

Anne Laitinen, University of Helsinki

Anne Laitinen is a doctoral candidate at the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), University of Helsinki. Her published work focuses on the Change Laboratory method and on double stimulation as a core mechanism of transformative agency.

Annalisa Sannino, University of Helsinki

Annalisa Sannino is Academy Research Fellow at the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), University of Helsinki. Her research is primarily focused on understanding the emergence of transformative agency as a dialectical process of mastering historical contradictions and related conflicts of motives. Her work demonstrates how transformative agency can be discursively identified, supported and enhanced with formative interventions is communities, educational and work activities.

Yrjö Engeström, University of Helsinki

Yrjö Engeström is Professor of Adult Education and Director of the Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning CRADLE at University of Helsinki. He is known for his work on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning. In his research, he uses the methodology of formative interventions, particularly the Change Laboratory, to facilitate expansive learning in organizations, communities and social movements

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From controlled experiments to formative interventions in studies of agency: methodological considerations

Authors

DOI:

Keywords: