Assignment 6 is due on Friday March 28, in class. It should be roughly 2000
words in length and is worth 15 marks. This is an individual
mini-research-project or field study, due at the end of the term. Students will
bring TWO copies of their assignment to class on March 28 and we will swap
copies (see assignment 6B), so that students will have the opportunity to learn
new information of relevance to the course.
Identify a specific organization which has undergone change, through
computerization (e.g. postal service, police, sports advisors, the handicapped,
the medical profession); outline the changes which have occurred (present the
before/after picture); discuss the benefits of computerization for this
subgroup; discuss the potential concerns, problems; reach some conclusions about
what should happen, in the future, for this subgroup. Make sure that you balance
your treatment of positive and negative impacts for the subgroup, so that your
report does not simply focus on one of these two sides.
This assignment comprises several subtopics addressed in the course including
computers and work, reliability, communication with those who are less
technically experienced, etc. The aim is to have students go beyond merely
thinking of some of the issues, to actually researching issues more thoroughly
(including primary sources, such as interviewing and surveying and secondary
sources such as reading published papers and studies). For graduate students
only, primary research will be a requirement and an appendix must be added to
the project which clearly indicates the questions asked during primary research.
For undergraduate students, primary research is not required. It is merely an
option for those topics where primary subjects are readily available.
Researching written material already published should be done for this
assignment, as was the expectation for earlier assignments.
Last updated Jan. 02, 2003.