Structuration+Theory

=Structuration Theory=
 * Structuration theory**, developed by sociologist Anthony Giddens, is a theory based on creating and sustaining organization from interactions. In doing so, we must use rules in various social institutions that not only guide employees, but also to allow them to maintain or change an organization. For example, when workers get together for a meeting, it is standard for the boss, manager, or someone who has to most power to guide the conversation without any opposition. If the entire group agrees on something, like striking against the boss, the organizational structure may be altered. Communication is key for these processes to occur.

Assumptions
toc There are three assumptions to Structuration Theory:
 * 1) Groups and organizations are produced and reproduced through the use of rules and resources.
 * 2) Communication rules serve as both the medium for, and an outcome of interactions.
 * 3) Power structures are present in organizations and guide the decision-making process.

Rules
Though the rules we create may restrict our behavior, they also enable us to interact with each other. If our society didn’t have rules, nobody would have a guideline as to how to behave. Imagine your first day at a job that you’re simply thrown into without being told what to do. You need some sort of rules to follow to be able to be efficient do your job. There are two types of rules: explicit and implicit. Explicit rules are clearly stated (similar to an instruction manual that comes with a new piece of furniture) while implicit rules are assumed or learned through experience (raising your hand when you want to speak in class). Giddens claims that the key to understanding communication that occurs in organizations is to examine the structure of the foundation. A structure varies from a system: a system is the organization itself and the behaviors that a group engages in to complete it’s goals, while a structure refers to the actual rules and resources members use to create and sustain the system. With that said, the actual concept of structuration can be defined as a “the process by which systems are produced and reproduced through members’ use of rules and resources” (Poole, Seibold & McPhee, 1996). Structuration allows people to understand their patterns of the way they behave, which is the foundation of the social system. Rules, whether explicit or implicit, are typically learned from the organization and are passed on, unless the group decides to change them. The way in which a group changes a rule is adjusted from one organization to the next. In order to have a successful group change, a good sense of commun ication must be present. = Power = In each communication, a sense of power is established- everyone has power, but some people (like bosses) can have more power than others. With that said, nobody can have absolute power. Resources can be defined as the attributes or material goods that can be used to exert power in an organization, and they are important because they establish power between individuals. Different types of power can be used within an organization, and this power is what establishes communication and enables understanding.

Authoritative Resources:
Within a group, the ability for members to influence one another is extremely important when considering goal accomplishment; it is the basis of interpersonal communication in Structuration Theory. For this reason, many businesses will analyze their authoritative resources, or interpersonal assistance used to help groups accomplish their goals. By determining which workers employ which kinds of authoritative resources, as well as which resources are most effective for certain types of goal-accomplishment, a business can better structure itself to be more efficient. For example, a teacher in a classroom can analyze her students reactions to her use of different authoritative resources to decide which kinds are best to accomplish their goals. Also, if she decided to split the class into small groups, each with a task to accomplish, she could make the groups by deciding which students use which resources, and creating a balance within each group. Authoritative resources can be broken down into five types of powers: Reward Power: perception that another person has the ability to provide positive outcomes. Coercive Power: perception that another person has the ability to enact punishment. Referent Power: perception that another person has the ability to achieve compliance because of established personal relationships. Legitimate Power: perception that another person has the ability to exert influence because of a certain title or position. Expert Power: perception that another person has the ability to exert influence because of special knowledge or expertise. = Definitions = __Structuration__: the production, reproduction, and transformation of social environments through rules and resources in relationships. __System__: a group or organization and the behaviors that the group engages in to pursue its goals. __Structure__: the rules and resources used to sustain a group. __Rules__: general routines that the organization follows in accomplishing goals. __Resources__: attributes or material goods that can be used to exert power in a group. __Power__: imposition of personal will on others. __Fresh Act__: something new developed from an action or behavior. __Agency__: behaviors or activities used in social environments. __Reflectivity__: one’s ability to monitor his/her actions or behaviors.

=Outside Research=

By: Christine Chen, Toity Deave, and Trisha Greenhalgh
This outside research studies the topic of childhood obesity. To make this research more effective, they focused their studies on areas in Hong Kong, China that are undergoing rapid economic growth, urbanization, cultural transition, commodification of food systems, and overall modernity. This topic is difficult, because it concerns human behavior on both the micro level and the macro level. Luckily, the researchers discovered the structuration theory and used it to strengthen their research.

Structuration theory can be used to study childhood obesity because food and eating, according to the researchers, can be viewed as a social practice. By using this theory, the researchers no longer have to view obesity at either a micro level or a macro level. Instead, they can use the theory to explain that eating habits are a social practice that deal with not only the micro level of individual’s choices, but also at the macro level with the evident social structure. The theory says that social structure is both internal and external, and the researchers can use these aspects of the theory to look at their studies differently.

The primary method the researchers used to conduct their studies was ethnography. They studied six obese children and four healthy children in Hong Kong for 8-12 months. They conducted interviews with both the children and their primary caregivers in their native languages. They also used the theoretical approach when looking at their research. When applied to structuration theory, the original issue of childhood obesity can be much more richly theorized.

In their findings, the researchers first report on their ethnographic findings. Then they analyze the external findings that form conditions of action, and the internal findings that mediate the structure-agency relationship. They then analyze how these impact social structures, by either the creation of new social structures, or the changing of the old. The research confirmed the micro level causes of childhood obesity (high energy intake, low energy expenditure), and the macro level causes (advertising, plentiful high energy foods, and limitations of the urban environment). But looking at it through the lens of structuration theory, they were able to see how these two causes are tied together. The changes of Hong Kong’s food system are a reflection of the wider social force of globalization and technological progressions.

In their paper, the researchers say that childhood obesity, and eating as a whole, could be much more positively researched if it was seen as a social practice. If researchers looked at the issue in terms of structuration theory, eating could be seen as a social practice, not as an individual behavior devoid of social context.