Doctoral Dissertation Research: Bodies, Computers, and Productivity in South Korea

加州大学欧文分校博士生Stephen C.Rea在Keith M.Murphy博士的指导下，将在两个看似截然不同的领域--信息技术(IT)部门和计算机游戏文化--研究身体技能和日常计算机使用之间的关系。这项研究将在韩国的IT工作者和电脑游戏玩家中进行，这两个群体在操作计算机时使用相似的身体、技术和社交技能，但具有截然不同的社会地位。IT工作者因对韩国经济增长做出的贡献而受到赞扬，而电脑游戏玩家则经常被认为懒惰、效率低下，被贴上了“Pye-in”的标签，这是一个俚语，意思是“垃圾人”。韩国是这项研究的理想地点，因为计算机技术在工作和休闲活动中占据主导地位。这项研究将通过使用传统和创新的社会科学研究方法来解决这些问题，包括：参与观察韩国IT工作者和电脑游戏玩家的日常生活；民族志访谈；韩国媒体技术档案中的档案研究；以及使用计算机的IT工作者和游戏玩家的分析视频。这些方法将有助于回答关于培养或根除特定的身体、技术和社会技能以及关于这种做法的论述如何影响生产力和个人与计算机之间适当关系的文化概念的问题。这项研究之所以重要，是因为它将进一步科学地理解后工业经济中工人的技术社会化；计算机技术在日常生活中的作用；以及围绕生产力文化概念的话语和实践对人类身体发展的影响。支持这项研究也支持研究生的教育。

University of California at Irvine doctoral candidate, Stephen C. Rea, supervised by Dr. Keith M. Murphy, will investigate the relationship between somatic skill and everyday computer use in two seemingly distinct realms: the information technology (IT) sector and computer gaming culture. The research will be conducted in South Korea among IT workers and computer gamers, two groups who utilize similar physical, technical, and social skills in the operation of computers, but who have radically different social statuses. Whereas IT workers are praised for the contributions that they make to the growth of the South Korean economy, computer gamers are often regarded as lazy and unproductive, garnering the label of "pye-in," a slang term meaning "garbage people." South Korea is an ideal location for this research because of the intensity with which computer technology dominates both work and leisure activities.The study will address these issues through the use of traditional and innovative social scientific research methods, including: participant observation with South Korean IT workers and computer gamers in their everyday lives; ethnographic interviews; archival research in South Korean media technology archives; and analytical videography of IT workers and gamers using computers. These methods will help answer questions about how the cultivation or eradication of specific physical, technical, and social skill sets, as well as the discourses about such practices, impacts cultural concepts of productivity and of the appropriate relationship between individuals and computers. This study is important because it will further scientific understanding of the technological socialization of workers in post-industrial economies; the roles of computer technology in everyday life; and the effects of discourses and practices around cultural concepts of productivity on human physical development. Supporting the research also supports the education of a graduate student.