عنوان

Technique-led technological change and the 'hidden research system' :

Number

TLets402674

Title Proper

Technique-led technological change and the 'hidden research system' :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Hopkins, Michael M.

Title Proper by Another Author

genetic testing in the NHS

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Sussex

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2004

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

University of Sussex

Text preceding or following the note

2004

Text of Note

This thesis is concerned with hospital-centred networks of non-commercial groups andtheir role in the dynamics of medical innovation.By breaking down `technology' into artefacts, techniques and regimes, we distinguishbetween two modes of technological change that underlie the evolution of healthcareservices. These are `artefact-led technological change' and `technique-led technologicalchange'. Artefact-led technological change is well characterised in the existing literatureand follows from the development of novel services based on artefacts created by networksof firms and clinicians. By contrast we identify technique-led technological change as acomparatively under-explored area. We argue that the careers of technologies entering theclinic as a result of the development of novel techniques do not rely on firms in this wayand may principally be developed within networks of non-commercial groups. We suggestthese technologies follow a distinct dynamic that we characterise through a multiple-caseempirical study. The empirical research centres on the genetic testing services of the UK'sNational Health Service (NHS).Using Blume's (1992) conceptual framework founded in the `sociology of technology', weexplore the careers of our case studies longitudinally; analyse the changing interorganisationalstructures between actor groups; and examine the ways in which theproblematisations of these groups shape the technology and its applications.Our findings indicate that industrial groups play little part in technique-led technologicalchange until these technologies are relatively well established. After this point firms maycreate a role for themselves by facilitating specialisation and automation processes. Wenote that the early stages of technique-led technological change often occur in the absenceof formal regulatory processes. Diffusion and change take place largely in an ad hoc,`bottom-up' manner, often reliant on bootlegged resources, charitable donation, or specialinitiatives. Although free from commercial constraints in the early phases, we find that thediffusion of technique-led technologies remains constrained within limits imposed by thetacit nature of skills, the availability of local resources and sets of professional norms.

Hopkins, Michael M.

University of Sussex

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y