Middle range theorizing about information technology impact: A study of 3D CAD impact on construction work practices

A challenge in theory building is how to balance the tradeoffs among general, accurate, and simple explanations. From this perspective, the study of information technology (IT) impact tends to emanate from two positions: one that emphasizes sweeping generalizability and another that sets priorities on highly detailed, accurate accounts. Both paradigms have struggled in making conceptual leaps, either from detailed ethnographies to grand theory or from general causal claims to specific contexts. Is it possible that such leaps mask the possibility of other ways of studying IT impact related phenomenon? A similar line of thinking can be followed from the sociologist, Robert Merton, who argued that social scientists ought to focus in the middle range conceptual space between grand theories and empirical generalizations. I apply the logic of middle range theorizing to IT impact research and in particular the study of 3D CAD in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Middle range logic is used to formulate a theoretical accounting of both the objective features and subjective interpretations of 3D CAD. Middle range thinking also shapes the conceptualization of work practice by framing it in various dimensions of relational activities that map to the 8 core objectives of AEC professionals. The use of these dimensions helps to resolve previous views of 3D CAD as both a source of disruption and beneficial coordination among AEC firms. Further the use of work practice dimensions supports future middle range theory development by linking detailed work practice accounts into the core aspects of AEC work practice. The empirical data illustrate how 3D CAD is entangled with building practices of shaping, laying out, and assembling the materials. Normatively, this work implies that practitioners involved in rolling out new technologies consider both a process and a practice-based view which includes the intersection of subjective-contextual and objective-technological elements. Value from middle range thinking in scholarship comes from being able to justify and shape novel views that accommodate a theoretically integrative view of IT impact. Further, the development of middle range theorizing for IT impact provides an approach for linking and extending the findings to similar contexts and domains.