Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit

Morgan Currie; Lena Podoletz

doi:10.1002/pra2.813

Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit

Morgan Currie^*, Lena Podoletz

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Social and Political Science

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract / Description of output

This paper applies the concept of ‘lived experiences’ to understand people's subjective and everyday encounters with automated systems. We reflect on how qualitative longitudinal research methods are useful for capturing the affective and emotional dimensions of these experiences; these flexible methods also allow for iterative changes that can react to new findings and participant feedback. Using our empirical study on Universal Credit (UC), the UK's largest social security payment, we demonstrate how studying lived experiences via qualitative longitudinal research helps us reflect on both the topic of the research and our position as researchers in relation to study participants. We argue that the lived experience framework is extremely valuable for understanding the consequences of automated decisions for users of these systems and to redress the uneven power dynamics of representing the voices of those sharing these encounters.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Pages	547-552
Number of pages	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.813
Publication status	Published - 22 Oct 2023
Event	86th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology - London, United Kingdom Duration: 27 Oct 2023 → 31 Oct 2023 https://www.asist.org/am23/

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Number	1
Volume	60
ISSN (Print)	2373-9231
ISSN (Electronic)	2373-9231

Conference

Conference	86th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	London
Period	27/10/23 → 31/10/23
Internet address	https://www.asist.org/am23/

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

lived experience
automated and algorithmic decisions
digitalisation
qualitative longitudinal research
digital social security systems

Access to Document

10.1002/pra2.813

CurriePodoletzASIST2023StudyingLivedExperienceAccepted author manuscript, 364 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Automating Social Security in the UK: A Study on Incorporating Claimant Voices in the Design of Universal Credit
Currie, M.
ESRC
1/01/22 → 31/12/23
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit",

abstract = "This paper applies the concept of {\textquoteleft}lived experiences{\textquoteright} to understand people's subjective and everyday encounters with automated systems. We reflect on how qualitative longitudinal research methods are useful for capturing the affective and emotional dimensions of these experiences; these flexible methods also allow for iterative changes that can react to new findings and participant feedback. Using our empirical study on Universal Credit (UC), the UK's largest social security payment, we demonstrate how studying lived experiences via qualitative longitudinal research helps us reflect on both the topic of the research and our position as researchers in relation to study participants. We argue that the lived experience framework is extremely valuable for understanding the consequences of automated decisions for users of these systems and to redress the uneven power dynamics of representing the voices of those sharing these encounters.",

keywords = "lived experience, automated and algorithmic decisions, digitalisation, qualitative longitudinal research, digital social security systems",

author = "Morgan Currie and Lena Podoletz",

note = "Funding Information: This research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) under grant reference number ES/V016709/1. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank research participants and third sector partners for their support. Thanks also to Hayley Bennett and Charlotte Zealley for data collection assistance with eight of the interviews. Publisher Copyright: 86 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology | Oct. 27 – 31, 2023 | London, United Kingdom. Author(s) retain copyright, but ASIS&T receives an exclusive publication license.; 86th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology ; Conference date: 27-10-2023 Through 31-10-2023",

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month = oct,

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language = "English",

series = "Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology",

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Currie, M & Podoletz, L 2023, Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit. in Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, no. 1, vol. 60, pp. 547-552, 86th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology, London, United Kingdom, 27/10/23. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.813

Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit. / Currie, Morgan; Podoletz, Lena.
Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 2023. p. 547-552 (Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology; Vol. 60, No. 1).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - Studying lived experience and automated systems

T2 - 86th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology

AU - Currie, Morgan

AU - Podoletz, Lena

N1 - Funding Information: This research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) under grant reference number ES/V016709/1. The support of the Economic and Social Research Council is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank research participants and third sector partners for their support. Thanks also to Hayley Bennett and Charlotte Zealley for data collection assistance with eight of the interviews. Publisher Copyright: 86 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology | Oct. 27 – 31, 2023 | London, United Kingdom. Author(s) retain copyright, but ASIS&T receives an exclusive publication license.

PY - 2023/10/22

Y1 - 2023/10/22

N2 - This paper applies the concept of ‘lived experiences’ to understand people's subjective and everyday encounters with automated systems. We reflect on how qualitative longitudinal research methods are useful for capturing the affective and emotional dimensions of these experiences; these flexible methods also allow for iterative changes that can react to new findings and participant feedback. Using our empirical study on Universal Credit (UC), the UK's largest social security payment, we demonstrate how studying lived experiences via qualitative longitudinal research helps us reflect on both the topic of the research and our position as researchers in relation to study participants. We argue that the lived experience framework is extremely valuable for understanding the consequences of automated decisions for users of these systems and to redress the uneven power dynamics of representing the voices of those sharing these encounters.

AB - This paper applies the concept of ‘lived experiences’ to understand people's subjective and everyday encounters with automated systems. We reflect on how qualitative longitudinal research methods are useful for capturing the affective and emotional dimensions of these experiences; these flexible methods also allow for iterative changes that can react to new findings and participant feedback. Using our empirical study on Universal Credit (UC), the UK's largest social security payment, we demonstrate how studying lived experiences via qualitative longitudinal research helps us reflect on both the topic of the research and our position as researchers in relation to study participants. We argue that the lived experience framework is extremely valuable for understanding the consequences of automated decisions for users of these systems and to redress the uneven power dynamics of representing the voices of those sharing these encounters.

KW - lived experience

KW - automated and algorithmic decisions

KW - digitalisation

KW - qualitative longitudinal research

KW - digital social security systems

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DO - 10.1002/pra2.813

M3 - Conference contribution

T3 - Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology

SP - 547

EP - 552

BT - Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology

Y2 - 27 October 2023 through 31 October 2023

ER -

Studying lived experience and automated systems: The case of Universal Credit

Abstract / Description of output

Publication series

Conference

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Automating Social Security in the UK: A Study on Incorporating Claimant Voices in the Design of Universal Credit

Cite this