Marlot Kuiper

80 Connective Routines Thirdly, based on the theoretical review I further disentangled the concept ‘artefact’. I identified artefacts as actants that play an active role in shaping the social world. Artefacts do not have the same agency and ‘intentionality’ as human actants, but they afford different possibilities for use. By introducing the notion of spatial and material affordances I explicitly include the possibilities for use in the analysis, as different representations of the ‘rule’ afford different action patterns. From a routine perspective, I do not consider artefacts ‘technical’ entities that will facilitate connections and behaviour as prescribed in it. The focus in chapter 7 is on how artefacts affect routines. 3.5 Conclusion In this chapter I combined insights about professionalism and standardization with literature on organisational routines to work towards a convenient research perspective. The sub question central to this chapter was: “ What are organisational routines and how can they be used to study (professional) work and its standardization?” Organisational routines can be conceptualized as practices with internal dynamics. A routine perspective is a convenient lens to study how standards work, since this perspective allows for a micro-level view on how routines evolve and change through daily interactions. The developed routine perspective explicitly focuses on internal routine dynamics, routine interactions, and the role artefacts play. Different types of connections are considered important for understanding and establishing routines, especially in highly professional domains like surgical care. The perspective is informed by literature from the Sociology of Professions and Science and Technology Studies to take account of the specific nature of professional work and identify possible outcomes of the empirical research. These insights provide guidance, but allow for an open outlook. Theoretical insights suggest different ostensive aspects regarding the checklist and hint towards different performances, for instance rejection or incorporation. After a discussion of the research design, the empirical chapters 5, 6, and 7 will each focus on a part of the framework, and thus different type of connection.