Sociotechnical Systems Analysis

Sociotechnical systems analysis, developed by the historian of technology Thomas P. Hughes, studies large technological systems—electric power, telephony, transport—as a 'seamless web' in which physical artefacts, organisations, scientific knowledge, laws, and people are woven together. Drawing on his study of electrification in Networks of Power and his model of system evolution, the method locates the system's reverse salients, follows the work of system builders, and traces how a system acquires momentum and passes through characteristic phases of growth.