Mapping the “Human” side of Computing: An Author Cocitation Analysis of the
Interrelationships between Ergonomics, Human-Computer Interaction and Human
Factors Research
Gulshan Pajwani and Katherine W. McCain
College of Information Science & Technology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
19104. Email: gkp24@drexel.edu , Kate.McCain@cis.drexel.edu.
Introduction
Ergonomics, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI),
and Human Factors (HF) all focus on some aspect of
the interaction between human and machine—
including computer-based information systems. The
degree of interrelationship among these three
research areas is not clear. From one perspective,
Ergonomics and Human Factors appear to be the
same, or closely related topics of concern. The
International Ergonomics Association (www.iea.cc)
defines ergonomics as: “Ergonomics (or human
factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the
understanding of interactions among humans and
other elements of a system, and the profession that
applies theory, principles, data and methods to design
in order to optimize human well-being and overall
system performance” and lists a number of human
factors and ergonomics organizations as association
members. Also, the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society of America, which began as the Human
Factors Society, publishes both Human Factors and
Ergonomics in Design. On the other hand, Licht et
al., in a detailed content analysis of user-derived
definitions of Human Factors, Ergonomics, and
Human Factors Engineering, report that “definitions
of human factors include a broader range of
classification categories and domains of inclusion;
definitions of human factors engineering place an
overwhelming emphasis on design as the medium to
effect change on an end-system; and definitions of
ergonomics emphasize the study of humans at work
as an important characteristic” (Licht et al. ND). In
its “Curricula on HCI,” ACM SIGCHI states that
“Human-computer interaction is a discipline
concerned with the design, evaluation and
implementation of interactive computing systems for
human use and with the study of major phenomena
surrounding them. “
Methodology
In the present study we use author cocitation
analysis and three domain visualization tools, cluster
analysis, multidimensional scaling, and PFNets, to
explore the interrelationships between these three
research fields. We explore the relationships among
60 authors over the period 1991-2003—selected by
being highly cited in core Ergonomics, HF, and/or HCI
journals or recommendations from field experts.
Analysis & Results
Our initial analysis of the 60 author matrix showed that
Ergonomics was a distinct and separate discipline, while
HF and HCI were strongly interrelated. Space limitations
preclude our reporting the full analysis in this extended
abstract; we focus here on the MDS map and PFNet for
the 41 authors representing the HCI/HF complex,
reanalyzed after removing the 19 Ergonomics authors (in
italics, see Table 1)
Table 1: Authors included in study
Anderson, JR
Bainbridge, L
Broadbent, DE
Chaffin, DB
Dourish, P
Fitts, PM
Gopher, D
Greenbaum, J
Hancock, PA
ISO (as author)
Kantowicz, BH
Kieras, DE
McGill, SM
Moray, N
Norman, DA
Rasmussen, J
Sanderson, PM
Shneiderman, B
Suchman, LA
Wilson, JR
Armstrong, TJ
Bodker, S
Card, SK
Chapanis, A
Drury, CG
Garg, A
Gould, JD
Grudin, J
Hart, SG
John, BE
Karwowski, W
Kraut, RE
Mital, A
Newell, A
Olson, GM
Reason, JT
Schneider, W
Simon, HA
Vicente, KJ
Winograd, T
Ayoub, MM
Borg, G
Carroll, JM
Corlett, EN
Ericsson, KA
Gibson, JJ
Grandjean,E
Hagberg, M
Hutchins, E
Kahneman, D
Keyserling, WM
Kumar, S
Moran, TP
Nielsen, J
Parasuraman, R
Salthouse, TA
Sheridan, TB
Snook, SH
Wickens, CD
Woods, DD
Figures 1and 2 show the connections between the 41
authors representing HCI/HF. Figure 1 presents the
Pathfinder network analysis (Schvaneveldt (1990).of the
raw cocitation counts for the 41-author dataset. By
focusing on the single highest cocitation counts between
authors, the PFNet can point to strong connections
between authors and identify dominating authors and
specialties (White, 2003). In Figure 2, the cluster
enhanced map groups authors based on the correlation
between their cocitation count profiles—the higher the
correlation, the more similar. At this level, we can see 5
significant subspecialties of HCI/HF as clusters of authors
grouped in two-dimensional space by MDS
HCI. Between the two we find authors dealing with theory and
application of cognitive science, a discipline informing both
HCI and HF. Dominating authors (those with many connections
to others) include CL Wickens (Applied Cognition—Human
Factors Engineering), JR Anderson and DA Norman (Theories
in Cognition – Models of Cognition. Other authors (e.g. HA
Simon and A. Newell) form bridges between Applied HF and
the remainder of the author set in the PFNet; in the map, they
anchor one end of the vertical axis.
References
ACM SIGCHI, 2003, Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction.
Retrieved February 29, 2004 from:
http://www.acm.org/sigchi/cdg/cdg2.html
International Ergonomics Association Website. (2004). Retrieved
February 29, 2004 from http://www.iea.cc/
Licht, D.M., Polzella, D. J., & Boff, K. R. (no date) Human
Factors, Ergonomics, and Human Factors Engineering:An
Analysis of Definitions Retrieved February 29, 2004 from:
iac.dtic.mil/hsiac/docs/Human_Factors_Definitions.pdf
Schvaneveldt, R.W. (ed). (1990). Pathfinder Associative Networks:
Studies in Knowledge Organization. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
White, H.D. 2003. “Pathfinder networks and author cocitation
analysis: A remapping of paradigmatic information scientists.”
Journal of the American Society for Information Science &
Technology 54(5): 423-434.
Figure 1: PFNet of 41 HCI/HF authors, 1991-2003
In this analysis, HCI and Human Factors appear to be two
reasonably well-integrated disciplines. In the PFNet one
can traverse a vertical path similar to the right to left X-axis
of the map—from a strong focus on HF to applications of
Cognitive Modeling /
Cognitive Work Analysis
HCI in Computer Supported
Collaborative Work
•Kraut
Vicente•
Greenbaum •Bodker
•Dourish
Chapanis•
Woods•
•
Sanderson
•
Reason •
•
Rasmussen
Hutchins
•
Nielsen•
•
Gould• Moran• Shneiderman
Grudin•
Olson•
Suchman
Carroll
•
•
Sheridan
•
Hart
•
• • Kantowitz
•
Wickens• Parasuraman
Moray
Card
•
Norman
•
Winograd •
Gibson•
John
•
HCI Techniques,
Methods, Web Usability
•
Hancock
Gopher
•
Kieras
•
Ericsson
• • Anderson
Newell•
Simon•
Theories in Cognition
Models of Cognition
Kahneman•
Schneider•
Broadbent
•
Applied Cognition
Human Factors Engineering
Salthouse•
Figure 2: PFNet of 41 HCI/HF authors, 1991-2003