Task 6: Operationalising interactivity (article 2)

New Interactive Environments

Article summary

Kiousis, S. (2002). Interactivity: A Concept Explication.

As we read from the previous article by Jens F. Jensen, the meaning of interactivity has been relatively unclear ever since the word appeared in daily use with the rise of new media and communication technologies. The purpose of the project carried out by Spiro K. Kiousis, a professor at the University of Florida, is to engender a detailed explication of interactivity that could bring some consensus to how the concept should be theoretically and operationally defined.

Following Chaffee's framework for concept explication, the following steps were executed to complete the project: (1) provide a general background of interactivity; (2) survey relevant literature on the concept; (3) identify the concept's central operational properties; (4) locate present definitions of the concept; (5) evaluate and modify those definitions; (6) propose a conceptual definition; (7) propose an operational definition; and (8) discuss the implications on future research of the arrived-at definition.

Kiousis uses two dimensions to arrange the various conceptual definitions and cogent aspects of interactivity discussions from the fields of communication, sociology, psychology, and computer/science design: the object emphasized by scholars (technology, communication setting, perceiver), and the intellectual perspective from which the definition originates (comminication and non-communication). He organizes the different authors visually in a table and uses it as a reference for the remainder of his project.

According to Kiousis' modified definition, interactivity can be defined as the degree to which a communication technology can create a mediated environment in which participants can communicate (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), both synchronously and asynchronously, and participate in reciprocal message exchanges (third-order dependency). With regard to human users, it additionally refers to their ability to perceive the experience as a simulation of interpersonal communication and increase their awareness of telepresence.

Operationally, interactivity is established by three factors: technological structure of the media used (e.g. speed, range, timing flexibility, and sensory complexity), characteristics of communication settings (e.g. third-order dependency and social presence), and individuals' perceptions (e.g. proximity, perceived speed, sensory activation, and telepresence). Operational measures are needed to examine each of these factors. Once the data is collected, it is transformed, producing technological, communication context, and perceived interactivity scores. Subsequently, an overall interactivity score can be manufactured.

On the whole, the operational definition offered not only describes the essence of the theoretical definition of interactivity, but may also help broaden the concept's boundaries. In comparison to previous versions, the interactivity definition provided by Kiousis is expansive, permitting analyses across media and individuals. Interactivity is understood as both a media and psychological factor that varies across communication technologies, communication contexts, and people's perceptions.

Inevitably, interactivity still remains a controversial concept.