Research note. Valuation Mishaps and the Choreography of Repair

Abstract

This research note proposes that it is instructive to ask what happens when evaluative practices go wrong. It shows how a close study of mistakes and mishaps in evaluation - both in the process of their disclosure and subsequent management - provides important insights into ways in which evaluation practices contribute to performing and sustaining the relations of accountability involved. The note examines two cases: 1) the mistaken award of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture and 2) the incident in November 2016 when Thomson Reuters notified a large number of scholars that they had been awarded the distinction of being a “Highly Cited Researcher” in their field, only a few hours later to retract these awards. Studying such instances provides insights into what is at stake for participants, the choreography of performing and revealing evaluations, the ways in which different evaluation practices fold together, and the accountability structures which support valuation practices.

Editorial Note: A Note on Transitions

“…Academic publishing is immersed in a plethora of valuation practices. It is therefore not strange that it recurrently has figured in notes I have authored and co-authored for this journal (Helgesson 2016;Helgesson andMuniesa 2013, 2014;Helgesson and Woolgar 2018). I still contend that the many facets of academic publishing practices, and of scholarly endeavours more broadly, provide a rich site for examining valuations; how they are done and what they do.…”

Children helping children? : Values and concerns in corporate charity

“…Valuation itself is presented as a problem for both the social sciences and the humanities: in this piece the editors of Valuation Studies argue that there is a need for an interdisciplinary field that investigates the contexts and effects of valuation practices on how the social world is organized and how it functions (Board of editors, Valuation Studies, 2020). Attention to contested valuations and valuation mishaps (Helgesson & Woolgar, 2018) has not been lacking, however. The following of controversies has been used as a methodological tool that Valuation Studies has borrowed from STS.…”

“…With a few notable exceptions, such as TV programs, films (e.g. Helgesson & Woolgar, 2018;, and price displays (e.g. Cochoy et al, 2018), images have not so far received extensive attention in studies of valuation either.…”

“…Visual materials are less commonly used in Valuation Studies (with the exceptions of e.g. Cochoy et al, 2018;Helgesson & Woolgar, 2018;. So, the fact that there is a wider range of studies analyzing values in texts and interviews from which to take inspiration could partially explain why the main focus drifted away from images.…”