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Simply Complex: Are LED Outdoor Activities Complex Sociotechnical Systems?
Book chapter   Peer reviewed

Simply Complex: Are LED Outdoor Activities Complex Sociotechnical Systems?

Anthony W Carden and Paul M Salmon
Advances in Human Factors in Sports and Outdoor Recreation, pp.141-152
Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) International Conference, 7th (Florida, United States, 27-Jul-2016–31-Jul-2016)
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing (AISC), 496, Springer International Publishing
2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41953-4_13
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https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41953-4_13View
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Abstract

adventure activitie adventure education complexity outdoor activities outdoor education outdoor recreation sociotechnical systems
Although typically applied in safety-critical domains such as aviation, transport, and nuclear power, there is a growing body of research focusing on the application of sociotechnical systems theory to led outdoor activity systems. Antagonists of this approach have argued that led outdoor activities are simple and therefore that a complex sociotechnical systems approach is invalid and unwarranted. This paper seeks to determine whether led outdoor activity systems are complex by comparing their characteristics to established characteristics of complexity theory and sociotechnical systems theory. Features of led outdoor activity work systems are decomposed and compared with theoretical benchmarks of complexity. The findings show that systems of work that afford these simple experiences are indeed both complex and sociotechnical in nature. It is concluded that application of sociotechnical systems theory and methods is both appropriate and required to attain improvements in practice and safety. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

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