A Pattern Language of Firefighting Frontline Practice to Inform the Design of Ubiquitous Computing

ly, Alexander’s creation of a pattern language can be framed as instance of research, where an initial interest or issue, such as the quality of life in building structure, is explored in a bottom-up process by means of empirical studies. From this perspective, Alexander’s work appears similar to the methodological considerations by Glaser and Strauss, two sociologists, who, not far from Alexander in Berkeley, developed the grounded theory method at the University of California, San Francisco. Grounded theory has its roots in a study from another field. Glaser and Strauss were studying the social aspects of dying and death in hospitals. Their book, entitled ‘Awareness of Dying’ (Glaser and Strauss 1965) presents findings from studies in different hospitals focused on the process of dying and how nurses, doctors, family and the patients handle these situations. Glaser and Strauss show that there are different patterns in the interaction between the actors that range from closed awareness—for which the people involved try to hide the imminent death—to open awareness—for which staff and relatives engage in an open communication process while accompanying the patient on his way to death. In great detail and with considerations for various complexities and relations, Glaser and Strauss derive a theory from the empirical data that they suggest to be useful for hospital staff as a means for reflection on their work as well as a scientific contribution the sociological community. The book remarks the beginning of a methodological endeavor of how theories can be created in a scientific manner. Even though their focus in ‘Awareness of Dying’ was on the contents of the theory, Glaser and Strauss provide an initial description of the grounded theory research methodology that shows the broadness of the