consumption studies and innovation studies, and has been most widely used in studying the mass adoption of computers, the internet and mobile phones. As a strand of the Social shaping of technology approach to understanding how technology is created, Domestication theory highlights the role of users in innovation - the work done by individuals and communities in order to make a technology from the outside do practical work, and make sense within that community. This strand of work links to the role of end users, lead users etc. in long term innovation processes (Williams et al. 2004). Domestication studies are generally done using qualitative methods, such as long interviews and ethnography to explore the emerging meanings of technologies, and the changing routines, and conflicts that would not normally be accessible to quantitative methods. The Domestication approach uses a number of different concepts to distinguish various aspects of the process. For example: Appropriation is the process of bringing a technology into a household, or another local cultural context; Conversion is the remaking of the meanings, or values and norms associated with the technology and the transfer of these back to the 'outside' world. The principal criticism of the domestication approach is its reliance on detailed case studies, and its rather descriptive approach which is difficult to turn into prescriptive lessons of the type required by business and policy makers. However, this rich-descriptive approach is also its strength: it enables processes and the complex interplay of artifacts and cultural values to be explored in much more depth than individualistic, quantitative methods. The Domestication approach, describing the integration of technologies into social relationships and structures using evidence obtained using qualitative methods, stands in sharp contrast to individualistic and quantitative approaches (such as Technology acceptance model) of North-American marketing and IS research, that draw on primarily psychological models. References Habib, Laurence (2005). Domesticating learning technologies in a higher education institution: a tale of two virtual learning environments. In: Bjarnø, Vibeke (ed.) New Teaching and Learning Practices: Experiences with e-Learning Projects at Oslo University College 1998–2005. Oslo, Norway: Oslo University College. . pp. 79–87 Lie, Merete, & Sørensen, Knut (Eds.). (1996). Making technology our own? Domesticating technology into everyday life. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press. Punie, Yves (2000). Domesticatie van informatie- en communicatietechnologie. Adoptie, gebruik en betekenis van media in het dagelijks leven: Continue beperking of discontinue bevrijding? Ph.D. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel. Thomas Berker, Maren