The Knowledge Commons Research Framework

The following offers a brief introduction to the knowledge commons research framework that is described and applied in Governing Knowledge Commons (Frischmann, Madison, & Strandburg eds., Oxford University Press 2014). The framework is multidisciplinary by design. It may be used together with methods specific to law, political science, economics, sociology, and history, among other fields.

A schematic of the framework:

Source: “Governing Knowledge Commons,” in Governing Knowledge Commons (Frischmann, Madison, & Strandburg eds., Oxford University Press 2014) at 19; originally published in Michael J. Madison, Brett M. Frischmann, and Katherine J. Strandburg. 2010. “Constructing Commons in the Cultural Environment.” Cornell Law Review. 95(4): 657-709. Adapted from Elinor Ostrom, Understanding Institutional Diversity (Princeton University Press 2005).

Using the framework to build a case study involves organizing clusters of research questions that are linked to the elements of the schematic, as follows:

Source: “Governing Knowledge Commons,” in Governing Knowledge Commons (Frischmann, Madison, & Strandburg eds., Oxford University Press 2014) at 20, 21.