choreology

Choreology is a term used to describe the study and analysis of how activities are organized, coordinated, and sequenced within social life. It focuses on how tasks are allocated, scheduled, and performed across different settings—households, workplaces, and public spaces—and on how movement through space and time is shaped by social norms, technologies, and institutions.

In sociology and anthropology, choreology often examines the distribution of domestic labor, time-use patterns, and the gendered implications of routine work, highlighting how invisible or taken-for-granted activities sustain daily life. In organizational studies, the concept can refer to the choreography of workflows, processes, and collaboration, with an eye toward improving efficiency and coordination. In performance studies and cultural theory, choreology is sometimes used metaphorically to analyze the choreography of social interactions and everyday life, treating social order as a kind of coordinated performance.

Methods commonly associated with choreology include time-use surveys, ethnographic observation, process mapping, and motion or workflow analysis. The field is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on sociology, anthropology, gender studies, organizational theory, and design studies.

The term is not uniformly standardized and appears in different disciplines with varying emphases. Critics note that it can blur distinct analytical traditions or rely on metaphorical language that obscures methodological precision. Nevertheless, choreology serves as a flexible lens for understanding how human activities are planned, enacted, and experienced within complex social environments.

See also: choreography, social choreography, time-use research, care work, workflow management.