winffww@dutrun.UUCP (Folkert W. Wierda) (11/20/89)
I am working on a tool to support conceptualization in developing interorganizational information systems. In order to evaluate this tool, and the ideas that ly behind it, I am conducting some experiments, in which I want to determine whether the conceptual models of a group of participants with regard to a particular part of the world - in my case a part of the transport chain - converge or diverge after a session with the tool. My question concerns the measurement-part of this. I have operationalized a conceptual model with the entitity-types, attributes, relations and processes that people can mention to be of importance (please comment on this choice, references, other possibilities, etc.). These will be measures with a questionnaire before and after traetment (different questions). My main question is what measures can be used to establish the development of the hypothetical "joint conceptual model". Was there convergence, divergence, no development at all, etc. I am carefully thinking of some set-theoretical indicators, but that is about all. From sociology I know some graph-theoretical techniques exist to analyze relations, but I have a fealing that this is not sensitive enough. All in all, I would like to receive some comments, somke advice, or some references. Thanks in advance. Folkert --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Folkert W. Wierda winffww@dutrun.UUCP Delft University of Technology winffww@hdetud1.BITNET Department of Information Systems tel. +31 15 785811 P.O. Box 356 fax +31 15 787022 2600 AJ Delft the Netherlands ---------------------------------------------------------------------------