Empirical Refinement of a Semiotic Information Quality Framework

Abstract

This paper presents the refinement of a semiotic information quality framework based on the analysis of practitioner and academic focus group feedback. The initial information quality framework was developed to address the question of what criteria should be used to define and assess quality. Semiotic theory, the philosophical theory of signs, provided a theoretical foundation for defining the framework structure (i.e. quality categories and their criteria) and for integrating objective, product-based and subjective, service-based quality perspectives, thus addressing problems observed in other proposed quality schemes with respect to scope and inconsistency. Following on from the initial theoretical work, empirical methods were used to refine the framework, especially the subjective components related to consumer quality perceptions. Specifically, focus group feedback served to (1) further clarify the scope and boundaries of the research and (2) to identify inter-dependencies, ambiguities, and gaps in the initial set of quality criteria.