Abstract
The adoption and usage of new information and communication technologies (ICT) have been investigated from different theoretical points of view, such as Diffusion of Innovations (DOI; Rogers, 1995) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; Davis, 1989). Numerous empirical studies are available, but systematic reviews that accumulate the results are not abundant.
Meta-analysis is a way to accumulate the results of scientific research. Usually, a meta-analysis study focuses on investigating collected empirical results with regard to a single hypothesis. In this research we take a broader perspective by adding principles of network analysis to the basics of meta-analysis. This encompasses that we consider the concepts (or variables) in the hypotheses of relevant scientific papers and use them as the nodes in a network. Moreover, the presupposed relations between the concepts (also depicted in the hypotheses) are the links between nodes. The concept network that emerges can subsequently be analyzed in terms of e.g. density and degree. In order to test the robustness of a theory we compare the network of theoretically posed relations to the network of relations that are empirically validated and found significant. The paper describes the use of this approach towards meta-analysis as well as a tool that supports the approach: the Open Knowledge Infrastructure (OpenKI). This publicly accessible online database allows storage and retrieval of hypotheses and meta-information of scientific papers.
Meta-analysis is a way to accumulate the results of scientific research. Usually, a meta-analysis study focuses on investigating collected empirical results with regard to a single hypothesis. In this research we take a broader perspective by adding principles of network analysis to the basics of meta-analysis. This encompasses that we consider the concepts (or variables) in the hypotheses of relevant scientific papers and use them as the nodes in a network. Moreover, the presupposed relations between the concepts (also depicted in the hypotheses) are the links between nodes. The concept network that emerges can subsequently be analyzed in terms of e.g. density and degree. In order to test the robustness of a theory we compare the network of theoretically posed relations to the network of relations that are empirically validated and found significant. The paper describes the use of this approach towards meta-analysis as well as a tool that supports the approach: the Open Knowledge Infrastructure (OpenKI). This publicly accessible online database allows storage and retrieval of hypotheses and meta-information of scientific papers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Jun 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 16th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2008 - Galway, Ireland Duration: 9 Jun 2008 → 11 Jun 2008 Conference number: 16 |
Conference
| Conference | 16th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2008 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ECIS |
| Country/Territory | Ireland |
| City | Galway |
| Period | 9/06/08 → 11/06/08 |