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Use of Cognitive Mapping Techniques in
Information Systems
Keng Siau, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA
Xin Tan, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA
INTRODUCTION
Communication in information systems
(IS) research and practice is a social process that
is characterized by ongoing sense making among
various parties. In research, researchers must
be able to fully understand research participants’ perceptions about a problem domain. In
IS development and implementation, IS professionals and various stakeholders need to communicate effectively in order to achieve expected outcomes (Siau & Rossi, forthcoming).
In this social process, human factors have significant implications. Psychological studies
have indicated that many human factors, such
as cognitive constraints, heuristic-driven biases, and satisficing, may affect the effectiveness of communication (Siau, Wand, &
Benbasat, 1997; Siau, 1999; Siau, 2004). In the
discipline of IS, the effects of human factors on
communication in IS research and practice also
have been discussed (Siau & Tan, 2005b;
Valusek & Fryback, 1987).
People communicate in order to understand others and to be understood by others.
Some cognitive mapping techniques have been
applied in social sciences to help in sense
making among different parties. Cognitive mapping techniques are used to identify subjective
beliefs and to portray these beliefs externally
(Fiol & Huff, 1992). The general approach is to
extract subjective statements from individuals
within particular problem domains about meaningful concepts and relations among these concepts and then to describe these concepts and
relations in some kind of visuospatial layout
(Swan, 1997). The outcome of a cognitive map-
ping technique usually is referred to as a cognitive map. The advantages of using cognitive
mapping techniques in communication include
(1) focusing attention and triggering memory;
(2) helping to highlight priorities and key factors; (3) supplying missing information; and (4)
revealing gaps in information or reasoning that
need more direct attention (Fiol & Huff, 1992).
In this article, we discuss some common cognitive mapping techniques and their applications
in IS research and practice.
COGNITIVE MAPPING
TECHNIQUES AS
PRACTICAL TOOLS
In the process of IS development and
implementation, IS professionals need to communicate with various stakeholders such as
managers and users in order to understand their
requirements for the system. Communication
obstacles exist within individual users, among
users, and between IS professionals and users
(Valusek & Fryback, 1987). Cognitive mapping
techniques as a communication tool can make
subjective knowledge more meaningful and can
overcome some constraints on human cognition. Researchers such as Montazemi and
Conrath (1986) and Siau and Tan (2005b, 2005c)
have suggested the use of cognitive mapping
techniques in various IS development and implementation activities.
Three commonly used cognitive mapping techniques are (1) causal mapping, (2)
semantic mapping, and (3) concept mapping.
Causal mapping is derived from Kelly’s (1955)
personal construct theory. As revealed by its
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name, a causal map represents a set of causal
relationships among constructs within a belief
system (i.e., one construct is linked to other
thoughts through cause-and-effect relationships (Eden, 1988). Semantic mapping, also
known as idea mapping, is used to explore an
idea without the constraints of a superimposed
structure (Buzan, 1993). A semantic map has
one main or central concept with treelike
branches. The result of concept mapping is a
graphical representation in which nodes represent concepts and links represent the relationships between concepts. Siau and Tan (2005b,
2005c) provided a review of these three cognitive mapping techniques.
In view of their advantages, cognitive
mapping techniques have been proposed to be
applied in requirements determination and analysis (Montazemi & Conrath, 1986; Siau & Tan,
2003), knowledge management (Byrd, Cossick,
& Zmud, 1992), conceptual modeling (Siau &
Tan, 2005b), user-database interface design
(Siau & Tan, forthcoming), and technical communication (Siau & Tan, 2005c).
COGNITIVE MAPPING
TECHNIQUES AS
RESEARCH TOOLS
Many IS researchers are plagued with the
lack of effective research tools when they try to
probe research respondents’ perceptions about
a problem domain. Some researchers such as
Tan and Hunter (2002) have suggested using
cognitive mapping techniques.
One cognitive mapping technique is
called Repertory Grid (RepGrid). RepGrid was
developed by Kelly (1955) in order to
operationalize his personal construct theory.
The technique reliably can elicit the
respondent’s cognitive structure (i.e., personal
construct system), which is not biased by the
researcher’s frame of reference and worldview
(Reger, 1990). IS studies have applied this technique as a tool to elicit a respondent’s cognitive
structure (Moynihan, 1996; Phythian & King,
1992; Siau, Tan, & Sheng, forthcoming). Tan
and Hunter (2002) offered a comprehensive
review of this cognitive mapping technique.
Another useful cognitive mapping technique is called Revealed Causal Mapping, which
starts with qualitative data typically gathered
through interviews. The data capture the cognitions and revealed knowledge of the respondents in their own languages. Researchers then
identify the causal linkages and networks and
interpret this information into relevant constructs (Nelson, Nelson, & Armstrong, 2000). A
revealed causal map is a network of causal
relationship embedded in an individual’s explicit statements. In IS research, Revealed Causal
Mapping has been used successfully to evoke
theories of software support expertise and programming expertise (Nelson, et al., 2000).
Aggregated Concept Mapping is yet
another cognitive mapping technique that has
great potential as a research tool. Trochim (1989)
introduced Aggregated Concept Mapping as a
tool for conceptualization. By aggregating an
individual similarity matrix and applying multidimensional scaling analysis, researchers are
able to derive several aggregated concept maps
that represent clusters of higher-level concepts
held by research participants. Siau and Tan
(2005a, 2005d) employed this cognitive mapping technique in their study of evaluation
criteria for information systems development
methodologies.
CONCLUSION
Widely used in management studies to
investigate managerial and organizational cognition, cognitive mapping techniques have great
potential to be applied in information systems
research and practice. Some researchers have
proposed the use of cognitive mapping as a
communication tool in IS development and
implementation. Further studies are needed in
order to evaluate systematically and empirically
the effectiveness of these techniques in overcoming communication obstacles (Siau & Tan,
2005d). In addition, prior studies have demonstrated the use of cognitive mapping as a research tool in conducting IS studies. IS researchers in various subdisciplines are encouraged to explore the potential of cognitive mapping in their research.
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Keng Siau is a professor of management information systems (MIS) at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln (UNL). He is currently serving as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Database Management
and as the book series editor for Advances in Database Research. Dr. Siau has published over 200
academic publications. He has published more than 80 refereed journal articles and more than
90 refereed conference papers. In addition, he has edited/co-edited more than 10 scholarly and
research-oriented books, edited/co-edited nine proceedings, and written more than 15 scholarly
book chapters.
Xin Tan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Management at the University of Nebraska,
Lincoln. He obtained a BE from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an MBA from Miami
University. His current research interests include conceptual and data modeling methods, user
acceptance of advanced information technology and enterprise systems, and information systems
development methodologies.