Design Science in Systems Analysis and Design Research: The Case of Cognitive Mapping Techniques

摘要

There are many cognitive mapping techniques other than those introduced in the aforementioned studies. For instance, Repertory Grid (RepGrid) is a cognitive mapping technique to reliably elicit the respondent's cognitive structure (Siau, Tan & Sheng, forthcoming). Another useful cognitive mapping technique is called Revealed Causal Mapping (RCM). RCM starts with qualitative data, typically gathered through interviews. The data captures the cognitions and revealed knowledge of the respondents in their own languages. Researchers then identify causal linkages and networks, and interpret this information into relevant constructs (Nelson et al., 2000). Aggregated Concept Mapping (ACM) is yet another cognitive mapping technique that has great potential as a tool in SA&D. By aggregating individual similarity matrix and applying multidimensional scaling analysis (Trochim, 1989), system analysts are able to derive several aggregated concepts maps, which represent clusters of higher-level concepts held by information users.