The Categorical Information Quality Framework (CIQF): A Critical Assessment and Replication Study

The CIQF has been used widely by researchers and practitioners for several years. In this paper we have identified a number of methodological issues in the process used to create the framework, in particular the predominant use of graduate students in data collection, the sample size for the statistical analysis techniques used, researcher bias in the four groupings of information quality dimensions initially proposed, the use of descriptive statistics to test the proposed categories and the domain specificity of the framework. We propose a replication study that addresses these issues, using practitioners as subjects, a larger sample size to ensure a stable factor structure, factor analysis techniques to determine both the information quality dimension and the categories within the framework. The framework developed in our replication study will provide researchers with an empirically based and fully validated framework for future information quality research and practitioners with a sound basis for developing information quality metrics and information quality improvement programs.