Using interpretive structural modeling to uncover shared mental models in IS research

The role of grounded approaches has been advocated for long in IS research. However, the inherent subjectivity of such approaches and the apparent lack of a basis to validate or even replicate such research has often been the subject of debate among IS researchers. As a result, many IS researchers tend to fall back on variance-theoretic approaches to conceptualize, design and operationalize their research. In this paper, we show how a grounded approach, interpretive structural modeling (ISM), can be used to qualitatively elicit individual cognitive structures. Further, we show how it can be applied to derive the shared aspects of such a structure across many individuals. We use the well-known technology acceptance model (TAM) to demonstrate the utility of our approach. We conclude the paper by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.