On the Social Dimension of Information Quality and Knowledge

This paper discusses the social dimension of information quality in the context of knowledge management. For that purpose, the main epistemological concepts of Schutz, Berger and Luckmann, as the theoretical founders of a constructivist, interpretative sociology of knowledge, are introduced and operationalized. Within knowledge management theory the transformational process, which produces situated knowledge out of explicit information, is of central importance, and information quality is accordingly the key concept to analyse, measure and evaluate this process. By focusing on social aspects of the transformational process, a new, different approach towards information quality is made, which nevertheless is compatible with previous research and theory in this field. A small model along the dimensions of comprehension, contextualization and valuation is introduced as a starting point for discussion of the transformational process and information quality.