Specifying formative constructs in information systems research

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Petter, Stacie; Straub, Detmar; Rai, Arun
• 署名单位: University of Nebraska System; University System of Georgia; Georgia State University; University System of Georgia; Georgia State University
• 刊物名称: MIS QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0276-7783
• 发表日期: 2007
• 页码: 623-656
• 关键词: multidimensional constructs; Online marketplaces; user satisfaction; TECHNOLOGY USE; KNOWLEDGE; MODEL; performance; indicators; adoption; antecedents

摘要

While researchers go to great lengths to justify and prove theoretical links between constructs, the relationship between measurement items and constructs is often ignored By default, the relationship between construct and item is assumed to be reflective, meaning that the measurement items are a reflection of the construct. Many times, though, the nature of the construct is not reflective, but rather formative. Formative constructs occur when the items describe and define the construct rather than vice versa. In this research, we examine whether formative constructs are indeed being mistaken for reflective constructs by information systems researchers. By examining complete volumes of MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research over the last 3 years, we discovered that a significant number of articles have indeed misspecified formative constructs. For scientific results to be valid, we argue that researchers must properly specify formative constructs. This paper discusses the implications of different patterns of common misspecifications of formative constructs on both Type I and Type 11 errors. To avoid these errors, the paper provides a roadmap to researchers to properly specify formative constructs. We also discuss how to address formative constructs within a research model after they are specified While researchers go to great lengths to justify and prove theoretical links between constructs, the relationship between measurement items and constructs is often ignored By default, the relationship between construct and item is assumed to be reflective, meaning that the measurement items