A Semiotic Information Quality Framework: Theoretical and Empirical Development

Good quality information is required for effective business operations and decision-making; however, fundamental questions remain regarding the definition of information quality and the specific criteria used to define and assess it. This report describes the development of an information quality framework intended to address these questions. The approach adopted is motivated by the observed limitations of other quality schemes proposed to date with respect to scope and consistency. Semiotic theory, the philosophical theory of signs, is used to support rigor without sacrificing scope. It provides a theoretical foundation both for the framework structure—quality categories and their criteria—and for integrating objective and subjective quality perspectives. Empirical methods are then used to refine the framework, especially the subjective components related to consumer quality perceptions. Specifically, practitioner and academic focus groups served to clarify the scope and boundaries of the research; to identify inter-dependencies, ambiguities, and gaps in the initial set of quality criteria; and to provide guidance for any future work in quality assessment and management based on the framework.