Item Context Effects in IS Survey Research

This paper discusses correlational and directional item context effects as two method biases that can threaten the validity of survey data. Two empirical studies are used to establish their presence in IS research. In addition, item separation with partial randomization is shown to be a viable way for researchers to control for correlational item context effects associated with inflated Cronbach’s alphas. This paper also presents a procedure to correct the inter-construct correlations and R2 values to account for directional item context effects in comparative experimental studies. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol4/iss4/3

On “Sourcery,” or Code as Fetish

This essay offers a sympathetic interrogation of the move within new media studies toward “software studies.” Arguing against theoretical conceptions of programming languages as the ultimate performative utterance, it contends that source code is never simply the source of any action; rather, source code is only source code after the fact: its effectiveness depends on a whole imagined network of machines and humans. This does not mean that source code does nothing, but rather that it serves as a kind of fetish, and that the notion of the user as super agent, buttressed by real-time computation, is the obverse, not the opposite of this “sourcery.

Collaboration and Author Order: Changing Patterns in IS Research

In this article we examine changes in the patterns of collaboration among information systems researchers since 1987, in terms of number of authors and order of authorship. The proportion of multiple authored papers, particularly among articles published in more prestigious journals, increased significantly. One possible explanation may be in increased research complexity, as evidenced by much longer papers. At the same time, among prestigious journals, the alphabetical model for ordering authorship all but disappeared. The article calls for consideration of a standard for authorship order in IS research

The Influence of Familiarity and Security on Decision Making Processes in E-Commerce: The Role of User Experience

E-commerce can enhance its acceptance among users through fostering online trust, which is vital for decision-making process. The perception and computation of trust is crucial for vendors and users for the success of e-commerce. The calculation and measurement of trust antecedent involves complex aspect such as presence of security controls and familiarity within the Web site. Most companies are acquir- ing security technology because everybody else is doing the same, but not because there has been a proper assessment of its association with trust. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the role of trust antecedents such as security and familiarity when they are used collectively to do online transactions. Trust, in general, is an important factor in conducting e-transactions, which revolve around uncertainty and ambiguity. The fuzzy logic approach provides a means for coping with this uncertainty and vagueness that are present in e-commerce. Therefore, the fuzzy logic approach has been deployed to develop scales to measure the effects of users\u27 familiarity and perception of security in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. This research provides guidelines to vendors on how they could ascertain the trust level of their business and ways of mitigate the negative impact on the trust level