An investigation into the possibility of using sociological research methodologies for the elicitation of tacit knowledge for building knowledge intensive systems

Abstract

The research notes that deficiencies in knowledge acquisition are impeding theadvancement of Knowledge Intensive Systems (KIS), such as Expert Systems (ES)and Decision Support Systems (DSS). Humphreys (1989) maintains the problem isnot the quantity of knowledge collected but its quality. Humphreys (1989) contendsthat 'Knowledge' has too narrow a definition in knowledge acquisition dogma and awider definition of 'knowledge' capable of handling 'procedural uncertainty' isrequired.'Tacit knowledge' by which Polanyi (1967) contends individuals interpret the worldappears a fruitful area to widen the definition of knowledge. The subjective natureof tacit knowledge makes its explication problematic, however, it is noted that tacitknowledge has a social aspect (interiorization) which appears amenable to sociologicalinvestigation.On the basis of the above it seemed prudent to focus the investigation down to thefollowing research question,'On the basis of its nature, is there a method whereby at least sometacit knowledge can be explicated for.a) building the knowledge base;b) more accurately predicting or planing for its usage and forsetting expectations.'To test the thesis, a pilot investigation was undertaken at a local Housing Associationin order to gain first hand experience of knowledge acquisition. Examples of howexperts tacitally classify their domain were identified and methods of explicating this knowledge were tentatively formulated.The above resulted in the formulation of a new perspective: traditionally KBS hasconcerned itself with eliciting knowledge to be embodied in the knowledge base,whereas, IS has concerned itself in gaining the knowledge involved in the systemsuse/interpretation.Fieldwork was later conducted in the maternity units of two local hospitals in orderto test the generalizability of these methods.Five methods for the explication of tacit knowledge were identified.1) The analysis of the reification of existing systems and the rationality internalto these systems, can be used to explicate tacit knowledge.2) More than one set of tacit knowledge can be present in one domain. Pointswhere two sets of tacit knowledge interact expose contradictions which can beused as a tool to explicate the tacit knowledge of both groups.3) The analysis of anecdotes revealed how domains were tacitally delimited andthe 'criticality' of tasks within a domain.4) Action research using a 'mock up' data base revealed tacitally held domainknowledge with implications for micro level criticality, of particularimportance to interface design.5) The thesis identified knowledge acquisition as a method of sociologicalinvestigation