Information Quality under the lens of Practice Theory: A Case of Syskonstödjare (Sibling Supporters) in Sweden

Abstract: The awareness of having a good information quality (IQ) in organizations has been increasing in the past decades. Despite that the well-accepted definition of information quality emphasizes the fitness of information to its consumers, IQ itself is known as context sensitive (Wang and Strong, 1996). It may be perceived differently depending on different contexts. This thesis presents a study of investigating IQ under the lens of practice theory. Practice theory intends to reveal the very idea of how the nexuses of human activities are organized (Schatzki, 2001). In this thesis, IQ was interpreted under the lens of Swidler’s perspective on practice theory specifically (2001), who stresses culture as the core that lies behind every aspect of social causation. The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth knowledge on information quality. The empirical setting in this study is the sibling support system in Sweden, which has a rather unique organizational context as they do not have a classic top-down organizational structure and standard working procedure. The inquiry of this study focuses on three aspects; how IQ is perceived under this particular organizational context and the reasons behind it, also whether IQ is context sensitive in this type of organization. A mixed methods research was performed as the research methodology. A questionnaire was firstly sent out to the participants, and then interviews were followed up in order to obtain more detailed information. The contribution includes an account on a new perception on IQ under this specific organizational setting, and why it is perceived in such a way. Also the answer to whether IQ is context sensitive in this kind of organization is argued. Further secondary findings on the issues raised from the applied questionnaire are presented, as they are unexpectedly uncovered but worth attention for future IQ studies. This study presents a new angle of perceiving IQ, which offers certain reference value to future relevant studies.