What is Organizational Information

The literature on quality of data, information and knowledge has a tendency to focus on the measurement aspects of such constructs. This implies some emphasis on scale construction. Unfortunately, conceptual clarity is in too many cases not apparent. This chapter advocates for the application of Social Cognitive Theory as a robust theoretical framework in order to understand the quality attributions of data, information and knowledge constructs. The definitions of data, information and knowledge are presented in a hierarchical structure having the data definition as a first order construct, the information definition as a second order construct built upon the data construct, and the knowledge construct as a third order construct built upon the information construct. Furthermore, the definitions of these constructs require considering the unit of analysis individual versus organization. Data has a common definition for both units of analysis. However information and knowledge have different definitions depending on the unit of analysis. Finally, this chapter addresses the quality attribution in the five considered constructs. In line with the current dominant paradigm, quality it is not an absolute assessment as it depends on the considered context and situation.