Information quality in wikipedia: The effects of group composition and task conflict

Ofer Arazy; Oded Nov; Raymond Patterson; Lisa Yeo

doi:10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403

Information quality in wikipedia: The effects of group composition and task conflict

Ofer Arazy, Oded Nov, Raymond Patterson, Lisa Yeo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that self-organizing production communities can produce high-quality information-based products. Research on Wikipedia has proceeded largely atheoretically, focusing on (1) the diversity in members' knowledge bases as a determinant of Wikipedia's content quality, (2) the task-related conflicts that occur during the collaborative authoring process, and (3) the different roles members play in Wikipedia. We develop a theoretical model that explains how these three factors interact to determine the quality of Wikipedia articles. The results from the empirical study of 96 Wikipedia articles suggest that (1) diversity should be encouraged, as the creative abrasion that is generated when cognitively diverse members engage in task-related conflict leads to higher-quality articles, (2) task conflict should be managed, as conflict-notwithstanding its contribution to creative abrasion-can negatively affect group output, and (3) groups should maintain a balance of both administrative- and content-oriented members, as both contribute to the collaborative process.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	71-98
Number of pages	28
Journal	Journal of Management Information Systems
Volume	27
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403
State	Published - 1 Apr 2011
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: the authors thank kevin O’kell, kathy West, Janet Williamson, and Maureen Beristain for their work on this project. they also thank the JMIS anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. this research was funded in part by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities research Council (SSHrC).

Keywords

Wikipedia
co-creation
cognitive diversity
collaboration
community-based production
group composition
information quality
task conflict

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Management Information Systems
Computer Science Applications
Management Science and Operations Research
Information Systems and Management

Access to Document

10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403

Cite this

@article{f8ae1c35c2a04175b2c4b96bce9645ac,

title = "Information quality in wikipedia: The effects of group composition and task conflict",

abstract = "The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that self-organizing production communities can produce high-quality information-based products. Research on Wikipedia has proceeded largely atheoretically, focusing on (1) the diversity in members' knowledge bases as a determinant of Wikipedia's content quality, (2) the task-related conflicts that occur during the collaborative authoring process, and (3) the different roles members play in Wikipedia. We develop a theoretical model that explains how these three factors interact to determine the quality of Wikipedia articles. The results from the empirical study of 96 Wikipedia articles suggest that (1) diversity should be encouraged, as the creative abrasion that is generated when cognitively diverse members engage in task-related conflict leads to higher-quality articles, (2) task conflict should be managed, as conflict-notwithstanding its contribution to creative abrasion-can negatively affect group output, and (3) groups should maintain a balance of both administrative- and content-oriented members, as both contribute to the collaborative process.",

keywords = "Wikipedia, co-creation, cognitive diversity, collaboration, community-based production, group composition, information quality, task conflict",

author = "Ofer Arazy and Oded Nov and Raymond Patterson and Lisa Yeo",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: the authors thank kevin O{\textquoteright}kell, kathy West, Janet Williamson, and Maureen Beristain for their work on this project. they also thank the JMIS anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. this research was funded in part by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities research Council (SSHrC).",

year = "2011",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403",

language = "English",

volume = "27",

pages = "71--98",

journal = "Journal of Management Information Systems",

issn = "0742-1222",

publisher = "M.E. Sharpe Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Information quality in wikipedia

T2 - The effects of group composition and task conflict

AU - Arazy, Ofer

AU - Nov, Oded

AU - Patterson, Raymond

AU - Yeo, Lisa

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: the authors thank kevin O’kell, kathy West, Janet Williamson, and Maureen Beristain for their work on this project. they also thank the JMIS anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. this research was funded in part by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities research Council (SSHrC).

PY - 2011/4/1

Y1 - 2011/4/1

N2 - The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that self-organizing production communities can produce high-quality information-based products. Research on Wikipedia has proceeded largely atheoretically, focusing on (1) the diversity in members' knowledge bases as a determinant of Wikipedia's content quality, (2) the task-related conflicts that occur during the collaborative authoring process, and (3) the different roles members play in Wikipedia. We develop a theoretical model that explains how these three factors interact to determine the quality of Wikipedia articles. The results from the empirical study of 96 Wikipedia articles suggest that (1) diversity should be encouraged, as the creative abrasion that is generated when cognitively diverse members engage in task-related conflict leads to higher-quality articles, (2) task conflict should be managed, as conflict-notwithstanding its contribution to creative abrasion-can negatively affect group output, and (3) groups should maintain a balance of both administrative- and content-oriented members, as both contribute to the collaborative process.

AB - The success of Wikipedia demonstrates that self-organizing production communities can produce high-quality information-based products. Research on Wikipedia has proceeded largely atheoretically, focusing on (1) the diversity in members' knowledge bases as a determinant of Wikipedia's content quality, (2) the task-related conflicts that occur during the collaborative authoring process, and (3) the different roles members play in Wikipedia. We develop a theoretical model that explains how these three factors interact to determine the quality of Wikipedia articles. The results from the empirical study of 96 Wikipedia articles suggest that (1) diversity should be encouraged, as the creative abrasion that is generated when cognitively diverse members engage in task-related conflict leads to higher-quality articles, (2) task conflict should be managed, as conflict-notwithstanding its contribution to creative abrasion-can negatively affect group output, and (3) groups should maintain a balance of both administrative- and content-oriented members, as both contribute to the collaborative process.

KW - Wikipedia

KW - co-creation

KW - cognitive diversity

KW - collaboration

KW - community-based production

KW - group composition

KW - information quality

KW - task conflict

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79955627082&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403

DO - 10.2753/MIS0742-1222270403

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:79955627082

SN - 0742-1222

VL - 27

SP - 71

EP - 98

JO - Journal of Management Information Systems

JF - Journal of Management Information Systems

IS - 4

ER -

Information quality in wikipedia: The effects of group composition and task conflict

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this