MEASURING USER PARTICIPATION, USER INVOLVEMENT, AND USER ATTITUDE

Defining user participation as the activities performed by users durin g systems development, user involvement as the importance and personal relevance of a system to its user, and user attitude as the affective evaluation of a system by the user, this study aims to: (1) develop s eparate measures of user participation, user involvement, and user att itude, (2) identify key dimensions of each construct, and (3) investig ate the relationships among them. Responses from users in organization s developing new information systems were used to create an overall sc ale measuring user participation (along with three subscales reflectin g the dimensions of responsibility, user-IS relationship, and hands-on activities), an overall scale measuring user involvement (along with two subscales reflecting the dimensions of importance and personal rel evance), and a scale measuring user attitude. Analysis of the data pro vides evidence for the reliability and validity of the three construct s and their dimensions. User participation has long been considered a key variable in the successful development of information systems. How ever, Past research has failed to clearly demonstrate its benefits. Th e measures developed in this study provide a useful starting point for deciphering the precise nature of the relationship among user partici pation, involvement, and attitude during systems implementation.