Discourse Analysis for Knowledge Acquisition: The Coherence Method

Abstract:

Recently there has been a tremendous increase in the development of knowledge-based systems in organizations. The quality of these systems and the cost of their development are largely dependent on the validity and reliability of the techniques used to acquire an expert’s knowledge. Knowledge acquisition is the process of extracting domain knowledge from experts and organizing this knowledge into a computer understandable form. In order to improve knowledge-based system performance and make these systems less costly to build, knowledge acquisition techniques must be improved. This paper presents a knowledge acquisition method to augment the existing unstructured elicitation techniques such as protocol analysis and interviews. The Coherence Method is based on Al planning theory [31] and coherence theory [21]. The authors’ experience in applying this method to a knowledge-based systems development project is reported. The Coherence Method proved useful in facilitating the understanding of the experts’ discourse, especially in early knowledge acquisition interviews. It provided the core knowledge that can guide subsequent knowledge elicitation techniques.

Key Words and Phrases:

• knowledge-based systems
• expert systems
• knowledge acquisition
• discourse analysis

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdulla H. Abdul-Gader

Abdulla H. Abdul-Gader is Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the College of Industrial Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. His primary interests are in the areas of knowledge-based systems development and social impacts of information technology

Kenneth A. Kozar

Kenneth A. Kozar is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He has been on the faculties of several universities and has considerable experience as an MIS practitioner. He has published in journals including the, International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, JMIS, MIS Quarterly, and the Journal of Product Innovation Management. His research interests include improved systems development methods, person/machine dialog development, and team building in systems development.