Does application domain really matter?: A content analysis of its role in conceptual schema understanding

While a number of studies argue that application domain knowledge affects Information Systems (IS) problem solving, few studies have addressed this relationship directly. The theory of cognitive fit can be used to describe the role of application domain knowledge on different types of conceptual schema understanding tasks. Both the theory and prior exploratory findings suggest that application domain knowledge is important on just those problem-solving tasks that require transformation of knowledge in the conceptual schema, so-called schema-based problem-solving tasks (Khatri, Vessey, Ramesh, Clay, and Park 2006). In this research, we explored how problem solvers address such tasks by examining participants’ problem-solving processes using protocol analysis. Specifically, we examined how search processes for both IS knowledge and application domain knowledge and the processes participants employed over time were influenced by different levels of both IS and application domain knowledge on schema-based problem-solving tasks of varying complexity. We did so by using equivalent schemas in familiar and unfamiliar application domains (high and low application domain knowledge) to control for differences in conceptual schemas