从“是什么”到“为什么”:信息资源管理学科的因果推断探索

From“What”to“Why”:Explorations of Causal Inference in Information Resource Management

[目的/意义]当前信息资源管理的量化研究多以描述性统计、回归分析和相关系数度量等考察“是什么”类的研究问题为主,缺乏对“为什么”层面问题的分析和解释能力。[方法/过程]文章梳理实验法、工具变量法、匹配法等几种因果推断方法的实践原理,然后详细讨论信息资源管理学科目前使用因果推断的典例。[结果/结论]信息资源管理学科引入因果推断,可以验证和丰富现有的信息资源管理理论,具有提升信息资源管理学科的政策或决策支持水平等重要理论和实践价值。

[Purpose/significance]Many extant Information Resource Management(IRM)studies purely focus on“what”-type research questions by utilizing descriptive statistics,regression analysis,and correlation coefficients.Little effort has been paid on detailed analyses on“why”-type questions that explore potential causal relationships.[Method/process]This paper summari-zes the empirical methods in causal inference(e.g.,experiment,instrumental variable strategy,and matching)and discusses typical examples of applying causal inference in current IRM studies.[Result/conclusion]Employing causal inference offers much invaluable theoretical and practical implications for IRM in that causal inference could validate and enrich existing IRM theories and inspires policy/decision supports.