The Dependent Variable in Research into the Effects of Creativity Support Systems: Quality and Quantity of Ideas

Creativity support systems (CSS) aim at enhancing the creativity of users. There is an emerging stream of research in which the effects of CSS on the creative output of respondents are measured. In this research, it is important to make a clear distinction between the dependent variable, creative output, and the independent variable use of CSS. Furthermore, the research design should take the potential effect of other factors on creative output into account, most notably, creative ability as a trait of the respondents. An experimental study on the value of creativity support systems was recently reported in MIS Quarterly (Massetti 1996). That study yielded interesting insights with respect to the value of CSS. However, because of the methodology applied in analyzing the data, the study underestimated the effects of CSS on the creative output of decision makers. In this note, Massetti's experiment is positioned in the broader perspective of current research in the area of CSS, and an alternative framework for analyzing the data is proposed.