Are we all working from the same script? Developing an instrument to measure consensus on the appropriation of an electronic meeting system

Adaptive structuration theory (AST) is rapidly becoming an important theoretical paradigm in electronic meeting systems (EMS) research. Despite this, there is a paucity of instruments designed to capture critical AST constructs. This paper describes the development of an instrument to capture consensus on appropriation, or the extent to which group participants perceive that they have agreed on how to apply the structures provided by an EMS to their work. Consensus on appropriation is a key component of AST. However, no instrument is currently available to capture this construct. The goal of this paper is to propose such an instrument with the hope of assisting EMS researchers in examining the effects of consensus on EMS appropriation on group meeting outcomes. Initial item development, statistical analyses and validity assessment (convergent, discriminant and nomological) are described in detail. It is believed that employing rigorous procedures in the development of instruments to capture AST constructs is critical if the sound theoretical base provided by AST is to be fully exploited in understanding EMS-related phenomena