Attitudes to expert systems: a card sort study

Background: It is sometimes difficult to make a diagnosis in podiatry and expert systems may help to improve the situation. Card Sorts Methodology may be a useful technique to explore attitudes towards the use of expert systems within a domain. Although card sorts have been widely used for decades, they have tended to be viewed as an informal technique for intial exploration. More recent work in knowlegde acquisition and in requirements acquisition has changed the situation by developing more powerful, formalized versions of card sorts. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate podiatrists' perceptions of expert systems in relation to their perceptions of other diagnostic aids. Method: Two groups of seven participants composed of Podiatry lecturers and Nursing lecturers were asked to sort cards containing various diagnostic aids. Results: Expert systems are viewed as very different in kind from the other diagnostic aids