Information-seeking behaviors of academic researchers in the internet age: A user study in the United States, China and Greece

Author(s):  
Peiling Wang ◽  
Dimitris A. Dervos ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Lei Wu
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 155798832094936
Author(s):  
Ashley L. White ◽  
Rachel E. Davis ◽  
Deborah L. Billings ◽  
Emily S. Mann

Vasectomy is one of the few options men have to manage their reproductive capacity and take on a more equitable role in pregnancy prevention. While the method is underused throughout the United States, the southern states have a lower prevalence rate compared to the rest of the country. Existing survey research does not assess what men know or think about the procedure as a means of understanding why this is the case. We created and conducted an exploratory survey to assess men’s knowledge, attitudes, and information-seeking behaviors about vasectomy in the Southern United States. We used targeted Facebook advertising to recruit men ages 25–70 years living in 7 southern states to complete an online survey ( n = 397). Using regression analyses, we identify that participants who had a vasectomy knew more about the procedure than participants who had not. Participants who had not had a vasectomy had less positive attitudes about the procedure across all six attitude subscales compared to participants with vasectomies. We highlight potential avenues for future research to understand why this may be the case. Finally, the majority of participants knew someone who had had a vasectomy. This suggests that men disclose having a vasectomy to others. The interpersonal dynamics around vasectomy decision-making and disclosure remain unknown and a viable area for future research. Findings from this exploratory survey may be used by public health officials interested in implementing campaigns to increase knowledge about vasectomy and reduce stigma, which may encourage more positive attitudes about the procedure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benita Roth

In this article, I chart the origins of the Indivisible movement in the United States, which began online as a response to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency in November of 2016. The Indivisible movement’s founders explicitly modeled their countermovement structurally after the Republican Tea Party that arose to obstruct Obama’s agenda, consciously using the Tea Party’s combination of decentralized organizing made possible by the Internet, its focus on local political races, and its general willingness to work with an established political party. I consider what the case of Indivisible has to tell us about some of the dynamics that movements in the Internet age will likely encounter, namely, the importance of virality and branding for mobilization and social media’s capacity for aggregating the like-minded. I conclude that while it is hard to predict whether Indivisible will be successful in obstructing the conservative Trump agenda, the movement bears watching as an example of movement mobilization in the Internet age.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren R Bangerter ◽  
Joan Griffin ◽  
Kristin Harden ◽  
Lila J Rutten

BACKGROUND The growing population of aging adults relies on informal caregivers to help meet their health care needs, get help with decision making, and gather health information. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine health information–seeking behaviors among caregivers and to identify caregiver characteristics that contribute to difficulty in seeking health information. METHODS Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey 5, Cycle 1 (N=3181) were used to compare health information seeking of caregivers (n=391) with noncaregivers (n=2790). RESULTS Caregivers sought health information for themselves and others using computers, smartphones, or other electronic means more frequently than noncaregivers. Caregivers born outside of the United States reported greater difficulty seeking health information (beta=.42; P=.02). Nonwhite caregivers (beta =−.33; P=.03), those with less education (beta =−.35; P=.02), those with private insurance (beta =−.37; P=.01), and those without a regular health care provider (beta =−.35; P=.01) had less confidence seeking health information. Caregivers with higher income had more confidence (beta =.12; P≤.001) seeking health information. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the prevalence of electronic means to find health information among caregivers. Notable differences in difficulty and confidence in health information seeking exist between caregivers, indicating the need for more attention to the socioeconomic status and caregivers born outside of the United States. Findings can guide efforts to optimize caregivers’ health information–seeking experiences.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita Rao ◽  
Elizabeth Tighe ◽  
Iris Feinberg

BACKGROUND Transmission of health information has changed over time from in-person communication to online sources. Patients are able to find, understand, and use their health information without meeting with a healthcare provider and are able to participate more in their healthcare management. In recent years, the Internet has emerged as the primary source of health information, though clinical providers remain the most credible source. Ease of access, anonymity, and busy schedules may be motivating factors to seek health information online. Social media has surfaced as a popular source of health information as it can provide news at a real-time speed. The increase in the breadth and depth of health information online has also led to a plethora of misinformation and individuals are often unable to discern fact from fiction. Competencies in health literacy can help individuals better understand health information and enhance patient decision-making as adequate health literacy is a precursor to positive health information seeking behaviors. Several factors such as age, sex, and socioeconomics are known to moderate the association between health literacy and health information seeking behaviors. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine the relationship between health literacy and health information seeking behaviors for individuals living in a southern state in the United States considering different demographic factors. METHODS Participants 18 years of age and older were recruited using Qualtrics Research Services and were stratified to match statewide demographic characteristics of race and age. Demographics and frequency and source of health information was collected. The Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to collect self-reported health literacy experiences. SPSSV27 was used for analysis. RESULTS A total of 520 participants met the criteria and completed the survey (mean age 36.3, SD 12.79 years). The Internet was cited as the most used source of health information (mean 2.41, SD 0.93). Females are more likely to seek health information from doctors (r = 0.121, P < .01). Older individuals are less likely to seek health information from the Internet, social media, and friends (r = -.090 to -.225, P < .05) than younger individuals. Cluster analysis demonstrated that individuals with higher levels of health information seeking behaviors are more likely to seek information from multiple sources than those with lower levels of health information seeking behavior (mean range 3.05 – 4.09, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Age and sex are significantly associated with health information seeking behaviors (HISB). Older adults may benefit from online resources to monitor their health conditions. Higher levels of health literacy are significantly associated with greater HISB. Targeted strategies to improve HISB among individuals with lower levels of health literacy may improve their access, understanding, and use of health information.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.


Author(s):  
Edward Herbst

Bali 1928 is a restoration and repatriation project involving the first published recordings of music in Bali and related film footage and photographs from the 1930s, and a collaboration with Indonesians in all facets of vision, planning, and implementation. Dialogic research among centenarian and younger performers, composers and indigenous scholars has repatriated their knowledge and memories, rekindled by long-lost aural and visual resources. The project has published a series of five CD and DVD volumes in Indonesia by STIKOM Bali and CDs in the United States by Arbiter Records, with dissemination through emerging media and the Internet, and grass-roots repatriation to the genealogical and cultural descendants of the 1928 and 1930s artists and organizations. Extensive research has overcome anonymity, so common with archival materials, which deprives descendants of their unique identities, local epistemologies, and techniques, marginalizing and homogenizing a diverse heritage so that entrenched hegemonies prevail and dominate discourse, authority, and power.


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