Cognitive Authority as an Instance of Informational and Expert Power

Libri ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reijo Savolainen
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Experiential Knowledge ◽  
Expert Power ◽  
Cognitive Authority

Abstract The study elaborates the picture of the relationships between information and power by examining how informational and expert power appear in the characterizations of cognitive authority presented in the research literature. The study draws on the conceptual analysis of 25 key studies on the above issues. Mainly focusing on Patrick Wilson’s classic notion of cognitive authority, it was examined how informational power and expert power are constitutive of authority of this kind, and how people subject to the influence of cognitive authorities trust or challenge such authorities. The findings indicate that researchers have characterized the features of expert power inherent in cognitive authority by diverse qualifiers such as competence and trustworthiness of information sources considered authoritative. Informational power has mainly been approached in terms of irrefutability of individual arguments and facts offered by cognitive authorities. Both forms of power are persuasive in nature and information seekers can trust or challenge them by drawing on their experiential knowledge in particular. The findings also highlight the need to elaborate the construct of cognitive authority by rethinking its relevance in the networked information environments where the traditional picture of authoritative information sources is eroding.

scholarly journals Expert power as a constituent of opinion leadership: a conceptual analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reijo Savolainen ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Opinion Leadership ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Leadership Analysis ◽  
Expert Power ◽  
Superior Knowledge

Introduction. Drawing on the typology of social power developed by French and Raven, this paper elaborates the relationships between information behaviour and power by examining how expert power appears in the characterisations of opinion leadership presented in the research literature. Method. Conceptual analysis focusing on the ways in which expert power are constitutive of the construct of opinion leadership. Analysis. The study draws on the conceptual analysis of forty-eight key studies on the above issue. Results. Expert power refers to the opinion leader’s ability to influence the thoughts, attitudes and behaviour of other people through information sharing, due to the possession of such knowledge and skills valued by others. Expert power originates from superior knowledge and skills acquired by means of active use of mass media in particular. Expert power is used in the process in which opinion leaders share their views in diverse contexts such as consumption and political discussion. The extent to which opinion leaders can use their expert power depends on their position in social networks. The findings highlight the need to rethink the traditional construct of opinion leadership because it increasingly occurs in the networked information environments characterised by growing volatility and scepticism towards authorities such as opinion leaders. Conclusion. Opinion leadership is a significant form of social influence put into effect through sharing personal views. Expert power is a key constituent of opinion leadership affecting the extent to which views shared by opinion leaders can influence the thoughts, attitudes and behaviour of opinion seekers.

We Have Good Information for You

2015 ◽  
pp. 191-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Roseiro Côgo ◽  
Roberto Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Information Retrieval System ◽  
Good Information ◽  
Information Relevance ◽  
Ranking Scheme ◽  
Cognitive Authority ◽  
Share Information ◽  
The Web

Through the concept of Cognitive Authority, information relevance and quality have been related to the expertise/skill of those who publish and share information on the Web. This chapter discusses how the concept of cognitive authority can be used in order to improve the information retrieval on folksonomy-based systems. The hypothesis is that a ranking scheme that takes into account the cognitive authority of the information sources provides results of higher relevance and quality to users. To verify this hypothesis, the Folkauthority approach is adopted; a ranking scheme called AuthorityRank is proposed; and an information retrieval system, named AuthoritySearch, is built. A real social network is used to simulate the authority relationship among users, and the AuthorityRank scheme is compared with the tf-idf scheme using the NDCG metric. The results indicate a statistically significant improvement in the quality and relevance of the information obtained through the use of the AuthorityRank scheme.

scholarly journals Wine tourist valuation of information sources: the role of prior travel

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 416-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erick T. Byrd ◽  
Bonnie Canziani ◽  
James S. Boles ◽  
Nicholas Carlton Williamson ◽  
Sevil Sonmez
Keyword(s):  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Information Search ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Experiential Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wine Tourism ◽  
New Information ◽  
The Us ◽  
Promotional Efforts ◽  
Use Of Information Sources

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine winery visitors’ use of information sources in making decisions regarding the choice of wineries to visit. Enrichment theory is used as a framework for determining how previous experience influences the decision on how much and what type of information individuals will use when planning a trip using wine tourism as the context for the research. Design/methodology/approach A visitor study was conducted at 23 wineries in the US Southeast. Data were collected from winery visitors using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Findings Results from 832 consumers indicate that an individual’s previous travel systematically influences the number and type of information sources that they will seek out when making future consumer decisions. Findings confirmed the hypothesized expectations about wine tourist information search behavior and help to partially explain the nature of bounded rationality in the case of tourists’ winery visit decisions. Research limitations/implications Because the study focused only on winery visitors in the US Southeast, the research results may lack generalizability. Practical implications These findings can assist winery owners and destinations with wineries in their promotional efforts. Of major importance is the finding that increases in experiential knowledge from prior travel are monotonically associated with increases in the number of information sources marked to be valuable in selecting a winery. The influence of experience is particularly dramatic in that the mean number of information sources marked to be valuable moves from a low of 2.5 to a high of 10.0 out of 16 as travel experience increases. Originality/value The study contributed significant and useful findings that advance the application of enrichment theory to wine tourism. Enrichment theory does not currently differentiate between types of knowledge that enrich a consumer’s ability to more easily encode and use new information. The current study confirms that experiential knowledge is an important knowledge construct in models of bounded rationality.

scholarly journals Manifestations of expert power in gatekeeping: a conceptual study

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215-1232
Author(s):  
Reijo Savolainen
Keyword(s):  
Social Power ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Referent Power ◽  
Expert Power ◽  
Depth Analysis

PurposeThis study aims to elaborate the picture of the relationships between information and power by examining how expert power appears in the characterizations of gatekeeping presented in the research literature.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses conceptual analysis for examining how expert power is constitutive of the construct of gatekeeper and how people subject to the influence of gatekeeping trust or challenge the expert power attributed to gatekeepers. The study draws on the analysis of 40 key studies on the above issues.FindingsResearchers have mainly constructed the gatekeepers' expert power in terms of superior knowledge and skills applicable to a specific domain, coupled with an ability to control or facilitate access to information. The gatekeeper's expert power has been approached as a contextual factor that facilitates rather than controls access to information. The power relationships between the gatekeepers and those subject to gatekeeping vary contextually, depending on the extent to which the latter have access to alternative sources of information. The findings highlight the need to elaborate the construct of gatekeeping by rethinking its relevance in the networked information environments where the traditional picture of gatekeepers controlling access to information sources is eroding.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study focuses on how expert power figures in gatekeeping, no attention is devoted to the role of social power of other types, for example, reward power and referent power.Originality/valueThe study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the nature of expert power as a constituent of gatekeeping.

Toward Better Alzheimer’s Research Information Sources for the Public

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-110
Author(s):  
Perry W. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
National Plan ◽  
Research Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Social Networking Tools

The National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease calls for a new relationship between researchers and members of the public. This relationship is one that provides research information to patients and allows patients to provide ideas to researchers. One way to describe it is a “bidirectional translational relationship.” Despite the numerous sources of online and offline information about Alzheimer's disease, there is no information source which currently provides this interaction. This article proposes the creation an Alzheimer's research information source dedicated to monitoring Alzheimer's research literature and providing user friendly, publicly accessible summaries of data written specifically for a lay audience. This information source should contain comprehensive, updated, user friendly, publicly available, reviews of Alzheimer's research and utilize existing online multimedia/social networking tools to provide information in useful formats that help patients, caregivers, and researchers learn rapidly from one another.

scholarly journals Strengthening Anti-Racist Gerontology Research: Does One Size Fit All?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 237-237
Author(s):  
Lyn Holley
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Social Science ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Culturally Competent ◽  
Culture Care ◽  
Key Concepts

Abstract This paper is based on a scoping review and conceptual analysis of research literature about incorporating anti-racism into social science research practices. In his examination of how anti-racist research can effectively borrow key concepts such as “validation and “reliability” from traditional social science research, Dei concludes that these concepts must be reconsidered to addresses the main issues of anti-racism. (2005). A further critique of these concepts is that they do not account for differences among racism as it is applied to different minoritized groups. Public Health Nurses and other practitioners have long recognized the importance of understanding and taking these differences into account in their “culturally competent” practice. (Lipscomb, Culture Care) Although there is some literature about de-centering whiteness in research (e.g., https://libguides.umn.edu/antiracismlens ), little is available to guide research that acknowledges and addresses overlapping yet differing contours of racism as experienced by different “races”, e.g., Black-Americans, Native American Indians”.

scholarly journals Multitasking as distraction: A conceptual analysis of media multitasking research

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Aagaard
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Media Multitasking ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Harmful Effects ◽  
Qualitative Distinction

The word “multitasking” gets thrown around a lot these days. For years it was touted as the cognitive default for a new generation of digital natives, but psychologists are increasingly warning us against its harmful effects on many different forms of human activity. What exactly is meant by the concept of multitasking, however, remains peculiarly taken-for-granted. The purpose of this article is therefore to analyze, evaluate, and interpret how the word “multitasking” is currently being used in scientific practice. Taking departure in the domain of media multitasking research, the article reveals an unacknowledged normativity in the empirical research literature: Multitasking does not in fact denote a quantitative enumeration of tasks, but a qualitative distinction between on- and off-task activity. In other words, multitasking is functionally equivalent to distraction. This article discusses how this insight challenges the scientific rationality of current media multitasking research and concludes with implications for future research.

Using ICT to Enable Emancipatory Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 1952-1957
Author(s):  
Wal Taylor ◽  
John Dekkers ◽  
Stewart Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Emancipatory Learning ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Potential Benefits

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has had an important role in enhancing the nature and quality of student learning experiences through open learning (OL) and distance education (DE). It has also enabled providers to introduce support and delivery, and administrative systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness of all these aspects. The issues, problems and potential benefits of the use of OL and DE have been the themes of recent conferences and other national forums, and is well documented in the research literature that abound. From the foregoing information sources, an aspect that still is not well addressed is appropriate models that take in account the specific needs and demands of the students at the local level, as well as using ICT.

scholarly journals Meta-Cognition in Mindfulness: A Conceptual Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilwar Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Conceptual Relationships

Over the last few decades there has been a substantial increase in the research and applications of meta-cognition and mindfulness. The concept of meta-cognition and mindfulness seems different and their research literature evolved independent of each other. However, meta-cognition and mindfulness share many commonalities and are conceptually related in many ways. Evidently, there has been relatively little research addressing this relationship. The research tradition of meta-cognition and mindfulness may strengthen and benefit each other. Specific aspects, such as development of ‘meta-awareness’ can be integrated with each other in a complementary as well as supplementary manner in applied settings such as psychotherapy. This paper describes the nature of meta-cognition and mindfulness and reviews their conceptual relationships. Finally, theoretical and applied implications of this relationship are discussed.

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