Abstract
This study examines the roles of information seeking and information evaluation for decision-making behaviors, 25 undergraduate students (7 males and 18 females, M age = 18.60, SDage = 1.12) participated in an experiment about information choices on three different types of tasks—academic, affective, and life event. They sought and evaluated information from two major sources—via the Internet or human interactions. The results showed that there was a full mediation effect of information evaluation on the relationship between preference of information seeking and decision-making of information choices for academic and life event-related tasks. Information evaluation had a partial mediation effect for affective task. It showed that evaluation of information by participants played an important role in decision-making behaviors, depending on the contents and natures of the tasks. The effect was relatively high in academic and life event-related tasks, and relatively weak in affective task.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bronstein, J. (2010). Selecting and using information sources: Source preferences and information pathways of Israeli library and information science students. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 15(4). Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ912752.pdf
Byström, K., & Järvelin, K. (1995). Task complexity affects information seeking and use. Information Processing and Management, 31(2), 191–213.
Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2011). Experiences with and perceptions of information: A phenomenographic study of first-year college students. Library Quarterly, 81(2), 161–186.
Kostagiolas, P. A., Samioti, F., Alexias, G., Korfiatis, N., & Niakas, D. (2012). Examining patterns of information behavior among healthcare professionals: A case study on health psychologists. New Review of Information Networking, 17(2), 108–119. doi:10.1080/13614576.2012.724300
Lo, P., & Chu, W. (2015). Information for inspiration: Understanding information-seeking behaviour and library usage of students at the Hong Kong design institute. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 46(2), 101–120. doi:10.1080/00048623.2015.1019604
Marshall, A. P., West, S. H., & Aitken, L. M. (2013). Clinical credibility and trustworthiness are key characteristics used to identify colleagues from whom to seek information. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(9/10), 1424–1433. doi:10.1111/jocn.12070
Robson, A., & Robinson, L. (2013). Building on models of information behaviour: Linking information seeking and communication. Journal of Documentation, 69(2), 169–193.
Simoes, C., & Soares, A. M. (2010). Applying to higher education: Information sources and choice factors. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 371–389.
Spink, A., & Heinström, J. (Eds.). (2011). Library and information science: New directions in information behaviour. Bradford, Great Britain: Emerald Insight. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chiu, PY., Chan, CK. (2017). The Roles of Information Seeking and Information Evaluation for Decision-Making Behaviors. In: Ma, W., Chan, CK., Tong, Kw., Fung, H., Fong, C. (eds) New Ecology for Education — Communication X Learning. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4346-8_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4346-8_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4345-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4346-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)