Bowler, Leanne and Monahan, Jocelyn and Jeng, Wei and Oh, Jung Sun and He, Daqing
(2015)
Best Versus Helpful Health Information: Teens’ Assessments of the Answers to Eating Disorders Questions in Yahoo! Answers.
In: 78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community, 06 November 2015 - 10 November 2015, St. Louis, United States.
Abstract
This research project investigated teens’ perspectives on the quality and helpfulness of health information about eating disorders found on Yahoo! Answers, a Social Q&A site. A mixed methods approach was applied, using survey methods and semi-structured group interviews to gather data for the project. Eighteen teens completed a web-based questionnaire using sample question/answer sets about eating disorders from Yahoo! Answers. The teen participants were asked to choose one answer as “best” and then rank its credibility, accuracy, reliability, and helpfulness. Open-ended questions allowed teens to explain the rationale for their choice of “best” answer and to discuss why the chosen answer might (or might not) be helpful for teens. Following the questionnaire, six teens participated in a focus group interview using a semi-structured format that asked open-ended “why” questions in order to draw forth comments on criteria for evaluating the quality and and helpfulness of health information in Yahoo! Answers, as well as to reveal aspects of critical thinking. Findings suggest that, 1) teens make a distinction between health information in Social Q&A that is credible versus that which is helpful, 2) they value health information that isn’t from a credible source if it addresses other needs, and, 3) when making judgments about health information on the Web, they apply an array of heuristics related to information quality, opinion, communication style, emotional support and encouragement, guidance, personal experience, and professional expertise.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
|
| Status: |
Published |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| Date: |
2015 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Event Title: |
78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community |
| Event Dates: |
06 November 2015 - 10 November 2015 |
| Event Type: |
Conference |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Information Sciences > Library and Information Science |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Teens, Social, Q&A, Yahoo!, Answers, Credibility, Information, Quality, Eating, Disorders, Health, Information, Behavior. |
| Official URL: |
https://www.asist.org/events/annual-meeting-2015/ |
| Related URLs: |
|
| Date Deposited: |
14 Jun 2016 19:56 |
| Last Modified: |
06 Sep 2019 13:59 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28194 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
![[img]](http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/text_plain.png)
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}