Study on the Usage and Perception of University Students on
the Credibility of Information from Wikipedia
Takato TANAKA, Terumi MIYAZOE
Information Systems and Multimedia DesignGraduate School of Science and Technology for Future Life, Tokyo Denki University
13fmi21@ms.dendai.ac.jp, t.miyazoe@mail.dendai.ac.jp

Abstract: This study investigates the usage of and perceptions of university students on thequality of information found in Wikipedia. Although several studies reported that the accuracyof Wikipedia information corresponds to that of Encyclopedia Britannica (Giles, 2005), thecitations for academic works in Wikipedia remain contentious (Rand, 2010). Furthermore, themanner by which students use Wikipedia is unclear. Lim (2009) analyzed the Wikipedia usageof university students from the perspective of the social cognitive theory, and found that students
use Wikipedia with a vague idea on information quality. Lim and Kwon (2010) examined theWikipedia usage of university students in the US, as well as their perceptions on the credibilityof Wikipedia information. The study deduced several gender differences. The present study
examined the Wikipedia usage of university students in Japan and their perceptions on thequality of Wikipedia information. The research replicated the questionnaire validated previously
by Lim et al. ICT usage and demographic questionnaire items were added for correlationalanalysis. The questionnaire was administered online and in print to 205 undergraduate students
from a science university. The data were analyzed in terms of gender and focus of the study(media versus non-media major). The study indicated gender difference in terms of self-efficacy
when judging information, as well as a positive correlation between perceptions of information
quality and previous experiences of using Wikipedia.
Keywords: Wikipedia, Information Credibility, Self-efficacy, ICT Use, Gender Difference

BACKGROUNDThis paper presents a preliminary research on the usage of Wikipedia by university students and theirperceptions on its quality. Lim (2009) analyzed the Wikipedia usage of university students by using the social
cognitive theory perspective, and found that students use Wikipedia with a vague perception of its information
quality. Lim and Kwon (2010) examined the usage of and perceptions on the credibility of Wikipedia information bystudents in the US, from which they observed gender differences. Based on these studies, the present study
investigated the student usage and perceptions of Wikipedia and its information credibility, as well as examinedother factors such as the students’ ICT usage, field of study, and gender.

METHODOLOGY
Research questions
This paper aims to identify how Japanese university students use the Internet and Wikipedia, how they
perceive the credibility of Wikipedia information, and whether their perception correlates to their usage.
Methods
The questionnaire comprised three parts: 1) general questions on Internet usage (e.g., frequency andpurpose); 2) specific questions concerning Wikipedia credibility and their usage; as well as 3) demographic questions(e.g., gender and field of study). The Wikipedia credibility items were adapted from Lim and Kwon (2010) andtranslated into Japanese. Respondents were requested to rate their level of agreement to the statements using aseven-point scale, ranging from one (strongly disagree) to seven (strongly agree). Prior to the main data collection,
the survey was tested on three volunteers to identify any defects and ambiguity in the organization and translation.
The survey was completed by the end of the second semester of 2012. The survey was implemented inprint and online to obtain the highest possible response rate. The paper survey sheets were distributed to the students
and collected by the researchers after verbally explaining the research objective in class, with the cooperation of theinstructor. The online survey (developed on https://jp.surveymonkey.com/) web links were relayed by participating
instructors to the students for survey completion.
For statistic handling, the SPSS software was used. Conceptual variable items were analyzed by obtaining
the mean scores for each variable group, and the items were then analyzed according to the gender and major of thestudent. The Mann-Whitney test was performed to determine whether the differences were statistically significant.

RESULTS
Respondent profile
A total of 205 responses were collected, from which 197 were considered valid (with no missing items).
The majority of respondents aged from 18 to 23 years old. Male to female distribution was 171:26 or 87%:13%. In
the participating school, the average male to female student ratio was approximately 88%:12%. Thus, the gender
distribution in this study was considered representative of the general profile of the school. The ratio of media andinformation students (who are assumed to be well-acquainted with online information sources) to non-media andinformation students was almost equal at 100:97.
Internet and Wikipedia usage
The majority of the students used the Internet for two to five hours per day. On average, the highest in
number were of students who have been using the Internet for 8 to 12 years (45%). Students used the Internet forstudying (96%), communicating (59%), gaming and shopping (54%), as well as other purposes (17%). The majorityof the students classified watching videos on YouTube under the “others” category. Hence, the respondents have used
the Internet for a long time for purposes other than studying before they entered the university.
Students accessed Wikipedia by accident (51.3%) and by selecting a search engine result (31.0%).
Therefore, their usage of Wikipedia was not intentional. In addition, the majority of the students indicated that they
have been using Wikipedia for four years (60.4%), and from two to four years (26.9%). Students use Wikipedia a few
times per week (41.1%), followed by once per week (28.4%), and a few times per month (22.8%). A moderately
positive correlation existed between age and Wikipedia usage/frequency, although the results were statisticallyinsignificant. These results indicated that Wikipedia is part of the daily lives of the students, and that familiarity withusing Wikipedia was significantly high.

Self-efficacy toward using information on Wikipedia
Overall, the students showed a reasonably high confidence in the credibility of Wikipedia content (m =4.88), and their previous experience in using Wikipedia was considered accurate (m = 5.10). The students expressed
belief in the moderate risk that Wikipedia information may be incorrect (m = 4.33). By contrast, the students
expressed less confidence in their ability to judge the veracity of Wikipedia content (m = 3.29) compared with otheritems.
Difference between genders
Minimal difference was observed between the Internet usage of male and female students, except for theitem on frequency of Wikipedia usage, in which male students showed a higher agreement level (4.24, or two tothree times a week) than female students (3.73, or two to three times over a few weeks). However, the differences in
the mean scores between the male/female groups were not statistically significant. Therefore, as far as this paper isconcerned, no gender difference was observed in the perceptions on using Wikipedia.
Differences in study major areas
Based on major, the two groups of respondents showed statistically different responses for Internet andWikipedia usage, except for Wikipedia usage frequency. Overall, media students use the Internet and Wikipedia
more than non-media students. On a daily basis, media majors used the Internet and Wikipedia longer (68% of thesestudents have been using Wikipedia for over four years), and had a longer experience of using the Internet thannon-media major students. However, 40% of both groups used Wikipedia two to three times a week. Additionally,
two items on the perceptions on Wikipedia credibility show statistical significance: unlike non-media students, media
students perceive that Wikipedia has a high quality content than other items. However, media students showed lower
confidence in their ability to judge the veracity of the content. Nevertheless, both groups indicated similar levels ofrisk image and previous experience of Wikipedia credibility.
Relationship between Internet usage and Wikipedia credibility
This paper used Spearman’s rho correlational analysis, which resulted in a curious finding. Among theitems, a low level of positive correlation was observed between usage per day and Internet usage experience in years,
which is understandable. Similarly, a moderately negative correlation existed between these two items and the usage
experience of Wikipedia; that is, for those who have been using the Internet for years, Wikipedia became a part oftheir lives relatively recently. This negative relation is more evident with female students (r = -0.506, p < 0.05) andwith media students (r = -0.289, p < 0.05). Moreover, a moderately positive correlation was observed between thecredibility and the idea of non-risk of Wikipedia information (r = 0.304, p < 0.05). Hence, students who believe that
Wikipedia information could be incorrect tend not to use Wikipedia, and vice versa.

DISCUSSION
This study discussed how science university students in Japan use the Internet and Wikipedia. Using thisdataset, no remarkable gender differences were observed in terms of Internet and Wikipedia usage, or the perceptions
on Wikipedia content credibility and student ability to judge the content. The major of the students appears to be adeterminant factor: media major students who use the Internet for their studies seem to have higher confidence on thecredibility of the available content in Wikipedia, although they expressed a higher uncertainty in ascertaining itsveracity. Further research is necessary to understand how the credibility of online information is evaluated.

REFERENCES
Giles, J. (2005, December 15). Special report internet encyclopedias go head to head. Nature, 438, 900-901.
doi:10.1038/438900a
Lim, S. (2009). How and why do college students use Wikipedia? Journal of the American Society for Information
Science and Technology, 60(11), 2189-2202. doi:10.1002/asi.21142
Lim, S., & Kwon, N. (2010). Gender differences in information behavior concerning Wikipedia, an unorthodox
information source? [null] Library & Information Science Research, 32(3), 212-220.
Rand, A. D. (2010). Mediating at the student--wikipedia intersection. Journal of Library Administration, 50,923-932.