An exploratory study of secondary students' judgments of the relevance and reliability of information
This qualitative investigation is situated in the field of information seeking and use, and decision-making theory provided a framework for the study. In a naturalistic setting and across a range of curriculum areas, it investigated the behavior of secondary school students undertaking information search tasks. Research questions focused on students' criteria for assessing the relevance and reliability of information. Thirty-seven students between 14 and 17 years of age from a southeastern Australian school participated. The study collected data from journals; interviews, including video-stimulated recall interviews; think-aloud reports; video screen captures; and questionnaires. Data analysis culminated in grounded theory. Initial judgments of an item's relevance were based on comprehensibility, completeness of source, whether the item needed to be purchased, whether video sources were suitable, and whether factual or opinionative material met students' needs. Participants preferred information that provided topic overviews, information that linked to prior knowledge, and sources that treated topics in acceptable depth and were structured to facilitate accessibility. Students derived clues about reliability from URLs and considered the reputation of sources. The ability of an item to corroborate prior knowledge, its graphic design, its style of writing, and the perceived authority of its creators influenced participants' decisions about reliability.
relevance information seeking credibility