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Ahmadreza Varnaseri, Maryam Andalib Kendri, Maryam Ghanbari, Sajjad Mohamadian,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: In daily life, human beings are constantly in the position of making simple or important decisions, so in order to make the best decision, it is inevitable to interact with information. In the present era, when the era of change from industrial society to post-industrial society or information society has been dubbed, information is considered as the most basic assets for human beings and human societies, and the foundation of information society is based on information. In other words, in today's world, a society that has superiority over other societies in terms of information is considered advanced. The growth and development of different science fields can be evaluated according to the research activities carried out in that field. The strength of these activities is the publication of scientific-research publications. The scientific value and validity of publications is undeniable at the time of publication and also after the passage of time. Therefore, knowing the position of the country's scientific research publications with their different and important functions requires great attention. The amount of scientific productions in the form of articles along with the quality of magazines and the amount of use of these resources by people in the society is one of the indicators of the scientific growth of the society. In the meantime, the scientific quarterly of human-information interaction is published by the Department of Information Science and Knowledge of Kharazmi University in cooperation with the Scientific Association for the Promotion of Public Libraries of Iran in the form of an electronic quarterly. Human and Information Interaction Journal publishes original research articles and critical review works in the field of human and information interaction, human information behavior, and related topics.
Purpose: Almost a decade has passed since the publication of research articles in the Scientific Journal of Human and Information Interaction requires that its research record be studied in order to gather and analyze the researches that have been carried out, the existing gaps in the research topics, trends. and recognized the research priorities and found the subject bias of the research done over time. to review the content of the articles in the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly.
Method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and content analysis type. And because this research tries to describe and evaluate the content of the articles of the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly, it is of the type of content analysis. Content analysis The researcher tries to provide the necessary answer to a specific question in a coordinated action while identifying all the conducted researches and evaluating them accurately. Therefore, in this study, by analyzing the content and using a descriptive approach, the frequency of the subject under investigation is determined and a conclusion is made based on it. The statistical population of the present study includes all the scientific and research articles published in the scientific-research quarterly "Human and Information Interaction" from the spring of 2014 to the winter of 2022, which were published in 9 periods. The number of articles was 242, all of which were subjected to content analysis. The tool used was made by the Checklist researcher.
The obtained data were analyzed using Excel software. Descriptive statistics methods, such as data classification according to distribution and frequency percentage, as well as graphs and tables, have been used in data analysis. By referring to each issue of the magazine and its articles, the content analysis information includes the number of articles published in the quarterly, the number of authors by gender, the scientific rank of the authors, the field/trend, and the topics and axes of the authors' attention, Participating universities/organizations, statistical community, approach, type, level of analysis, strategy and time period of the researches were investigated. Sampling was not used and all elements of the society were investigated by census.
Findings: 242 articles have been published in the Quarterly Journal of Human and Information Interaction during 9 periods of articles, Of these, the largest number of articles were published in 2014. Thematic areas: Examining the titles of the articles and the keywords used in the collection of articles published in the studied journal showed that, in general, the articles can be categorized into 11 main topics and 165 sub-topics. The main areas are: Information management) Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system, Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system، 38%), information seeking behavior(Information seeking behavior Knowledge sharing behavior, consumer behavior, information behavior, unplanned behavior, collaborative information seeking behavior, employment information behavior, relational information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, information seeking interaction behavior, inquiry behavior, health information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, human information behavior , reading behavior, 23%), social network (Research Gate, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Fatigue, Social Network, Scientific Graph Network, Network, Internet Social Network, Facebook, Social Network Analysis, Continuous Social Networks, Scientific Social Network, Online Social Network, Virtual Social Network, Big Data In social network, specialized social network, artificial neural network, selfie, social media, mobile phone based social network, 18%), research method (Research Methodology Grand theory, Koolthau model, qualitative approach, thematic analysis, semantic analysis, Meta composition, metanalysis, qualitative study, self-efficacy in qualitative research, fuzzy Delphi, database method, Delphi method, quantitative method, methodology, exploratory method, clustering, interactive content, methodology Research, methodological diversity, scientometrics, synonyms, fact-based interview, mixed approach, trend analysis, altmetrics, research problems, Ellis model, citation analysis, cybernetic revelation model, hierarchical analysis process, fuzzy method, data-based theory18%), library (16%), user (8%), retrieval (8%), information need (6%) %), information base (2%), information science and Knowledge (2%) and organization (1%) are assigned, with the largest share related to information management with 38% and the lowest share related to organization with 1%. Gender of the authors: 53% of them were men and 47% of them were women. According to the findings of the research, the most participants in writing articles are assistant professors (158), Associate Professor 119, doctorate student (114), master's student (100), doctorate (47), professor (42), unreported (20), student Bachelor's degree (12), postdoctoral degree (1).
Researchers in the field of information science and Knowledge have contributed the most in writing articles with 75%. Researchers in the field of business management (12%), educational sciences (2%), and information technology (01%) contributed more than other fields in writing articles in the journal. The most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University; Also, Isfahan University with 27 article titles, Azad University with 25 article titles, Tehran University with 21 article titles, Beheshti University with 18 article titles, and Chamran University with 15 article titles Unreported 14 article titles, Al-Zahra University 10 article titles, Allameh Tabatabai University 10 article titles, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 10 article titles, Tabriz University 9 article titles, Tarbiat Modares 8 article titles, Shiraz University 7 article titles, Shahid University 5 article titles, Mohaghegh Ardabili University 5 article titles respectively have contributed the most in writing articles. The population of quantitative researches was students, professors, and academics. In terms of the research approach, among the 242 published articles, 123 articles were conducted with a quantitative approach, which includes 51% of the research, and qualitative research accounted for 28%, and mixed research for 21%.
Strategy of research results: applied researches with 185 numbers have the highest percentage of 77% of the human and information interaction quarterly, and developmental and fundamental researches are in the next ranks with 32% and 25%, respectively. Also, the most applied researches, 10 titles, belong to the fourth issue of the five-year period of 2018, and the most basic researches, 5 titles, were published in the fourth issue of 2021. Research method strategy: According to the findings of the research, descriptive research with 167 titles is the highest percentage (69 percent), and correlation research 35% in the second rank and experimental research with 30 titles with 13% frequency in the rank are next. In the following, comparative and historical causal researches with 5 article titles are at the End. The level of research analysis: The findings of the research show that the level of
analysis of 78% of the articles published in the quarterly is the group level, and the individual, intersection, and organizational levels account for a total of 21% of the researches. The review of the articles shows that 64% of the researches conducted in the Scientific Quarterly of Human and Information Interaction have used primary data to conduct the research. Data collection method: Most researches have used questionnaires (74%) to collect data. The interview method is ranked next with (24%).
Conclusion: The analysis of the distribution of the gender frequency of the authors of the articles showed the difference in the role-creation of men compared to women in writing articles. In such a way that men have had a greater contribution and role in writing articles. The frequency distribution of the organizational affiliation of the authors of the articles showed that the most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University. This indicates the fact that the researchers of Kharazmi University are more inclined to send their researches and achievements to their university journal, and naturally, this tendency increases the acceptance rate and the high percentage of participation of the researchers of this university in publishing articles. Considering that the field of organization has received less attention from researchers, besides the need to investigate the reasons for the low interest of researchers in this field in an independent research it is suggested that the editorial board and judges determine research priorities in the subject areas.
Due to the limitation of the research method used in 69% of the articles, it seems that the variety of research methods in the acceptance and publication of the journal articles should be given more attention by the reviewers, editor-in-chief, and other officials. In some informational articles, such as Society and statistical sample, the exact title of the university, organization, orientation, author's field, etc. are not mentioned, so it is suggested that the editorial board and the internal manager pay more attention. The data collection tool is a set of questionnaires and other tools are used less. Therefore, it is suggested that the editorial board and judges pay more attention to the acceptance of articles that use other tools to collect data. It is obvious that using various tools helps to increase the scientific richness of researches. Due to the unequal participation of researchers from different scientific fields in publishing articles in the quarterly journal, publishing articles in different fields with an almost equal ratio in each issue of the journal can solve this imbalance and equality. Also, the determination of research needs by the journal can lead researchers to other fields. About 77 percent of the reviewed researches were of applied type and exploratory researches had a smaller contribution; Therefore, it is suggested that the acceptance of exploratory researches should also be prioritized; Because this type of research helps to expand existing knowledge in line with research goals.
Purpose: Almost a decade has passed since the publication of research articles in the Scientific Journal of Human and Information Interaction requires that its research record be studied in order to gather and analyze the researches that have been carried out, the existing gaps in the research topics, trends. and recognized the research priorities and found the subject bias of the research done over time. to review the content of the articles in the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly.
Method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and content analysis type. And because this research tries to describe and evaluate the content of the articles of the Human and Information Interaction Quarterly, it is of the type of content analysis. Content analysis The researcher tries to provide the necessary answer to a specific question in a coordinated action while identifying all the conducted researches and evaluating them accurately. Therefore, in this study, by analyzing the content and using a descriptive approach, the frequency of the subject under investigation is determined and a conclusion is made based on it. The statistical population of the present study includes all the scientific and research articles published in the scientific-research quarterly "Human and Information Interaction" from the spring of 2014 to the winter of 2022, which were published in 9 periods. The number of articles was 242, all of which were subjected to content analysis. The tool used was made by the Checklist researcher.
The obtained data were analyzed using Excel software. Descriptive statistics methods, such as data classification according to distribution and frequency percentage, as well as graphs and tables, have been used in data analysis. By referring to each issue of the magazine and its articles, the content analysis information includes the number of articles published in the quarterly, the number of authors by gender, the scientific rank of the authors, the field/trend, and the topics and axes of the authors' attention, Participating universities/organizations, statistical community, approach, type, level of analysis, strategy and time period of the researches were investigated. Sampling was not used and all elements of the society were investigated by census.
Findings: 242 articles have been published in the Quarterly Journal of Human and Information Interaction during 9 periods of articles, Of these, the largest number of articles were published in 2014. Thematic areas: Examining the titles of the articles and the keywords used in the collection of articles published in the studied journal showed that, in general, the articles can be categorized into 11 main topics and 165 sub-topics. The main areas are: Information management) Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system, Data management Human and information interaction, ignoring, avoiding, avoiding information, rejecting information, information search process model, information technology model, information sharing behavior, information architecture, information technology application, information and communication technology, information search process model, information literacy, poverty/ Information poverty, scientific information environment, general information environment, information realism, employment information behavior, information literacy measurement, information access, information credibility assessment, information behavior modeling, web information credibility, information culture, electronic information, information management, personal information management , information sources, information location, information system، 38%), information seeking behavior(Information seeking behavior Knowledge sharing behavior, consumer behavior, information behavior, unplanned behavior, collaborative information seeking behavior, employment information behavior, relational information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, information seeking interaction behavior, inquiry behavior, health information seeking behavior, information seeking behavior, human information behavior , reading behavior, 23%), social network (Research Gate, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Fatigue, Social Network, Scientific Graph Network, Network, Internet Social Network, Facebook, Social Network Analysis, Continuous Social Networks, Scientific Social Network, Online Social Network, Virtual Social Network, Big Data In social network, specialized social network, artificial neural network, selfie, social media, mobile phone based social network, 18%), research method (Research Methodology Grand theory, Koolthau model, qualitative approach, thematic analysis, semantic analysis, Meta composition, metanalysis, qualitative study, self-efficacy in qualitative research, fuzzy Delphi, database method, Delphi method, quantitative method, methodology, exploratory method, clustering, interactive content, methodology Research, methodological diversity, scientometrics, synonyms, fact-based interview, mixed approach, trend analysis, altmetrics, research problems, Ellis model, citation analysis, cybernetic revelation model, hierarchical analysis process, fuzzy method, data-based theory18%), library (16%), user (8%), retrieval (8%), information need (6%) %), information base (2%), information science and Knowledge (2%) and organization (1%) are assigned, with the largest share related to information management with 38% and the lowest share related to organization with 1%. Gender of the authors: 53% of them were men and 47% of them were women. According to the findings of the research, the most participants in writing articles are assistant professors (158), Associate Professor 119, doctorate student (114), master's student (100), doctorate (47), professor (42), unreported (20), student Bachelor's degree (12), postdoctoral degree (1).
Researchers in the field of information science and Knowledge have contributed the most in writing articles with 75%. Researchers in the field of business management (12%), educational sciences (2%), and information technology (01%) contributed more than other fields in writing articles in the journal. The most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University; Also, Isfahan University with 27 article titles, Azad University with 25 article titles, Tehran University with 21 article titles, Beheshti University with 18 article titles, and Chamran University with 15 article titles Unreported 14 article titles, Al-Zahra University 10 article titles, Allameh Tabatabai University 10 article titles, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 10 article titles, Tabriz University 9 article titles, Tarbiat Modares 8 article titles, Shiraz University 7 article titles, Shahid University 5 article titles, Mohaghegh Ardabili University 5 article titles respectively have contributed the most in writing articles. The population of quantitative researches was students, professors, and academics. In terms of the research approach, among the 242 published articles, 123 articles were conducted with a quantitative approach, which includes 51% of the research, and qualitative research accounted for 28%, and mixed research for 21%.
Strategy of research results: applied researches with 185 numbers have the highest percentage of 77% of the human and information interaction quarterly, and developmental and fundamental researches are in the next ranks with 32% and 25%, respectively. Also, the most applied researches, 10 titles, belong to the fourth issue of the five-year period of 2018, and the most basic researches, 5 titles, were published in the fourth issue of 2021. Research method strategy: According to the findings of the research, descriptive research with 167 titles is the highest percentage (69 percent), and correlation research 35% in the second rank and experimental research with 30 titles with 13% frequency in the rank are next. In the following, comparative and historical causal researches with 5 article titles are at the End. The level of research analysis: The findings of the research show that the level of
analysis of 78% of the articles published in the quarterly is the group level, and the individual, intersection, and organizational levels account for a total of 21% of the researches. The review of the articles shows that 64% of the researches conducted in the Scientific Quarterly of Human and Information Interaction have used primary data to conduct the research. Data collection method: Most researches have used questionnaires (74%) to collect data. The interview method is ranked next with (24%).
Conclusion: The analysis of the distribution of the gender frequency of the authors of the articles showed the difference in the role-creation of men compared to women in writing articles. In such a way that men have had a greater contribution and role in writing articles. The frequency distribution of the organizational affiliation of the authors of the articles showed that the most participation was by the authors of Kharazmi University. This indicates the fact that the researchers of Kharazmi University are more inclined to send their researches and achievements to their university journal, and naturally, this tendency increases the acceptance rate and the high percentage of participation of the researchers of this university in publishing articles. Considering that the field of organization has received less attention from researchers, besides the need to investigate the reasons for the low interest of researchers in this field in an independent research it is suggested that the editorial board and judges determine research priorities in the subject areas.
Due to the limitation of the research method used in 69% of the articles, it seems that the variety of research methods in the acceptance and publication of the journal articles should be given more attention by the reviewers, editor-in-chief, and other officials. In some informational articles, such as Society and statistical sample, the exact title of the university, organization, orientation, author's field, etc. are not mentioned, so it is suggested that the editorial board and the internal manager pay more attention. The data collection tool is a set of questionnaires and other tools are used less. Therefore, it is suggested that the editorial board and judges pay more attention to the acceptance of articles that use other tools to collect data. It is obvious that using various tools helps to increase the scientific richness of researches. Due to the unequal participation of researchers from different scientific fields in publishing articles in the quarterly journal, publishing articles in different fields with an almost equal ratio in each issue of the journal can solve this imbalance and equality. Also, the determination of research needs by the journal can lead researchers to other fields. About 77 percent of the reviewed researches were of applied type and exploratory researches had a smaller contribution; Therefore, it is suggested that the acceptance of exploratory researches should also be prioritized; Because this type of research helps to expand existing knowledge in line with research goals.
Zahra Poorpir, Mohammadreza Kiyani, Mohammad Ali Rostaminegad, Seyyed Ebrahim Hosseini Zargaz,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Introduction and Objective: Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease that, like other infectious diseases, has affected people's health. As an important source for obtaining health information, social media have made a major contribution in meeting the need for information about Covid-19. The role of people's health information-seeking behavior is important in disease management and control, and it has an impact on the health of the society in the future.
Methodology: This research was practical and survey type. Statistical population, all students were studying at Birjand University at the time of the study. Sampling was done based on proportional classification random sampling (370 people). The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was measured by using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, epistemology and medical sciences, and its reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha (0.897).
Findings: The findings of the research showed that students used more search engines, foreign social networks and news media to get information about Covid-19 than reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites. Telegram and Instagram were the most used. They paid more attention to news related to covid-19 and preventive behaviors than getting information about treatment methods. The amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about this disease on students was less than expected and among the components of information-seeking behavior, they paid the least attention to information sharing. In the field of aspects related to Covid-19, they paid the most attention to the educational aspect and the least attention to the political aspect.
Conclusion: Information and realizing its value and importance in human life today, leads to the concern of how to access the required information from among the multitude of available information. Information-seeking behavior follows the need for information, which includes activities such as information search, search tools, the type of information sought, search problems, and factors affecting it. Since the need for health information due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease creates concerns. Therefore, it leads to health information-seeking behavior, which includes actions related to searching and finding health-related problems, information about diseases, risk factors, and health promotion (Jalilian et al., 2021). In the course of searching for information, a person may use a manual information system or a computer-based system (Wilson, 2000).
Social media, as a platform that provides a lot of information, including health-related information, has been distinguished from other information systems due to components such as quick and easy access, interactive and comprehensible, and convenience. In the process of health information seeking behavior, the role of social media as a tool for searching for information and its effect on people's behavior is important (Liu, 2020). The types of information about which the search helps to meet the need for information and curiosities in the midst of this pandemic, information such as news related to Covid-19 (the number of patients and deaths), preventive behaviors (washing hands regularly, wearing masks) , vaccination, etc.) and various medical methods and related drugs.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the corona virus and spread in late 2019. The Corona pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency (Jalilian et al., 2021). This epidemic prompted scientists in different disciplines to investigate various issues arising from this phenomenon (Shehata, 2020). Access to health information is essential for any country and this is more important in developing countries where health challenges are more (Ankama et al., 2021). Progress in the prevention of Covid-19 is partially dependent on understanding the process of health information seeking behavior and its tools. To promote effective health knowledge, behavior change must be done at the individual level, and health messages must be accurate, transparent, and comprehensible. Also, be available and appropriate to the cultural environment of the society (Jalilian et al., 2021). Due to the epidemic nature of this disease and its unexpected consequences, the role of people and their information behaviors in fighting and controlling this disease is very important (Ostadi, 2019).
The main variables of the research included: the amount of use of each type of social media, the amount of use of each type of social network, the types of information obtained, the amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about Covid-19, the amount of each From health information seeking behaviors and aspects related to covid 19.
To carry out the research, the researcher-made questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. This questionnaire was compiled in two parts based on the objectives and questions of the research. The first part includes questions related to the objectives of the research, and in the second part, three questions are asked about the personal characteristics of the respondents.
This questionnaire had 42 items and was measured in 7 variables, which are: social media (items 1-9), social networks (items 10-16), types of information obtained (item 17-21), negative consequences of information acquisition (items 22-26), positive consequences of information acquisition (items 27-33), types of health information-seeking behavior (items 34-37) and related dimensions with covid 19 (items 42-38). The mentioned questionnaire was distributed among the statistical population after checking and testing the validity and reliability. In this research, in order to measure the content validity of the questionnaire, the questions of the questionnaire were prepared by studying and reviewing related study sources, and then using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, philology, and medical sciences, they were reviewed and modified.
Out of a total of 224 respondents, that is, 58% of the people were women and 162 of them, equal to 42%, were men. Students in the study field of humanities with 167 people (43%) have the highest frequency among the respondents. After that, engineering science group with 112 people (29 percent), basic science group with 63 people (16 percent) and agricultural science group with 44 people (12 percent) respectively.
The number of respondents in the undergraduate level was the highest with 319 people (83 percent), as well as 47 people (12 percent) in the master's degree and 20 people (5 percent) in the doctoral level.
In the social media variable, the results showed that the average amount of social media use was generally lower than average. In the components of official medical websites, doctors' websites, unofficial websites, internal social networks, Wikipedia and encyclopedias, discussion groups and forums are also less than It was average. According to Zhang and Zhao (2017) and Haider et al. (2009), concern about the quality of information reduces the amount of social media use and consumer participation.
In the variable of social networks, the findings show that the average amount of use of the variable of social networks was generally lower than the average. Due to the filtering of YouTube, Twitter, and Clubhouse platforms, their use was quite logically lower than average. In the components of the Telegram and Instagram platforms, the average amount of use was more than average. The researchers' field observations of the users' use of these networks are consistent with the obtained results, as a result, the use of social networks due to their accessibility and the widely used role of mobile phone technology today is a source of information dissemination and information acquisition. Since the specialized information on websites and official sources is valuable, it is necessary to pay attention to the reason why they are not given much attention, and it should be carefully rooted and investigated.
The search rate of Birjand University students regarding each type of health information about Covid-19, the research indicates that, in general, the search rate in the variable of types of information about Covid-19 was equal to the average. But in the components of news related to Covid-19, preventive behaviors were more than average. Since the purpose of searching users during the Covid-19 pandemic was to deal with the said disease; Therefore, the results refer to the consumption of health information related to the news of Covid-19 and various preventive behaviors, because obtaining health information about each of the information related to Covid-19 is important in the process of managing and controlling this disease.
The rate of negative consequences of acquiring information about Covid-19 was below average. Also, in all components of worry, anxiety, lack of trust in information, confusion and confusion, and cognitive avoidance were also below the average level. What causes worry and anxiety in people is often lack of awareness and lack of ability to manage a crisis. In Nakheizadeh's new research (2019), the level of anxiety caused by covid-19 was high, as Nakheizadeh's study shows, his research is related to the early period of the corona epidemic. What is remarkable at the beginning of the matter, with the indiscriminate spread and the lack of sufficient and correct information about this disease, as well as the lack of a related vaccine, the influx of this amount of anxiety and worry among people can be considered normal. Moreover, the data of the current research was collected after about two years of the corona virus, when the students were in the approximate routine of life before the corona virus, right at the same time as face-to-face education in the university, and this change in the results can be completely logically explained. Justified. Also, the study of Bigdali et al. (2013) also expressed the positive view of users towards health information on the web. Montsi (2020) also stated that even receiving fake information does not affect people's physical or mental health, and its results are completely intangible, which can be roughly generalized to the results of this research and considered consistent.
In the variable of positive outcomes of acquiring information about Covid-19, it was below average. Also, in the components of the ability to recognize the need for information, search skills, the spirit of cooperation and information sharing, and the promotion of critical thinking, it was also below average. Also, in the components of knowledge of information sources and ability to evaluate information sources, it was equal to the average level. As a result, considering that in some components of the skill of recognizing the need for information and the ability to evaluate information sources, their average score was equal to the average level, which indicates that their health literacy is average; Because the results are consistent with the acquisition of their health information sources (social networks), so it is in line with the results of Apok and Ellis.
The average rate of performing various types of information-seeking behavior about Covid-19 was higher than average. Also, in the components of information search, identifying the need for information and changing health and treatment behavior, seeking more information was more than average. In the information sharing component, the average score of this component was equal to the average; Considering that the sources of obtaining health information about this disease are basically the media and social networks. What emerges from the evidence is that following a crisis or problem related to health and feeling the need for related information, people start searching for related sources and if it is noticeable, their health information seeking behavior is an increasing trend. has it. Therefore, the present study is consistent with all previous studies.
The results of the present study show that the average of information acquisition in the variable of information dimensions related to Covid-19 was higher than the average and also in all components, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, the average score was higher. It was average. In other words, the findings show the students' concerns about each of the dimensions related to economy, health, politics, social justice, and especially about education and concerns about holding classes, not having the necessary infrastructure in an optimal way. In some people, lack of concentration and anxiety is caused by the situation.
The findings showed that the most sources of obtaining health information for students of Birjand University are search engines, foreign social networks and news media, and they paid less attention to reliable media such as official specialized medical websites. Also, the results point to the important and prominent role of Telegram and Instagram platforms. In addition, what the studied community sought to obtain information about covid-19 was mostly preventive behaviors and news related to covid-19 rather than its treatment methods. Also, the results showed that the health information-seeking behavior of Birjand University students has generally increased during this pandemic; But they have done the behavior of sharing information related to Covid less. Meanwhile, the role of dimensions related to Covid-19, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, and obtaining information about each of these dimensions was of great importance for students, and the most important aspect for them was the educational dimension. .
The results showed that women used reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites and news media compared to men, and men used social networks (Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and search engines to get information about Covid. 19 have used. The influence of the role of gender showed that women are more interested in obtaining all kinds of information about this disease, and also paid more attention to the negative consequences of women; After creating negative consequences in women, they sought to obtain information about preventive behaviors. Because a significant relationship has been established between negative consequences and preventive behaviors in past studies. In addition, the role of gender had no effect on the positive outcomes and dimensions related to Covid-19, except for the economic dimension component. The field of study and level of study did not make a significant difference in the research variables. Based on this, it is suggested to hold training courses to improve the quality and awareness of health information literacy in social networks and news media for students of different levels. Also, policy makers and decision makers should pay more attention to providing authentic information on social media for the audience. Social networks and internal messengers should be adapted in the field of providing health information. Future researches can examine the subject of study in other societies and use different research methods to collect data or analyze findings.
Methodology: This research was practical and survey type. Statistical population, all students were studying at Birjand University at the time of the study. Sampling was done based on proportional classification random sampling (370 people). The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was measured by using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, epistemology and medical sciences, and its reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha (0.897).
Findings: The findings of the research showed that students used more search engines, foreign social networks and news media to get information about Covid-19 than reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites. Telegram and Instagram were the most used. They paid more attention to news related to covid-19 and preventive behaviors than getting information about treatment methods. The amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about this disease on students was less than expected and among the components of information-seeking behavior, they paid the least attention to information sharing. In the field of aspects related to Covid-19, they paid the most attention to the educational aspect and the least attention to the political aspect.
Conclusion: Information and realizing its value and importance in human life today, leads to the concern of how to access the required information from among the multitude of available information. Information-seeking behavior follows the need for information, which includes activities such as information search, search tools, the type of information sought, search problems, and factors affecting it. Since the need for health information due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease creates concerns. Therefore, it leads to health information-seeking behavior, which includes actions related to searching and finding health-related problems, information about diseases, risk factors, and health promotion (Jalilian et al., 2021). In the course of searching for information, a person may use a manual information system or a computer-based system (Wilson, 2000).
Social media, as a platform that provides a lot of information, including health-related information, has been distinguished from other information systems due to components such as quick and easy access, interactive and comprehensible, and convenience. In the process of health information seeking behavior, the role of social media as a tool for searching for information and its effect on people's behavior is important (Liu, 2020). The types of information about which the search helps to meet the need for information and curiosities in the midst of this pandemic, information such as news related to Covid-19 (the number of patients and deaths), preventive behaviors (washing hands regularly, wearing masks) , vaccination, etc.) and various medical methods and related drugs.
Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the corona virus and spread in late 2019. The Corona pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization as a public health emergency (Jalilian et al., 2021). This epidemic prompted scientists in different disciplines to investigate various issues arising from this phenomenon (Shehata, 2020). Access to health information is essential for any country and this is more important in developing countries where health challenges are more (Ankama et al., 2021). Progress in the prevention of Covid-19 is partially dependent on understanding the process of health information seeking behavior and its tools. To promote effective health knowledge, behavior change must be done at the individual level, and health messages must be accurate, transparent, and comprehensible. Also, be available and appropriate to the cultural environment of the society (Jalilian et al., 2021). Due to the epidemic nature of this disease and its unexpected consequences, the role of people and their information behaviors in fighting and controlling this disease is very important (Ostadi, 2019).
The main variables of the research included: the amount of use of each type of social media, the amount of use of each type of social network, the types of information obtained, the amount of negative and positive consequences of obtaining information about Covid-19, the amount of each From health information seeking behaviors and aspects related to covid 19.
To carry out the research, the researcher-made questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. This questionnaire was compiled in two parts based on the objectives and questions of the research. The first part includes questions related to the objectives of the research, and in the second part, three questions are asked about the personal characteristics of the respondents.
This questionnaire had 42 items and was measured in 7 variables, which are: social media (items 1-9), social networks (items 10-16), types of information obtained (item 17-21), negative consequences of information acquisition (items 22-26), positive consequences of information acquisition (items 27-33), types of health information-seeking behavior (items 34-37) and related dimensions with covid 19 (items 42-38). The mentioned questionnaire was distributed among the statistical population after checking and testing the validity and reliability. In this research, in order to measure the content validity of the questionnaire, the questions of the questionnaire were prepared by studying and reviewing related study sources, and then using the opinions of experts and experts in information science, philology, and medical sciences, they were reviewed and modified.
Out of a total of 224 respondents, that is, 58% of the people were women and 162 of them, equal to 42%, were men. Students in the study field of humanities with 167 people (43%) have the highest frequency among the respondents. After that, engineering science group with 112 people (29 percent), basic science group with 63 people (16 percent) and agricultural science group with 44 people (12 percent) respectively.
The number of respondents in the undergraduate level was the highest with 319 people (83 percent), as well as 47 people (12 percent) in the master's degree and 20 people (5 percent) in the doctoral level.
In the social media variable, the results showed that the average amount of social media use was generally lower than average. In the components of official medical websites, doctors' websites, unofficial websites, internal social networks, Wikipedia and encyclopedias, discussion groups and forums are also less than It was average. According to Zhang and Zhao (2017) and Haider et al. (2009), concern about the quality of information reduces the amount of social media use and consumer participation.
In the variable of social networks, the findings show that the average amount of use of the variable of social networks was generally lower than the average. Due to the filtering of YouTube, Twitter, and Clubhouse platforms, their use was quite logically lower than average. In the components of the Telegram and Instagram platforms, the average amount of use was more than average. The researchers' field observations of the users' use of these networks are consistent with the obtained results, as a result, the use of social networks due to their accessibility and the widely used role of mobile phone technology today is a source of information dissemination and information acquisition. Since the specialized information on websites and official sources is valuable, it is necessary to pay attention to the reason why they are not given much attention, and it should be carefully rooted and investigated.
The search rate of Birjand University students regarding each type of health information about Covid-19, the research indicates that, in general, the search rate in the variable of types of information about Covid-19 was equal to the average. But in the components of news related to Covid-19, preventive behaviors were more than average. Since the purpose of searching users during the Covid-19 pandemic was to deal with the said disease; Therefore, the results refer to the consumption of health information related to the news of Covid-19 and various preventive behaviors, because obtaining health information about each of the information related to Covid-19 is important in the process of managing and controlling this disease.
The rate of negative consequences of acquiring information about Covid-19 was below average. Also, in all components of worry, anxiety, lack of trust in information, confusion and confusion, and cognitive avoidance were also below the average level. What causes worry and anxiety in people is often lack of awareness and lack of ability to manage a crisis. In Nakheizadeh's new research (2019), the level of anxiety caused by covid-19 was high, as Nakheizadeh's study shows, his research is related to the early period of the corona epidemic. What is remarkable at the beginning of the matter, with the indiscriminate spread and the lack of sufficient and correct information about this disease, as well as the lack of a related vaccine, the influx of this amount of anxiety and worry among people can be considered normal. Moreover, the data of the current research was collected after about two years of the corona virus, when the students were in the approximate routine of life before the corona virus, right at the same time as face-to-face education in the university, and this change in the results can be completely logically explained. Justified. Also, the study of Bigdali et al. (2013) also expressed the positive view of users towards health information on the web. Montsi (2020) also stated that even receiving fake information does not affect people's physical or mental health, and its results are completely intangible, which can be roughly generalized to the results of this research and considered consistent.
In the variable of positive outcomes of acquiring information about Covid-19, it was below average. Also, in the components of the ability to recognize the need for information, search skills, the spirit of cooperation and information sharing, and the promotion of critical thinking, it was also below average. Also, in the components of knowledge of information sources and ability to evaluate information sources, it was equal to the average level. As a result, considering that in some components of the skill of recognizing the need for information and the ability to evaluate information sources, their average score was equal to the average level, which indicates that their health literacy is average; Because the results are consistent with the acquisition of their health information sources (social networks), so it is in line with the results of Apok and Ellis.
The average rate of performing various types of information-seeking behavior about Covid-19 was higher than average. Also, in the components of information search, identifying the need for information and changing health and treatment behavior, seeking more information was more than average. In the information sharing component, the average score of this component was equal to the average; Considering that the sources of obtaining health information about this disease are basically the media and social networks. What emerges from the evidence is that following a crisis or problem related to health and feeling the need for related information, people start searching for related sources and if it is noticeable, their health information seeking behavior is an increasing trend. has it. Therefore, the present study is consistent with all previous studies.
The results of the present study show that the average of information acquisition in the variable of information dimensions related to Covid-19 was higher than the average and also in all components, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, the average score was higher. It was average. In other words, the findings show the students' concerns about each of the dimensions related to economy, health, politics, social justice, and especially about education and concerns about holding classes, not having the necessary infrastructure in an optimal way. In some people, lack of concentration and anxiety is caused by the situation.
The findings showed that the most sources of obtaining health information for students of Birjand University are search engines, foreign social networks and news media, and they paid less attention to reliable media such as official specialized medical websites. Also, the results point to the important and prominent role of Telegram and Instagram platforms. In addition, what the studied community sought to obtain information about covid-19 was mostly preventive behaviors and news related to covid-19 rather than its treatment methods. Also, the results showed that the health information-seeking behavior of Birjand University students has generally increased during this pandemic; But they have done the behavior of sharing information related to Covid less. Meanwhile, the role of dimensions related to Covid-19, including dimensions related to health, economic, political, social and educational, and obtaining information about each of these dimensions was of great importance for students, and the most important aspect for them was the educational dimension. .
The results showed that women used reliable sources such as official specialized medical websites and news media compared to men, and men used social networks (Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and search engines to get information about Covid. 19 have used. The influence of the role of gender showed that women are more interested in obtaining all kinds of information about this disease, and also paid more attention to the negative consequences of women; After creating negative consequences in women, they sought to obtain information about preventive behaviors. Because a significant relationship has been established between negative consequences and preventive behaviors in past studies. In addition, the role of gender had no effect on the positive outcomes and dimensions related to Covid-19, except for the economic dimension component. The field of study and level of study did not make a significant difference in the research variables. Based on this, it is suggested to hold training courses to improve the quality and awareness of health information literacy in social networks and news media for students of different levels. Also, policy makers and decision makers should pay more attention to providing authentic information on social media for the audience. Social networks and internal messengers should be adapted in the field of providing health information. Future researches can examine the subject of study in other societies and use different research methods to collect data or analyze findings.
Fatemeh Salmani, Mohammad Reza Kiani, Mohammad Mohammad Akbari Booreng, Leila Talebzade Shoshtari,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 2 (9-2023)
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Social media and psychological issues related to it, have attracted increasing attention nowadays and have been the subject of many studies in this field. Meanwhile, Instagram was studied in this research due to its many features and the special attention of young people to this platform. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of body image in using Instagram.
Materials and methods: This correlation study was conducted in a sample of 375 students. Data were collected using “body image” and “use of Instagram” questionnaires.
Findings: According to the results, students used Instagram more than average. They were relatively satisfied with their body image. Also, the results showed that the higher the apparent dissatisfaction and functional interference of the respondents (as components of body image), the higher their use of Instagram.
Conclusion: Due to the increasing popularity of social media, researchers have begun to investigate the possible consequences of this new media format on body image. There are some unique features of social media that distinguish them from traditional media and may help in understanding any effect they may have on body image: 1. Social media such as Instagram have their own users and are very popular among the younger generation. have; 2. People often present an idealized version of themselves on social media, uploading their most attractive images to their profile that can be edited and improved, and deleting any images they find unattractive; 3. Although social media contain images of a range of different types of people (eg, friends, family, strangers, celebrities), they are generally used to interact with peers.
Young people are influenced by three main sources: parents, peers, and media. As a major factor in socialization, parents have a strong influence on their children's body image, and this can be directly or indirectly related to body weight or appearance in general, for example through their comments. As children grow older and enter adolescence, peers play an increasingly important role in body image concerns, especially when intimacy is a necessary component of receiving approval from others. Adolescents learn from their peers what type of body image is associated with popularity and attractiveness. Finally, the media plays a determining role, as young people in the media are often portrayed as attractive and perfectly fit, which may lead to body image concerns among those exposed to them. Past research has shown that certain social media environments, such as Instagram, may be effective in creating feelings of inadequacy and comparing oneself to others in terms of body image.
Instagram contains a plethora of seemingly authentic images, many of which represent body ideals. Physical appearance actually plays an important role on Instagram, and studies have shown that teens and young adults experience distress, body dissatisfaction, and pressure to look perfect on social media. Since Instagram gives its users the opportunity to edit content before posting it on their profile, users tend to resort to behaviors such as image filtering.
Previous studies have emphasized the importance and extent of using social media, especially the Instagram social network, in the world and in Iran, and clearly confirmed the mutual effect of its use with psychological issues, including people's attitudes about their body image among the users of this network. It is important to note that most researches have focused on the role of using Instagram on psychological variables, but this research focused on the role of body image variable on the use of Instagram. Although two-way relationship is tested in correlation studies, the goal of the researchers in terms of predictor variables and criteria determines the direction of the analysis. Based on this, this research sought to determine the relationship between the body image of the studied community and the use of Instagram after examining the status of the variables of Instagram use and body image among the subjects under study ( University of Birjand students)?
Instagram is a visual program that has given its users the ability to send photos, videos, selfies, live broadcasts, and in addition has created the necessary interaction so that users can react to the stories and posts of their followers. The many features of this platform and its attractiveness for young people made the community under study of this research to show high statistics of using this media (based on the results of the first question). This issue can provide many opportunities for society's decision makers to use these capabilities in the service of raising the standards of today's social life. Therefore, domestic similar platforms should be strengthened so that they can replace it due to the filtering of this social media. However, due to the international nature of Instagram, it is unlikely that a suitable alternative will be found for it; Therefore, it is suggested to facilitate favorable conditions for students to use this media along with their awareness about its benefits and harms. Because filtering media that is very popular among young people will cause dissatisfaction and hidden and open social aggressions.
Data were collected using body image questionnaires (Littleton et al., 2005) and using Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). The body image questionnaire (Littleton et al., 2005) contains 19 items and uses a Likert scale (scored from 1 meaning never to 5 meaning always). The validity of this questionnaire using the correlation method with the self-report scale of body dysmorphic disorder was reported as 0.83 in the research of Littleton et al. (2005). Also, in a study conducted by Basak Nejad and Ghaffari (2006), the validity of this questionnaire was tested and confirmed using the correlation coefficient between this scale and the fear of negative evaluation of physical appearance (r=0.55). The reliability of the questionnaire in the research of Littleton et al. (2005) was evaluated by the internal consistency method and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained was equal to 0.93. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the first and second factors was 0.92 and 0.76, respectively, and the correlation coefficient between the two factors (1. apparent dissatisfaction and 2. functional interference) was 0.69. In the research of Rostagarinia and Ali Khademi (2022), the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha method was 0.86 for the entire questionnaire, 0.84 for the first subscale (apparent dissatisfaction) and 0.71 for the second subscale (functional interference). It is reported that it indicates acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. In the present study, Cronbach's alpha of the whole body image questionnaire was 0.88, the first component (appearance dissatisfaction) was 0.84, and the second component (functional interference) was 0.77.
The second questionnaire was the use of Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). This questionnaire contains 13 items and has been used in many personality and clinical research projects due to its high validity (Pouyanfar, 2019). In this research, the validity of this questionnaire was checked and confirmed using the content validity method (subject experts and professors). Lezbana (2015) reported the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81 and Pouyanfar (2019) 0.83. In the current study, the Cronbach's alpha of the Instagram usage questionnaire was 0.81.
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-________________________________________________________________________
The Journal of Human Information Interaction is supported by Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
This work is published under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-test). The software used for statistical analysis was SPSS version 25. In addition, the normality of the data distribution was confirmed using the Kolomogrov-Smirnov test.
The results of the first question, which asked the students' use of the social network Instagram, were obtained in such a way that the sample T-Tech test showed that the students' use of Instagram, despite being filtered, with an average of 43.53 at the level of 0.01, is significantly higher than The average was 39. The findings showed that most of the respondents (138 people) have been using Instagram for more than 4 years, the respondents spend between 1 and 2 hours on Instagram, the number of posts they share on this platform is less than 10 posts, and according to the results, although They post pictures on Instagram once a month. The respondents checked Instagram sometimes and agreed that they devoted a part of their daily schedule to Instagram and that Instagram was a part of the respondents' daily activities; So that they used Instagram in their free time, at work or class, etc. In the end, the respondents believed that they should be present on Instagram all day and if they are not present, their communication is cut off.
McCormick (2018) believes that Instagram is a social network platform, and the adoption of this program by many users and the use of new technologies in different fields increase the value of this program day by day, and the reason that makes it more attractive to advertisers is the young audience of this program. . According to the latest statistics of the Statista website, users aged 25 to 34 are the largest age group of Instagram users worldwide, followed by people aged 18 to 24, and in the meantime, India is at the top of the list of Instagram users with 201 million Instagram users. . Bolton et al. (2013) concluded that young consumers are a technologically savvy and visually advanced generation, and their adaptability to using technology eases many issues because they are born with the introduction of technology. Starcevich and Konjikoshi (2018) also believe that the young generation has the most participation in social media when compared to previous generations. Other researches inside and outside the country such as Poyanfar (2019); Borbor and Tajik Ismaili (1401); Brati and Atrian (1400); Kapenter et al. (2020); Huang and Chu (2018) have obtained results consistent with the results of this research.
The results of the second question, how do the students perceive their body image? It showed that the students' opinion about the negative image of their own body was significantly lower than the average, in other words, they did not have a very unfavorable image of their appearance. Also, the respondents were rarely dissatisfied with some parts of their appearance, sometimes they spend considerable time in the mirror, they never feel that the people around them have a negative opinion about them, if they are dissatisfied with their appearance, they still participate in social activities, use cosmetics to improve their appearance. They rarely seek approval from others about their appearance, they are not afraid of others finding fault with their appearance, and they do not avoid looking in the mirror. The results of the T-Tech exam of the sample of students regarding their body image with two research components (appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference) are reported with an average level. The results show that the status of students regarding their body image with an average of 41.78 at the level of 0.01 is significantly lower than the average of 57. Also, the state of apparent dissatisfaction of students with an average of 20.93 and functional interference with an average of 20.85 is significant at the level of 0.01 and below the average; Therefore, the students had a relatively positive image of their body. Mohad et al. (2013) in their research, consistent with the current research, concluded that 85% of the respondents are more than average satisfied with their body. In the case of those who had an unfavorable body image, this dissatisfaction with appearance increased the desire to wear makeup. Also, interference in a person's social performance increases both the desire and the practice of makeup. Khodaparast et al. (2019) obtained the average of body image components and compared it with the average, and concluded that the sample people have a positive and favorable view of their body image. Contrary to the present study, Wood-Barkalow et al. (2010) concluded that 12 of the respondents were not satisfied with their body image. It seems that the type of subjects of this study did not have an effect on obtaining these results. Students in an active and rich environment usually receive positive feedback from their friends, and at a young age, due to physical health and vitality, a person's attitude towards his body is more positive than at an older age.
In the research hypothesis, students' body image predicts their use of Instagram. The results were such that in this hypothesis, the components of body image including appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were considered as predictor variables and Instagram use as criterion variable. The results of the variable correlation test (as a regression assumption) showed that there is a significant relationship between body image and both of its components, i.e., appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference (as a predictor variable) and using Instagram (as a criterion variable) at the level of 0.05. Appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were the variables entered in the regression equation at the same time, and both variables remained in the model. Chua and Chang's (2016) research showed that people's feedback from peers and society has a significant effect on the dissemination of photos published on Instagram, and functional interference is a predictor of Instagram use. Verastro et al. (2020) conducted a study, and the results showed that people who felt more anxious and uncomfortable about their body image and had more pressure to comply with social media standards were people who edited their pictures and then posted them online. upload, internalize the beauty stereotype suggested by Instagram and use Instagram more. Pedalino and Camrini (2022) obtained results consistent with this research, which was associated with lower levels of body satisfaction in the target population due to the social comparison process of ideal body images shared on the Instagram platform.
Fardouli et al. (2022) used the multiple regression method in their research and the result of their research was also consistent with the present research. Also, Cowles et al. (2023) concluded that participants who spent more time on Instagram had higher levels of body dissatisfaction and more comparisons of physical appearance. In their research, Sohrabzadeh et al. (2018) concluded that there is a significant and direct relationship between body image and the use of Instagram with a correlation coefficient (0.236) and a significance level (0.0001). In addition, Sadeghzadeh et al. (2018) reported in their study that dissatisfaction with body image has a significant and positive relationship with the amount of use of Instagram (r = 0.64, p<0.01).
Materials and methods: This correlation study was conducted in a sample of 375 students. Data were collected using “body image” and “use of Instagram” questionnaires.
Findings: According to the results, students used Instagram more than average. They were relatively satisfied with their body image. Also, the results showed that the higher the apparent dissatisfaction and functional interference of the respondents (as components of body image), the higher their use of Instagram.
Conclusion: Due to the increasing popularity of social media, researchers have begun to investigate the possible consequences of this new media format on body image. There are some unique features of social media that distinguish them from traditional media and may help in understanding any effect they may have on body image: 1. Social media such as Instagram have their own users and are very popular among the younger generation. have; 2. People often present an idealized version of themselves on social media, uploading their most attractive images to their profile that can be edited and improved, and deleting any images they find unattractive; 3. Although social media contain images of a range of different types of people (eg, friends, family, strangers, celebrities), they are generally used to interact with peers.
Young people are influenced by three main sources: parents, peers, and media. As a major factor in socialization, parents have a strong influence on their children's body image, and this can be directly or indirectly related to body weight or appearance in general, for example through their comments. As children grow older and enter adolescence, peers play an increasingly important role in body image concerns, especially when intimacy is a necessary component of receiving approval from others. Adolescents learn from their peers what type of body image is associated with popularity and attractiveness. Finally, the media plays a determining role, as young people in the media are often portrayed as attractive and perfectly fit, which may lead to body image concerns among those exposed to them. Past research has shown that certain social media environments, such as Instagram, may be effective in creating feelings of inadequacy and comparing oneself to others in terms of body image.
Instagram contains a plethora of seemingly authentic images, many of which represent body ideals. Physical appearance actually plays an important role on Instagram, and studies have shown that teens and young adults experience distress, body dissatisfaction, and pressure to look perfect on social media. Since Instagram gives its users the opportunity to edit content before posting it on their profile, users tend to resort to behaviors such as image filtering.
Previous studies have emphasized the importance and extent of using social media, especially the Instagram social network, in the world and in Iran, and clearly confirmed the mutual effect of its use with psychological issues, including people's attitudes about their body image among the users of this network. It is important to note that most researches have focused on the role of using Instagram on psychological variables, but this research focused on the role of body image variable on the use of Instagram. Although two-way relationship is tested in correlation studies, the goal of the researchers in terms of predictor variables and criteria determines the direction of the analysis. Based on this, this research sought to determine the relationship between the body image of the studied community and the use of Instagram after examining the status of the variables of Instagram use and body image among the subjects under study ( University of Birjand students)?
Instagram is a visual program that has given its users the ability to send photos, videos, selfies, live broadcasts, and in addition has created the necessary interaction so that users can react to the stories and posts of their followers. The many features of this platform and its attractiveness for young people made the community under study of this research to show high statistics of using this media (based on the results of the first question). This issue can provide many opportunities for society's decision makers to use these capabilities in the service of raising the standards of today's social life. Therefore, domestic similar platforms should be strengthened so that they can replace it due to the filtering of this social media. However, due to the international nature of Instagram, it is unlikely that a suitable alternative will be found for it; Therefore, it is suggested to facilitate favorable conditions for students to use this media along with their awareness about its benefits and harms. Because filtering media that is very popular among young people will cause dissatisfaction and hidden and open social aggressions.
Data were collected using body image questionnaires (Littleton et al., 2005) and using Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). The body image questionnaire (Littleton et al., 2005) contains 19 items and uses a Likert scale (scored from 1 meaning never to 5 meaning always). The validity of this questionnaire using the correlation method with the self-report scale of body dysmorphic disorder was reported as 0.83 in the research of Littleton et al. (2005). Also, in a study conducted by Basak Nejad and Ghaffari (2006), the validity of this questionnaire was tested and confirmed using the correlation coefficient between this scale and the fear of negative evaluation of physical appearance (r=0.55). The reliability of the questionnaire in the research of Littleton et al. (2005) was evaluated by the internal consistency method and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained was equal to 0.93. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the first and second factors was 0.92 and 0.76, respectively, and the correlation coefficient between the two factors (1. apparent dissatisfaction and 2. functional interference) was 0.69. In the research of Rostagarinia and Ali Khademi (2022), the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha method was 0.86 for the entire questionnaire, 0.84 for the first subscale (apparent dissatisfaction) and 0.71 for the second subscale (functional interference). It is reported that it indicates acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. In the present study, Cronbach's alpha of the whole body image questionnaire was 0.88, the first component (appearance dissatisfaction) was 0.84, and the second component (functional interference) was 0.77.
The second questionnaire was the use of Instagram (Lezbna, 2015). This questionnaire contains 13 items and has been used in many personality and clinical research projects due to its high validity (Pouyanfar, 2019). In this research, the validity of this questionnaire was checked and confirmed using the content validity method (subject experts and professors). Lezbana (2015) reported the reliability of this questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81 and Pouyanfar (2019) 0.83. In the current study, the Cronbach's alpha of the Instagram usage questionnaire was 0.81.
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-________________________________________________________________________
The Journal of Human Information Interaction is supported by Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
This work is published under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license
The statistical data analysis of this research was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables and graphs) and inferential statistics (including regression tests, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-sample t-test). The software used for statistical analysis was SPSS version 25. In addition, the normality of the data distribution was confirmed using the Kolomogrov-Smirnov test.
The results of the first question, which asked the students' use of the social network Instagram, were obtained in such a way that the sample T-Tech test showed that the students' use of Instagram, despite being filtered, with an average of 43.53 at the level of 0.01, is significantly higher than The average was 39. The findings showed that most of the respondents (138 people) have been using Instagram for more than 4 years, the respondents spend between 1 and 2 hours on Instagram, the number of posts they share on this platform is less than 10 posts, and according to the results, although They post pictures on Instagram once a month. The respondents checked Instagram sometimes and agreed that they devoted a part of their daily schedule to Instagram and that Instagram was a part of the respondents' daily activities; So that they used Instagram in their free time, at work or class, etc. In the end, the respondents believed that they should be present on Instagram all day and if they are not present, their communication is cut off.
McCormick (2018) believes that Instagram is a social network platform, and the adoption of this program by many users and the use of new technologies in different fields increase the value of this program day by day, and the reason that makes it more attractive to advertisers is the young audience of this program. . According to the latest statistics of the Statista website, users aged 25 to 34 are the largest age group of Instagram users worldwide, followed by people aged 18 to 24, and in the meantime, India is at the top of the list of Instagram users with 201 million Instagram users. . Bolton et al. (2013) concluded that young consumers are a technologically savvy and visually advanced generation, and their adaptability to using technology eases many issues because they are born with the introduction of technology. Starcevich and Konjikoshi (2018) also believe that the young generation has the most participation in social media when compared to previous generations. Other researches inside and outside the country such as Poyanfar (2019); Borbor and Tajik Ismaili (1401); Brati and Atrian (1400); Kapenter et al. (2020); Huang and Chu (2018) have obtained results consistent with the results of this research.
The results of the second question, how do the students perceive their body image? It showed that the students' opinion about the negative image of their own body was significantly lower than the average, in other words, they did not have a very unfavorable image of their appearance. Also, the respondents were rarely dissatisfied with some parts of their appearance, sometimes they spend considerable time in the mirror, they never feel that the people around them have a negative opinion about them, if they are dissatisfied with their appearance, they still participate in social activities, use cosmetics to improve their appearance. They rarely seek approval from others about their appearance, they are not afraid of others finding fault with their appearance, and they do not avoid looking in the mirror. The results of the T-Tech exam of the sample of students regarding their body image with two research components (appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference) are reported with an average level. The results show that the status of students regarding their body image with an average of 41.78 at the level of 0.01 is significantly lower than the average of 57. Also, the state of apparent dissatisfaction of students with an average of 20.93 and functional interference with an average of 20.85 is significant at the level of 0.01 and below the average; Therefore, the students had a relatively positive image of their body. Mohad et al. (2013) in their research, consistent with the current research, concluded that 85% of the respondents are more than average satisfied with their body. In the case of those who had an unfavorable body image, this dissatisfaction with appearance increased the desire to wear makeup. Also, interference in a person's social performance increases both the desire and the practice of makeup. Khodaparast et al. (2019) obtained the average of body image components and compared it with the average, and concluded that the sample people have a positive and favorable view of their body image. Contrary to the present study, Wood-Barkalow et al. (2010) concluded that 12 of the respondents were not satisfied with their body image. It seems that the type of subjects of this study did not have an effect on obtaining these results. Students in an active and rich environment usually receive positive feedback from their friends, and at a young age, due to physical health and vitality, a person's attitude towards his body is more positive than at an older age.
In the research hypothesis, students' body image predicts their use of Instagram. The results were such that in this hypothesis, the components of body image including appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were considered as predictor variables and Instagram use as criterion variable. The results of the variable correlation test (as a regression assumption) showed that there is a significant relationship between body image and both of its components, i.e., appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference (as a predictor variable) and using Instagram (as a criterion variable) at the level of 0.05. Appearance dissatisfaction and functional interference were the variables entered in the regression equation at the same time, and both variables remained in the model. Chua and Chang's (2016) research showed that people's feedback from peers and society has a significant effect on the dissemination of photos published on Instagram, and functional interference is a predictor of Instagram use. Verastro et al. (2020) conducted a study, and the results showed that people who felt more anxious and uncomfortable about their body image and had more pressure to comply with social media standards were people who edited their pictures and then posted them online. upload, internalize the beauty stereotype suggested by Instagram and use Instagram more. Pedalino and Camrini (2022) obtained results consistent with this research, which was associated with lower levels of body satisfaction in the target population due to the social comparison process of ideal body images shared on the Instagram platform.
Fardouli et al. (2022) used the multiple regression method in their research and the result of their research was also consistent with the present research. Also, Cowles et al. (2023) concluded that participants who spent more time on Instagram had higher levels of body dissatisfaction and more comparisons of physical appearance. In their research, Sohrabzadeh et al. (2018) concluded that there is a significant and direct relationship between body image and the use of Instagram with a correlation coefficient (0.236) and a significance level (0.0001). In addition, Sadeghzadeh et al. (2018) reported in their study that dissatisfaction with body image has a significant and positive relationship with the amount of use of Instagram (r = 0.64, p<0.01).
Mousa Bamir, Associate Professor Maryam Okhvati,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
Introduction: Information behavior is a term used to describe the ways of human interaction with information, especially information search methods, which is intended to understand the relationship between humans and information. Information behavior refers to the complex patterns of human behavior and mutual interactions when searching for any type of information, which leads to information seeking Information seeking, as an information behavior, is a set of activities that are used to meet information needs, information search, information search method and factors affecting information search, and includes two important aspects, information search and information retrieval, which In it, recognition, evaluation and understanding of users' behavior with information needs and their performance in facing information sources, the method of retrieving and accessing information are taken into consideration. Information seeking is a growing behavior that has enabled individuals and organizations to change their information seeking behaviors to meet their needs and users. Searching for information has been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, which today, with the increase in the number of sources, the number of information systems, the prevalence of social networks, collaborative research and the increase in digital literacy, increase cooperation. International scientific events, multi-specialization of research, increase of work teams, etc. have led to a change in information behavior. Since the type of information behavior has seen many changes as a result of the interactions of existing information carriers and the effects of technology, and is of great importance in today's world, and so far no research has been conducted in the form of a review of information search behaviors, in The world level has not been done, so it is necessary to have a comprehensive research of information search behaviors, all existing studies should be included in one study in order to get a general impression of information search behaviors and their direction. Based on this, the researchers of this research decided to review the studies related to information seeking behaviors, to determine their direction.
Methodology: In order to examine the topic of the research, a narrative review method has been used. Narrative review is one of the important scientific functions that is used to review detailed and comprehensive topics. In fact, a narrative review creates a bridge between a wide and scattered set of articles on a topic or a reader who does not have enough time and resources to follow them. Since in this research, giving meaning to scattered and read sources does not require the study of individual sources, therefore, narrative review is an appropriate method. In this narrative review study, in order to collect data, keywords related to information search behavior in English such as Information seeking behavior, collaborative information seeking, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information behavior and IIB and search for Persian articles using keywords, collaborative information search, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative sense, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information search, and IIB; In the reliable scientific databases and search engines, Web of Science, Pubmed, google scholar, Google SID, Magiran were examined in the period from 1980 to 2023, which 115 studies were obtained in the initial search and after entering the entry criteria and Exclusion, studies that were generally in the field of information seeking behavior were excluded from the study circle and 12 related studies entered the final stage. Then related studies were summarized in terms of concept and findings and categorized and interpreted in the form of individual and collaborative search behavior.
Findings: After searching and selecting related articles, finally analysis was done on twelve articles. What was extracted from the results of this narrative review study, in the general field of information search behavior, in the 4 main axes of individual search behavior, cooperative search behavior, advantages and disadvantages of individual and cooperative search behavior, and the comparison of these two types of information search behavior are described below. This narrative review study was carried out in order to investigate the direction of information behaviors, the findings of this research generally showed that the studies investigated individual and cooperative information behavior and the difference between these two behaviors and the reasons for the direction of individual search behavior. According to the results of studies, one of the types of information search behavior is individual search behavior. As the findings of the research showed, information behaviors have been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, but in the early stages, in most of these studies, the emphasis was on individual needs and behaviors. It has also been investigated in some studies. Kolthau, by studying the search behavior of high school students, presented a model for individual search behavior. Ellis also presented a model for individual information seeking behavior, which is the result of studying the information seeking behavior of engineers and researchers of an industrial company, which examined the search behavior from an individual point of view. presented, which paid attention to the individual nature of information search. After studying the researches conducted on the information behaviors of engineers, doctors and lawyers, Laki and his colleagues have presented a model for individual information behavior. Another area investigated in the present study was the investigation of collaborative information behavior. The findings of the research showed that in recent years, many researches have been proposed and investigated in the field of collaborative behavior, and they have investigated the motivating factors and obstacles in the collaborative search behavior. In his last work, Shah has introduced participatory search behavior as an interdisciplinary field that is based on participation, human-computer interaction, networks and social media. In another research, the collaborative search behavior in an exploratory search team has been investigated. In this research, three main factors in the collaborative search behavior were identified, which are: repeated communication between team members, division of work and awareness. Karanakaran, with the cooperation of Reddy, has studied the factors inhibiting cooperative behaviors in organizations by using the findings of previous researches. Another area investigated in this research is the difference between individual and collaborative search behavior. The findings of this research showed that both types of search behavior have obstacles and inhibiting factors. The research findings of Karanakaran and Redi have identified the factors of complexity of information needs, lack of sufficient expertise, dispersion of information sources and lack of access to information sources as the advantages of cooperative information behavior. Some studies have also identified the barriers to cooperative information behavior and the lack of spirit of participation, responsibility, and envy of the progress of others is a serious obstacle to any cooperative activity. Another area investigated by the research is the comparison of these two types of information search behavior. The findings of this research showed that the strengths and motivating factors of collaborative search behavior along with the weaknesses of individual search behavior and other stimuli are among the most important differences of this research. There are two types of information search behavior, which has provided the context for the orientation from individual to collaborative search behavior. Reddy and Jansen observed that two main concepts: (a) collaboration (two or more people working together to search for information) and (b) solving an information need as a group; Also, the important role of communication as the first motivating factors has been one of the most important reasons for the direction towards collaborative search. In another study, Kurankaran and colleagues considered the stimuli and technology of information and communication recovery as one of the main motivating factors in directing towards cooperative behavior. Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. Although there are different views and different vocabulary in the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior and clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages and despite some barriers to collaborative search and some strengths of individual search, but stimuli such as The complex nature of information, dispersion of information, lack of specialization, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information search, meaning understanding, information search troubleshooting, workload sharing, sending diverse questions, communication and interaction. , the complexity of information problems, the interdisciplinary nature of information, understanding the behavior of collaborative information in organizations, in turn, are the starting point and the factor of moving from individual search to collaborative search. The researchers believe that, despite the identification of the direction of information behaviors, there are still gaps, and to know how this process is, one should learn about the existing approaches in the field of information systems design and identify the type of information behaviors based on this.Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Conclusion: Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. However, there are different views and different terminology on the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior, and a clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages. The research findings indicated that despite the barriers and benefits of individual and collaborative information seeking behavior, factors such as the complex nature of information, scattered information, lack of expertise, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information seeking, understanding meaning, motivation for collaboration, workload sharing, diversity of requests, communication and interaction, complexity of information problems, interdisciplinary nature of information, and understanding of collaborative information behavior in organizations are motivating factors leading to a shift from individual to collaborative information seeking behavior. Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Methodology: In order to examine the topic of the research, a narrative review method has been used. Narrative review is one of the important scientific functions that is used to review detailed and comprehensive topics. In fact, a narrative review creates a bridge between a wide and scattered set of articles on a topic or a reader who does not have enough time and resources to follow them. Since in this research, giving meaning to scattered and read sources does not require the study of individual sources, therefore, narrative review is an appropriate method. In this narrative review study, in order to collect data, keywords related to information search behavior in English such as Information seeking behavior, collaborative information seeking, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information behavior and IIB and search for Persian articles using keywords, collaborative information search, CIS, collaborative information retrieval, CIR, collaborative search, collaborative sense, collaborative information behavior, CIB, individual information search, and IIB; In the reliable scientific databases and search engines, Web of Science, Pubmed, google scholar, Google SID, Magiran were examined in the period from 1980 to 2023, which 115 studies were obtained in the initial search and after entering the entry criteria and Exclusion, studies that were generally in the field of information seeking behavior were excluded from the study circle and 12 related studies entered the final stage. Then related studies were summarized in terms of concept and findings and categorized and interpreted in the form of individual and collaborative search behavior.
Findings: After searching and selecting related articles, finally analysis was done on twelve articles. What was extracted from the results of this narrative review study, in the general field of information search behavior, in the 4 main axes of individual search behavior, cooperative search behavior, advantages and disadvantages of individual and cooperative search behavior, and the comparison of these two types of information search behavior are described below. This narrative review study was carried out in order to investigate the direction of information behaviors, the findings of this research generally showed that the studies investigated individual and cooperative information behavior and the difference between these two behaviors and the reasons for the direction of individual search behavior. According to the results of studies, one of the types of information search behavior is individual search behavior. As the findings of the research showed, information behaviors have been studied for years and various definitions and models have been presented for them, but in the early stages, in most of these studies, the emphasis was on individual needs and behaviors. It has also been investigated in some studies. Kolthau, by studying the search behavior of high school students, presented a model for individual search behavior. Ellis also presented a model for individual information seeking behavior, which is the result of studying the information seeking behavior of engineers and researchers of an industrial company, which examined the search behavior from an individual point of view. presented, which paid attention to the individual nature of information search. After studying the researches conducted on the information behaviors of engineers, doctors and lawyers, Laki and his colleagues have presented a model for individual information behavior. Another area investigated in the present study was the investigation of collaborative information behavior. The findings of the research showed that in recent years, many researches have been proposed and investigated in the field of collaborative behavior, and they have investigated the motivating factors and obstacles in the collaborative search behavior. In his last work, Shah has introduced participatory search behavior as an interdisciplinary field that is based on participation, human-computer interaction, networks and social media. In another research, the collaborative search behavior in an exploratory search team has been investigated. In this research, three main factors in the collaborative search behavior were identified, which are: repeated communication between team members, division of work and awareness. Karanakaran, with the cooperation of Reddy, has studied the factors inhibiting cooperative behaviors in organizations by using the findings of previous researches. Another area investigated in this research is the difference between individual and collaborative search behavior. The findings of this research showed that both types of search behavior have obstacles and inhibiting factors. The research findings of Karanakaran and Redi have identified the factors of complexity of information needs, lack of sufficient expertise, dispersion of information sources and lack of access to information sources as the advantages of cooperative information behavior. Some studies have also identified the barriers to cooperative information behavior and the lack of spirit of participation, responsibility, and envy of the progress of others is a serious obstacle to any cooperative activity. Another area investigated by the research is the comparison of these two types of information search behavior. The findings of this research showed that the strengths and motivating factors of collaborative search behavior along with the weaknesses of individual search behavior and other stimuli are among the most important differences of this research. There are two types of information search behavior, which has provided the context for the orientation from individual to collaborative search behavior. Reddy and Jansen observed that two main concepts: (a) collaboration (two or more people working together to search for information) and (b) solving an information need as a group; Also, the important role of communication as the first motivating factors has been one of the most important reasons for the direction towards collaborative search. In another study, Kurankaran and colleagues considered the stimuli and technology of information and communication recovery as one of the main motivating factors in directing towards cooperative behavior. Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. Although there are different views and different vocabulary in the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior and clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages and despite some barriers to collaborative search and some strengths of individual search, but stimuli such as The complex nature of information, dispersion of information, lack of specialization, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information search, meaning understanding, information search troubleshooting, workload sharing, sending diverse questions, communication and interaction. , the complexity of information problems, the interdisciplinary nature of information, understanding the behavior of collaborative information in organizations, in turn, are the starting point and the factor of moving from individual search to collaborative search. The researchers believe that, despite the identification of the direction of information behaviors, there are still gaps, and to know how this process is, one should learn about the existing approaches in the field of information systems design and identify the type of information behaviors based on this.Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Conclusion: Early search behaviors, most of the research activities focused on individual search, but as a number of researchers have stated, the importance of collaboration in organizations is increasing and collaborative information behavior is increasing, and attention is shifting from focusing on individual search to more research. Focused collaborative search. However, there are different views and different terminology on the relationship between individual and collaborative search behavior, and a clear demarcation between these two types of search behavior is still in the early stages. The research findings indicated that despite the barriers and benefits of individual and collaborative information seeking behavior, factors such as the complex nature of information, scattered information, lack of expertise, the role of information retrieval technologies, the importance of collaborative aspects of work, time constraints, targeted information seeking, understanding meaning, motivation for collaboration, workload sharing, diversity of requests, communication and interaction, complexity of information problems, interdisciplinary nature of information, and understanding of collaborative information behavior in organizations are motivating factors leading to a shift from individual to collaborative information seeking behavior. Also, there is an urgent need to understand the conceptual characteristics of cooperative search behavior and its supporting technical methods in cooperative activities, because the main characteristics of cooperative information behavior and the activities that lead to cooperative information behavior are still completely unclear.
Shahrzad Nasrollahzadeh, Safiyeh Tahmasebi Limooni, Mitra Ghiasi,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Studies show that limited models have been designed to measure women's information sharing behavior, but so far no valid and reliable tool has been provided to measure women's information sharing behavior in information environments. Since knowing and determining the type of information environment and the extent of their use in information sharing behavior is very effective in strengthening information channels, and informal communication is extremely important in scientific relations, and women, as one of the social groups in a prestigious positions in Society; Most of their information needs are met through informal channels of information, so it is necessary to examine women's information environments; Because the identification of these environments is a solid foundation for planning and making changes in the type and manner of presenting macro-policies with the aim of women achieving dignified competencies, and it can also be a way to optimize information environments. Therefore, the purpose of the current research is to construct and validate a questionnaire to analyze the information sharing behavior of women in information environments.
Materials and methods:This research is mixed in terms of applied objective, in terms of exploratory approach, and in terms of data collection method. The statistical population in the qualitative section includes 15 experts and in the quantitative section includes all women (20 years old and above) active members of urban institutional public libraries in the city centers of Mazandaran province, numbering 4936 people. The sample size was 357 people who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling in 1401. The proportional stratified random sampling method has other names such as "matched sampling", "proportionate to volume" and "proportional" method. This method is used when the target population of the research has a heterogeneous and inconsistent structure. Therefore, due to heterogeneous and heterogeneity, in such cases, the research community is divided into different "classes", in fact, by using stratified sampling, the society is divided into homogeneous groups, so that the people in each class are similar and homogeneous. Then, a random sample is selected from each class in proportion to the number of people in the community. In this method, the researcher wants to select the research sample in such a way as to make sure that the subgroups are present in the sample with the same proportion as they exist in the society as representatives of the society. In other words, in this sampling method, the studied community units are grouped into classes that are homogeneous and congruent in terms of variable attributes so that their changes and diversity within the groups are reduced. As a result, groups and classes that have similar characteristics are formed. Then, with this action (dividing the society into homogeneous groups), the number of samples for each group is determined, then by using the simple random sampling method, the required number of people from each group will be selected in proportion. In this research, through stratified sampling, three geographical regions (east, west and center of Mazandaran province) were considered as strata, in such a way that the researcher entered the selected geographical strata after obtaining the necessary permits and filled out the questionnaire as It was randomly distributed among the designated groups. The sample size in this research was selected and precisely determined based on Cochran's formula. . The pattern of information sharing behavior of women in information environments, 34 questions in 10 dimensions of personal and personal motives; spatial factors; time factors; social motives, cultural motives; moral motives; motivation of informational awareness, political motivation; The information sharing environment and information sharing method was designed. Then, in order to analyze the data using statistical techniques and Smart PLS statistical software, content validity ratio and confirmatory factor analysis, instrument validity, check, and finally with Cronbach's alpha method and reliability coefficient. Combined, the reliability of the instrument was determined.
Findings: In the findings of the present research, the results showed that people with different motivations and to meet different needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using these environments for sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural and social institutions and especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies in providing the best possible services. Reviewing what was previously discussed, people go to informal information sources such as their family members, relatives, and friends to obtain information. They were very dependent. Lack of access, illiteracy, lack of awareness, unfavorable economic conditions, cultural restrictions, and language or communication barriers have been declared as the main obstacles in obtaining daily information for women. Also, the findings regarding the background factors of women's information environments in information sharing showed that people do not depend on environmental factors and time factors, which were considered as the governing factors in women's information sharing in information environments, to establish social interaction. People are willing to engage in social interaction anywhere, at any time, and at different and unexpected places. When people gather in an information field, they actually participate in social interaction, and conversation about life, generalities, and specific circumstances that lead to unexpected and sometimes purposeful finding of information and formal and informal sharing of information on various topics. In the provided tool, it was found that including "moral", "social", "cultural" and "political" motivations among women can be important factors of information sharing in information environments and it is necessary to observe ethical minimums in information environments. To be Political issues, dimensions and sensitivity to them is another important issue that can be seen in this tool and must be observed by women in information environments and during information sharing. The type and cultural level of people and the sense of security guarantee for women are effective while sharing information in information environments. Therefore, the role of these factors in information sharing in information environments should not be ignored. Because these factors lead to the emergence of planned behaviors by women in information sharing and increase the confidence factor of the abilities of these environments, which ultimately, in this way, they feel satisfied with social interactions and information sharing. Also, based on the results of the research in the presented scale, the direct and indirect planning of discussions and the use of social networks have been approved as strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments. In fact, the strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments are a set of reasons that their implementati on and application cause the emergence of information sharing consequences in women's information environments. Environments such as parks or family gatherings are suitable environments for sharing information and experiences. A large part of the information we receive is obtained in a social context and in the form of interaction with familiar people, family members, and friends. In addition, the behavior of sharing information in women's information environments is done through "direct discussions". In social interactions, information is created and shared. Therefore, the most important issue in the information sharing process is effective interactions, and this usually happens through direct (face-to-face) or indirect communication. Formal and informal social interactions between people provide channels for creates information sharing between them. Through social interactions, people find more opportunities to share their information and experiences, and as a result, the flow of information increases. A review of researches shows that obtaining information in any period and for any user under any conditions is one of the main concerns. Because most of the responsibility of the family rests with women, especially regarding health, education and acquiring the necessary skills in household affairs. So they need more information. The sharing of information among women can be effective in raising children and strengthening the foundations of life, which in itself causes the society to flourish and grow more and more. How much the people present in the information environment show enthusiasm towards receiving or providing information is effective in the process of information sharing. Finally, the findings of the research showed that the structure of the pattern of women's information sharing behavior in information environments was confirmed according to the content validity ratio (0.76) and confirmatory factor analysis with the goodness of fit index (GOF) equal to 0.3285. Also, the tool had good reliability with total Cronbach's alpha values (0.988). On the other hand, the results of Figure (1) and Table 4 also show that the 34 items in question can be reduced to 10 factors. The contribution of each factor in explaining the variance of 34 items related to the designed questionnaire is different and decreasing. That is, the first factor has the largest contribution (24.70% with a specific value of 8.40) and the tenth factor with (2.97% and a specific value of 1.01) has the lowest contribution in explaining the variance of these 34 items. In total, all 10 factors have been able to explain 70.40% of the variance of the 34 items related to the designed questionnaire with specific values higher than 1. The results of the independent sample One Sample T-Test also showed that the significance level of the test regarding all the components of women's information sharing in information environments is less than the error level of 0.05% and the average of these variables is 3 (the middle of the Likert scale) 5 options is more and also the upper limit and lower limit of all the variables are both positive values, with confidence above 95%, it can be stated that the information sharing of women in information environments and its components are in a relatively favorable situation.
Conclusion: The scale designed to investigate the information sharing behavior of women in information environments in the work environment has been evaluated as suitable according to the revealed factors, and its use is recommended to measure the information sharing behavior of women in information environments. All criteria of Cronbach's alpha, significance of factor loadings between questions and underlying variables, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Discriminant validity by Fornell and Larcker method, as well as the appropriateness of the measurement model, indicate that the questionnaire used in this research measures what the researchers are looking for. Therefore, the built tool provides the criteria of the behavior pattern of women's information sharing in information environments to the researchers. The results of the current research showed that people with different motivations and needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using information environments in sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural, and social institutions, especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies, provide the best possible services. Discovered factors include:
Individual and personality motivations with sub-factors (personal desire, altruism, individual and personality fit, individual interests, and recognition of personality dimensions to share information between individuals or other; Spatial factors with sub-factors (no place and no need for a specific place for information sharing behavior in information environments); Time factors with sub-factors (timelessness, unplanned and completely accidental occurrence of information sharing behavior in information environments); Social motivations with sub-factors (social interaction, promotion of social status, and the desire to communicate in order to engage in information sharing behavior in information environments); Cultural motivations with sub-factors (people's cultural level, the existence of an information-seeking culture in people and the existence of an information-seeking culture in sharing); Ethical motives with sub-factors (religious and religious considerations in information sharing, interpersonal trust in information sharing, and privacy in information sharing); Information awareness motivation with sub-factors (gaining awareness of the results and consequences of information sharing behavior, information and knowledge sharing, exchange of knowledge and information, exchange of experience and scientific considerations affected by the results and consequences of information sharing in information environments); Political motivation with sub-factors (political issues and sensitivities in society, the existence of a sense of political security in society, the distribution and transfer of political information from one person, group, or organization to another, and the sharing of ideas and thoughts, suggestions, and experiences); Information sharing environment with sub-agents (formal gatherings, friendly meetings and informal gatherings and social networks to share information in information environments) and finally how to share information with sub-agents (direct plan of topics, indirect plan of topics and how to share information in Women's information environments were with information taken from social networks, family periodicals, etc.) , which by measuring in the experimental environment of public libraries of Mazandaran province, while confirming their efficiency in cultural environments, it was determined that the built tools are qualitatively and quantitatively capable has the measurement of the desired variable. Therefore, it is suggested:
Materials and methods:This research is mixed in terms of applied objective, in terms of exploratory approach, and in terms of data collection method. The statistical population in the qualitative section includes 15 experts and in the quantitative section includes all women (20 years old and above) active members of urban institutional public libraries in the city centers of Mazandaran province, numbering 4936 people. The sample size was 357 people who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling in 1401. The proportional stratified random sampling method has other names such as "matched sampling", "proportionate to volume" and "proportional" method. This method is used when the target population of the research has a heterogeneous and inconsistent structure. Therefore, due to heterogeneous and heterogeneity, in such cases, the research community is divided into different "classes", in fact, by using stratified sampling, the society is divided into homogeneous groups, so that the people in each class are similar and homogeneous. Then, a random sample is selected from each class in proportion to the number of people in the community. In this method, the researcher wants to select the research sample in such a way as to make sure that the subgroups are present in the sample with the same proportion as they exist in the society as representatives of the society. In other words, in this sampling method, the studied community units are grouped into classes that are homogeneous and congruent in terms of variable attributes so that their changes and diversity within the groups are reduced. As a result, groups and classes that have similar characteristics are formed. Then, with this action (dividing the society into homogeneous groups), the number of samples for each group is determined, then by using the simple random sampling method, the required number of people from each group will be selected in proportion. In this research, through stratified sampling, three geographical regions (east, west and center of Mazandaran province) were considered as strata, in such a way that the researcher entered the selected geographical strata after obtaining the necessary permits and filled out the questionnaire as It was randomly distributed among the designated groups. The sample size in this research was selected and precisely determined based on Cochran's formula. . The pattern of information sharing behavior of women in information environments, 34 questions in 10 dimensions of personal and personal motives; spatial factors; time factors; social motives, cultural motives; moral motives; motivation of informational awareness, political motivation; The information sharing environment and information sharing method was designed. Then, in order to analyze the data using statistical techniques and Smart PLS statistical software, content validity ratio and confirmatory factor analysis, instrument validity, check, and finally with Cronbach's alpha method and reliability coefficient. Combined, the reliability of the instrument was determined.
Findings: In the findings of the present research, the results showed that people with different motivations and to meet different needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using these environments for sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural and social institutions and especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies in providing the best possible services. Reviewing what was previously discussed, people go to informal information sources such as their family members, relatives, and friends to obtain information. They were very dependent. Lack of access, illiteracy, lack of awareness, unfavorable economic conditions, cultural restrictions, and language or communication barriers have been declared as the main obstacles in obtaining daily information for women. Also, the findings regarding the background factors of women's information environments in information sharing showed that people do not depend on environmental factors and time factors, which were considered as the governing factors in women's information sharing in information environments, to establish social interaction. People are willing to engage in social interaction anywhere, at any time, and at different and unexpected places. When people gather in an information field, they actually participate in social interaction, and conversation about life, generalities, and specific circumstances that lead to unexpected and sometimes purposeful finding of information and formal and informal sharing of information on various topics. In the provided tool, it was found that including "moral", "social", "cultural" and "political" motivations among women can be important factors of information sharing in information environments and it is necessary to observe ethical minimums in information environments. To be Political issues, dimensions and sensitivity to them is another important issue that can be seen in this tool and must be observed by women in information environments and during information sharing. The type and cultural level of people and the sense of security guarantee for women are effective while sharing information in information environments. Therefore, the role of these factors in information sharing in information environments should not be ignored. Because these factors lead to the emergence of planned behaviors by women in information sharing and increase the confidence factor of the abilities of these environments, which ultimately, in this way, they feel satisfied with social interactions and information sharing. Also, based on the results of the research in the presented scale, the direct and indirect planning of discussions and the use of social networks have been approved as strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments. In fact, the strategic factors of information sharing in women's information environments are a set of reasons that their implementati on and application cause the emergence of information sharing consequences in women's information environments. Environments such as parks or family gatherings are suitable environments for sharing information and experiences. A large part of the information we receive is obtained in a social context and in the form of interaction with familiar people, family members, and friends. In addition, the behavior of sharing information in women's information environments is done through "direct discussions". In social interactions, information is created and shared. Therefore, the most important issue in the information sharing process is effective interactions, and this usually happens through direct (face-to-face) or indirect communication. Formal and informal social interactions between people provide channels for creates information sharing between them. Through social interactions, people find more opportunities to share their information and experiences, and as a result, the flow of information increases. A review of researches shows that obtaining information in any period and for any user under any conditions is one of the main concerns. Because most of the responsibility of the family rests with women, especially regarding health, education and acquiring the necessary skills in household affairs. So they need more information. The sharing of information among women can be effective in raising children and strengthening the foundations of life, which in itself causes the society to flourish and grow more and more. How much the people present in the information environment show enthusiasm towards receiving or providing information is effective in the process of information sharing. Finally, the findings of the research showed that the structure of the pattern of women's information sharing behavior in information environments was confirmed according to the content validity ratio (0.76) and confirmatory factor analysis with the goodness of fit index (GOF) equal to 0.3285. Also, the tool had good reliability with total Cronbach's alpha values (0.988). On the other hand, the results of Figure (1) and Table 4 also show that the 34 items in question can be reduced to 10 factors. The contribution of each factor in explaining the variance of 34 items related to the designed questionnaire is different and decreasing. That is, the first factor has the largest contribution (24.70% with a specific value of 8.40) and the tenth factor with (2.97% and a specific value of 1.01) has the lowest contribution in explaining the variance of these 34 items. In total, all 10 factors have been able to explain 70.40% of the variance of the 34 items related to the designed questionnaire with specific values higher than 1. The results of the independent sample One Sample T-Test also showed that the significance level of the test regarding all the components of women's information sharing in information environments is less than the error level of 0.05% and the average of these variables is 3 (the middle of the Likert scale) 5 options is more and also the upper limit and lower limit of all the variables are both positive values, with confidence above 95%, it can be stated that the information sharing of women in information environments and its components are in a relatively favorable situation.
Conclusion: The scale designed to investigate the information sharing behavior of women in information environments in the work environment has been evaluated as suitable according to the revealed factors, and its use is recommended to measure the information sharing behavior of women in information environments. All criteria of Cronbach's alpha, significance of factor loadings between questions and underlying variables, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Discriminant validity by Fornell and Larcker method, as well as the appropriateness of the measurement model, indicate that the questionnaire used in this research measures what the researchers are looking for. Therefore, the built tool provides the criteria of the behavior pattern of women's information sharing in information environments to the researchers. The results of the current research showed that people with different motivations and needs turn to different information environments. Identifying the most important motivations for using information environments in sharing information can help scientific, educational, cultural, and social institutions, especially organizations in charge of scientific and cultural policies, provide the best possible services. Discovered factors include:
Individual and personality motivations with sub-factors (personal desire, altruism, individual and personality fit, individual interests, and recognition of personality dimensions to share information between individuals or other; Spatial factors with sub-factors (no place and no need for a specific place for information sharing behavior in information environments); Time factors with sub-factors (timelessness, unplanned and completely accidental occurrence of information sharing behavior in information environments); Social motivations with sub-factors (social interaction, promotion of social status, and the desire to communicate in order to engage in information sharing behavior in information environments); Cultural motivations with sub-factors (people's cultural level, the existence of an information-seeking culture in people and the existence of an information-seeking culture in sharing); Ethical motives with sub-factors (religious and religious considerations in information sharing, interpersonal trust in information sharing, and privacy in information sharing); Information awareness motivation with sub-factors (gaining awareness of the results and consequences of information sharing behavior, information and knowledge sharing, exchange of knowledge and information, exchange of experience and scientific considerations affected by the results and consequences of information sharing in information environments); Political motivation with sub-factors (political issues and sensitivities in society, the existence of a sense of political security in society, the distribution and transfer of political information from one person, group, or organization to another, and the sharing of ideas and thoughts, suggestions, and experiences); Information sharing environment with sub-agents (formal gatherings, friendly meetings and informal gatherings and social networks to share information in information environments) and finally how to share information with sub-agents (direct plan of topics, indirect plan of topics and how to share information in Women's information environments were with information taken from social networks, family periodicals, etc.) , which by measuring in the experimental environment of public libraries of Mazandaran province, while confirming their efficiency in cultural environments, it was determined that the built tools are qualitatively and quantitatively capable has the measurement of the desired variable. Therefore, it is suggested:
- Necessary conditions to strengthen information sharing in information environments should be provided.
- New solutions for the optimal management of information sharing in information environments should be considered.
- Ways to create a positive attitude to promote and grow information sharing in information environments should be developed.
- An integrated approach of interaction and optimal communication for information sharing in information environments should be adopted.
- Training and providing all kinds of skills and specialized information for information sharing in information environments are essential.
- Motivating, encouraging, and promoting the use of information environments for information sharing should be prioritized.
- Identifying and determining the levels of access to information in information environments is crucial.
Dr Yazdan Shirmohammadi, Mr Qasem Aryafard,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Volume 10, Issue 3 (11-2023)
Abstract
purpose: The mobile application market is expanding rapidly. Furthermore, a new form of online-to-offline services available in mobile shopping apps, which help users instantly search for what they want online, try them on in nearby offline stores, and pay online, increasingly becomes popular. As technology is developing rapidly and the smartphone has become an essential part of our daily life, the smartphone is a versatile tool that can perform many functions. Shopping also changes its process from offline to online and is based on mobile. With the increase in the use of the Internet from smartphones, most of the Internet consumption is done through smartphones and not through personal computers as in the past (Kim et al., 2021). In recent years, online to offline has emerged as a new e-commerce model that differs from traditional e-commerce models. In this model, consumers can obtain information, access products through an online channel, and then consume them in offline stores. The rapid development of the online to offline model has led to the rise of online tourism platforms. Some tour operators choose to cooperate with online tourism platforms to sell tourism products with the aim of expanding market demand. In the case of the online-to-offline tourism supply chain, the tourism platform sells its product online and the tour operator provides the service offline. Through division of labor and cooperation, both of them can focus on applying their respective advantages to achieve a win-win situation. With the online-to-offline tourism model, consumers can book tourism products through an online platform anytime, anywhere. Before making a final decision, consumers often review the information displayed on the web page of online tourism platforms, especially the available reviews (Luca and Zervas, 2016, as cited in Zhou et al., 2022). Tourists can gather online information about price, service level, and product quality to make better purchase decisions. This has created many opportunities as well as severe challenges for the survival and growth of tourism-related companies (He et al.,2019). Companies providing online to offline services recognize smartphones as a useful communication channel for strategic marketing, and therefore they are willing to use smartphones to provide various services and types of information directly to customers and constantly reflect their needs (Fuentes & Svingstedt, 2017). Since the online platform is data controlled, so that the information is asymmetric, there will be problems such as fake reviews, rating fraud, false advertising, etc. This phenomenon puts consumers in an unfavorable information situation. According to the "Online Tourism Consumption Trend Report and Consumer Rights Protection Trend Report (2019)", the problems of online tourism platforms are mainly focused on ten aspects, including information leakage, false advertising, tourism products with big data analysis to harm Existing consumer income and data fraud investigation (Zhou et al., 2022). These problems not only affect consumers' tourism experience and reduce consumer satisfaction, but also damage the credibility of the tourism platform and weaken consumers' trust in the platform. Therefore, privacy protection is an important problem in this field. Since online to offline applications in tourism is an emerging and practical issue, it is very important to investigate this issue in our country. Previous studies have largely ignored service quality evaluation and decision-making by traditional travel agencies, hotels, and airlines. Although the importance of service quality in tourism firm development has been demonstrated by some researchers, few have studied the benefits of service quality from online tourism supply chains to offline hospitality and tourism fields for tourists. Also, in the researcher's point of view, the features of mobile shopping applications that are based on online to offline services are questionable as to what features affect the delight and satisfaction of tourists and lead to the brand's reputation. Meanwhile, the influence of the information quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) and the services quality (including the convenient services quality and the accessible services quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications on the delight of tourists and the reputation of the tourism brand is questionable. The researcher thought that it was not investigated in the previous research and the researcher investigated these issues in this research.
Methodology:Considering that tourism and hotel businesses can easily use online to offline tourism platforms by applying the results of this research to have satisfied and loyal customers, this research is applied in terms of purpose. On the other hand, in this research, the type of relationship and the degree of influence of the variables were described, so the method of doing the work is descriptive and correlational. In fact, the impact of information and service quality on privacy protection, delight, and reputation of tourism brands in mobile shopping applications based on online to offline (O2O) is investigated. A quantitative method was also used to collect data. The statistical population of this research is European tourists who traveled to Iran. Since the target population is unlimited and its exact size is not available, according to Cochran's formula for the unlimited population, 384 people are considered for the sample size. The convenient non-randomly sampling method is a suitable method for sampling. The collection of information takes place in two stages: library and field. By referring to reliable databases, the researcher examines scientific articles, books, dissertations, and theses to prepare the theoretical foundations of his subject. Then, a questionnaire is used to collect the data required by the researcher in the field and survey method. The questionnaire was made by the researcher. The questionnaire includes five demographic questions (gender, age, marital status, education, employment status). 39 items were designed to answer the research questions, which are analyzed with a Likert scale. In the inferential findings section, the pairwise relationships of the variables were evaluated with Pearson correlation test and the conceptual model of the research was tested with structural equation modeling test with AMOS software. Also, mediation relationships were tested using the Sobel method.
Findings: The online-to-offline service platform channels provide tourists with innovative tools to get service information, order travel package online (via apps) and check-in offline almost instantly. The main purpose of this research is to discover the effect of information quality (including intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including convenient service quality and accessible service quality) perceived from online to offline based mobile shopping applications with perceived privacy protection on the delight of tourists and the reputation of the tourism brand. The findings indicated that the information quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) and the quality of services (including the convenient services quality and the accessible services quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications with the protection of privacy perceived on the delight of tourists and tourism brand reputation is effective and all hypotheses were confirmed.
Conclusion:In today's world, searching for information online is very important and common for tourists to make decisions. In recent years, online to offline has been used as a new e-commerce model. This research shows that all dimensions of a mobile phone shopping application, such as the information and services quality provided, privacy protection, are effective on delight of tourists and ultimately the brand's reputation. In fact, considering the wide importance of information needed by tourists, the validity of this information, considering the quality of intrinsic and textual information in applications is very important and effective. On the other hand, the quality of the services provided in these types of applications, easier access and their appropriateness are also factors that should be considered in this type of shopping applications. On the other hand, the higher the quality of information and services, the more the privacy of people in the online world is preserved and the delight of tourists increases. This delight of tourists also improves and increases the reputation of the attitudinal and behavioral brand.
This study investigates the impact of information quality including (intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications on delight of tourists and the behavioral and attitudinal reputation of the tourism brand. For this reason, the research model of Kim et al. (2021) is used, which was added to it with the researcher's innovation of the brand reputation variable. The results showed that the information quality intrinsic information quality and contextual information quality) and service quality (including the intrinsic information quality and the textual information quality) perceived from online to offline mobile shopping applications are effective on the delight of tourists and the behavioral and attitudinal reputation of the tourism brand. This research concludes that the quality of information provided in mobile shopping applications is important for tourists, especially European tourists in Iran. The quality of intrinsic information and the quality of textual information significantly affect tourists' perception of information quality, and this quality of information has an effect on the delight of tourist. Therefore, tourism industry managers should describe their products and services with detailed and accurate information. When providing it in mobile shopping applications, such as online-to-offline platforms, since the accuracy of information is a key feature of inherent information quality, practitioners in this industry must also thoroughly ensure that the data provided is up-to-date and reflect consumption transactions. Also, the results showed that convenience and high accessibility positively increase the perceived service quality of online to offline platforms. Based on this, tourism industry managers should create easier access for services. In particular, since new phone models are released frequently nowadays, mobile shopping applications must have compatible payment systems to remove barriers to tourists' purchases. Therefore, according to the available results, it is only in this case that mobile shopping applications can have high accessibility and convenience to affect the quality of mobile shopping application services. Another thing that was investigated in this research was the protection of privacy. The results show that privacy protection is a very important factor in creating the delight of tourists, this issue is observed in all the countries of the world that have achieved the technology of mobile shopping applications. Unfortunately, today, some technological advances endanger their privacy from the point of view of customers. For example, CCTV cameras, which are in most tourist places and should protect the safety of tourists, can violate their privacy, or artificial intelligence, which has many capabilities, in the view of some people, spies on their information and violates their privacy rights. Therefore, in the researcher's point of view, despite this level of concern in the world, tourists in our country also have concerns about privacy and take into account the care of their privacy when evaluating the quality of online services. As discussed in this study, managers should be confident that their security systems do not violate tourists' privacy to directly contribute to delight of tourist and brand reputation. Based on the results, it can be suggested that high-quality information helps customers who want to effectively find information on a specific topic and helps customers avoid unnecessary efforts to process useless information. Therefore, providing high-quality information can increase the delight of tourist. Tourism booking and review websites need to improve their entertainment element and create a more interactive and interesting experience for those browsing them. The information provided by the websites must be useful and up-to-date, match the needs of the user and provide links to other websites relevant to these users. By informing tourists about developments, sales plans, product updates and any other content they may find interesting and relevant, it helps to improve delight of tourists and ultimately brand reputation. Also, when tourists have a problem, they can be assured that they can talk to a genuine, caring and ideal person in person or on the phone. Even in the digital world, people like to connect with others. Since this research has a new topic in the field of technology in tourism, the researcher recommends that in future researches, this topic should be investigated with other statistical communities such as local tourists, international tourists, specific hotel guests and other sectors.
Marzieh Morovati, Nosrat Riahinia, Ali Azimi,
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Abstract
Background and Aim: The Covid-19 pandemic crisis has highlighted the importance of open and timely access to scientific information. The aim of this study was to explain the world community's efforts to open access in the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Method: This was a review study in terms of approach using documentary research method. In this regard, open access literature was studied using searches on Google search engine, Google Scholar and databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and the websites of publishers, journals and scientific institutions, focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Results: Since the formation of the open access movement, this issue has attracted a lot of attention and extensive efforts have been made in the direction of open access to research publications by the scientific community. Publishers, financial sponsors and international institutions have also entered this arena and various statements and plans have been formed in order to recognize the open access movement and its development. “Budapest Open Access Initiative”, “Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing”, “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” are the first measures in this regard. On the other hand, the importance of access to timely information, especially in the fields of medical sciences and information related to health and diseases, is worthy of attention in promoting public health. The need to pay attention to open access and sharing of information and the consequences of not doing so has become more important with the occurrence of critical and emergency situations caused by pandemic and public health emergencies. Along with the emergence of COVID-19 and the pandemic caused by it, many researches have been conducted in order to deal with the crisis of this disease and to find solutions for its treatment and control. The aspects of this deadly disease have attracted the attention of everyone, especially scientists and scholars in various fields around the world, and an unprecedented number of articles have been published in this field. In addition, many international organizations have published various information about the disease of COVID-19 in the form of open access, for example, “WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard” and "Coronavirus Watch". The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of information transparency and timely and open access to it. Access to accurate and timely information about this emerging disease is very important and can help to assess and understand the risks and obtain strategies to contain it, strong evidence, better information and support for decisions and policies in the direction of public health. The need to provide suitable solutions for treatment, prevention and control of the disease on the one hand and the increasing number of researches on COVID-19 on the other hand, has created new opportunities in the system of scientific communication and publication of research findings, and the scientific community has decided to accelerate the cycle of knowledge to find possible solutions to deal with the disease crisis. Explaining the efforts and measures taken in this direction during the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important global crisis and concern can provide useful information to the scientific community, especially those involved in research. Considering the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as the importance of timely and open access to scientific information about this disease, the question arises as to what measures have been taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Also, what measures and measures have been taken for free access to scientific information about the pandemic? A review of the literature regarding the issue of open access in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic showed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, a global effort has been made to facilitate open access to COVID-19 research findings. The need for appropriate strategies for the treatment, prevention and control of the disease and the increasing number of COVID-19 research has affected the system of scientific communication and the publication of research findings and the world community, especially reputable publishers and scientific institutions, have made extensive statements, measures and efforts to provide open access to as much scientific information as possible about the disease. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many publishers, journals and funders have committed to open access in a statement to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly to inform the public health response and help save lives. The measures and actions of publishers and scientific journals in this regard are worthy of attention. Access to Elsevier's free medical and health research related to COVID-19 is possible through the "Elsevier's Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier has also created a collection of free resources, including evidence-based clinical guidelines and more than 41,000 research articles to read, download and extract data, in support of the research communities' impressive efforts in the fight against COVID-19. This guide provides an overview of the resources. Through the "COVID-19 Resource Centre", Lancet has provided free access to all research articles, review articles, news and analysis related to COVID-19 from its journals. Springer Nature has provided free access to the latest COVID-19 articles through the "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research Highlights". The publisher has now enabled free access to articles, book chapters, reference works and protocols on its platforms and has supported all researchers to make their experimental datasets freely available. Springer Nature has made more than 8,700 preprint articles on COVID-19 available through “Research Square”, with links to key resources, free content, and up-to-date information related to COVID-19, along with key information and policies in support of access from placed far away. NEJM has made available a collection of articles and resources such as clinical reports and management guides about the pandemic, as well as a collection of resources about the COVID-19 vaccines. BMJ's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub has also supported health professionals and researchers through open access to practical guides, online courses, as well as the latest BMG news, opinions and research. PLOS is committed to publishing research as quickly as possible, especially in public health emergencies. All articles published in PLOS journals are free for all readers. PLOS articles collection highlights all the content related to the COVID-19 pandemic published in PLOS journals. To support the efforts of global health professionals and the scientific research community, Taylor & Francis has created a special collection of research articles related to COVID-19, providing free access to published articles related to COVID-19 in the publisher's major medical journals. he does. This collection is updated weekly. On the other hand, the archive of all research articles related to COVID-19 published in 2020 by Taylor & Francis has also been made available to the audience. Wiley has created the "COVID-19 Resources" in order to help researchers, educators and specialists for online training and access to the latest research on COVID-19. Believing in the power of social and behavioral sciences to transform the best medical research into policies and procedures for development, SAGE has published a collection of the latest medical research related to COVID-19 published by this publisher, as well as the best social and behavioral research in order to help It has enabled individuals, communities and guardians to make the best decisions to deal with the pandemic and its consequences. Science journals are trying to make research related to COVID-19 available in open access. The "COVID-19" option is placed on the main page of the Science website. CABI has also created free access to more than 37,000 records related to COVID-19 in its online platforms, Global Health and CAB Abstracts in order to support global efforts to deal with the disease pandemic. Global Health provides researchers and students with unparalleled access to all public health research and practices in the world - providing knowledge without borders. “Sci-Dev.Net” also includes episodes about the coronavirus in the Health, Science and Development series. Wolters Kluwer is also one of the publishers that has provided free access to publications related to COVID-19 in order to support professionals. According to IFLA reports, the actions of publishers such as Penguin Random House and Macmillan, as well as the measures of Audible and ENSSIB in terms of access to resources, are worthy of attention. Some libraries, such as the National Library and Archives of Iran, have provided extensive access to their users. Some associations and scientific societies, such as the International Coalition of Library Consortia, LIBER and the Association of University Library Directors in France, have asked publishers to facilitate access to works. Italian and Spanish librarians have called for more open access efforts. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, open access has also attracted the attention of scientific institutions, and extensive measures have been taken in this direction by them. In the January 30 statement, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board called for immediate measures such as the free and immediate sharing of all information about the pandemic, the cooperation of countries to immediately allocate resources to prevent, identify and inform about the pandemic and the rapid sharing of research data by the research community, support Low-income countries are advised to ensure proper notification to national and international communities to control the pandemic. On January 30, 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the disease pandemic a public health emergency of international concern. The world's scientists gathered on February 11-12, 2020 at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus and about critical questions and find solutions to contribute to accelerating and funding research priorities and solving the pandemic crisis and preparedness Discuss and negotiate for future issues. This meeting led to an agreement on two basic goals. The first case was to accelerate innovative research to help curb the pandemic and facilitate care, and the second case was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms. The World Health Organization believes that the coherence of countries is necessary to ensure fair access to the effects of COVID-19. The World Health Organization is collecting global research on the disease COVID-19 and the latest findings and international multilingual scientific information on the pandemic. UNESCO has also emphasized the value and necessity of open solutions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and believes that open access to scientific information can facilitate better and faster research in the direction of a suitable vaccine, and open Educational Resources help everyone to use their information. updates about COVID-19 and also teaches how to follow public health recommendations. Relying on its mission to ensure global access to information, UNESCO has taken various initiatives to apply open solutions in the fight against the pandemic. For example, the Coronavirus Watch provides a global view of the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 Universal REsource gateway (CURE) is also an immediate response to the pandemic. IFLA has made efforts to encourage the World Intellectual Property Organization to emphasize how balanced intellectual property laws can help facilitate access. IFLA has also provided a list of key resources for libraries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on its website. Open access is also emphasized in the statement of the President and Secretary General of IFLA. Following the COVID-19 crisis, priorities have also been considered in the SPARC program. Also, the Copyright Clearance Center recognizes publishing and information institutions to participate in the public interest through access to scientific, news and educational materials related to COVID-19. The list of institutions is regularly updated. The Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation Institute has also launched the "COVID-19 Visualizer" in order to provide up-to-date statistics about the pandemic situation and accelerate the transmission of scientific findings about COVID-19. In addition, government officials have also called for open access to the publications of COVID-19. The National Science and Technology Advisors of the United States of America, Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the European Commission have published an open letter asking scientific publishers to Pandemic, make publications related to COVID-19 available with open access through PubMed Central and other public databases such as the World Health Organization's COVID-19 database. The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. The present study is one of the first studies conducted in our country regarding the free access movement in the pandemic crisis and tried to present a picture of the efforts of the scientific community in this field in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that future researches on the wide dimensions and angles of this issue can cause the scientific community to become more aware of the importance of free access, especially in crises.
Conclusion: The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. If open access is considered as a value in the system of publishing and research communications, the development and generalization of this value requires the adoption of policies and requirements of the scientific community in order to develop it as a global value.
Method: This was a review study in terms of approach using documentary research method. In this regard, open access literature was studied using searches on Google search engine, Google Scholar and databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and the websites of publishers, journals and scientific institutions, focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
Results: Since the formation of the open access movement, this issue has attracted a lot of attention and extensive efforts have been made in the direction of open access to research publications by the scientific community. Publishers, financial sponsors and international institutions have also entered this arena and various statements and plans have been formed in order to recognize the open access movement and its development. “Budapest Open Access Initiative”, “Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing”, “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” are the first measures in this regard. On the other hand, the importance of access to timely information, especially in the fields of medical sciences and information related to health and diseases, is worthy of attention in promoting public health. The need to pay attention to open access and sharing of information and the consequences of not doing so has become more important with the occurrence of critical and emergency situations caused by pandemic and public health emergencies. Along with the emergence of COVID-19 and the pandemic caused by it, many researches have been conducted in order to deal with the crisis of this disease and to find solutions for its treatment and control. The aspects of this deadly disease have attracted the attention of everyone, especially scientists and scholars in various fields around the world, and an unprecedented number of articles have been published in this field. In addition, many international organizations have published various information about the disease of COVID-19 in the form of open access, for example, “WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard” and "Coronavirus Watch". The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of information transparency and timely and open access to it. Access to accurate and timely information about this emerging disease is very important and can help to assess and understand the risks and obtain strategies to contain it, strong evidence, better information and support for decisions and policies in the direction of public health. The need to provide suitable solutions for treatment, prevention and control of the disease on the one hand and the increasing number of researches on COVID-19 on the other hand, has created new opportunities in the system of scientific communication and publication of research findings, and the scientific community has decided to accelerate the cycle of knowledge to find possible solutions to deal with the disease crisis. Explaining the efforts and measures taken in this direction during the COVID-19 pandemic as the most important global crisis and concern can provide useful information to the scientific community, especially those involved in research. Considering the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as well as the importance of timely and open access to scientific information about this disease, the question arises as to what measures have been taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Also, what measures and measures have been taken for free access to scientific information about the pandemic? A review of the literature regarding the issue of open access in the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic showed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, a global effort has been made to facilitate open access to COVID-19 research findings. The need for appropriate strategies for the treatment, prevention and control of the disease and the increasing number of COVID-19 research has affected the system of scientific communication and the publication of research findings and the world community, especially reputable publishers and scientific institutions, have made extensive statements, measures and efforts to provide open access to as much scientific information as possible about the disease. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, many publishers, journals and funders have committed to open access in a statement to ensure that research findings and data relevant to this outbreak are shared rapidly and openly to inform the public health response and help save lives. The measures and actions of publishers and scientific journals in this regard are worthy of attention. Access to Elsevier's free medical and health research related to COVID-19 is possible through the "Elsevier's Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier has also created a collection of free resources, including evidence-based clinical guidelines and more than 41,000 research articles to read, download and extract data, in support of the research communities' impressive efforts in the fight against COVID-19. This guide provides an overview of the resources. Through the "COVID-19 Resource Centre", Lancet has provided free access to all research articles, review articles, news and analysis related to COVID-19 from its journals. Springer Nature has provided free access to the latest COVID-19 articles through the "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research Highlights". The publisher has now enabled free access to articles, book chapters, reference works and protocols on its platforms and has supported all researchers to make their experimental datasets freely available. Springer Nature has made more than 8,700 preprint articles on COVID-19 available through “Research Square”, with links to key resources, free content, and up-to-date information related to COVID-19, along with key information and policies in support of access from placed far away. NEJM has made available a collection of articles and resources such as clinical reports and management guides about the pandemic, as well as a collection of resources about the COVID-19 vaccines. BMJ's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub has also supported health professionals and researchers through open access to practical guides, online courses, as well as the latest BMG news, opinions and research. PLOS is committed to publishing research as quickly as possible, especially in public health emergencies. All articles published in PLOS journals are free for all readers. PLOS articles collection highlights all the content related to the COVID-19 pandemic published in PLOS journals. To support the efforts of global health professionals and the scientific research community, Taylor & Francis has created a special collection of research articles related to COVID-19, providing free access to published articles related to COVID-19 in the publisher's major medical journals. he does. This collection is updated weekly. On the other hand, the archive of all research articles related to COVID-19 published in 2020 by Taylor & Francis has also been made available to the audience. Wiley has created the "COVID-19 Resources" in order to help researchers, educators and specialists for online training and access to the latest research on COVID-19. Believing in the power of social and behavioral sciences to transform the best medical research into policies and procedures for development, SAGE has published a collection of the latest medical research related to COVID-19 published by this publisher, as well as the best social and behavioral research in order to help It has enabled individuals, communities and guardians to make the best decisions to deal with the pandemic and its consequences. Science journals are trying to make research related to COVID-19 available in open access. The "COVID-19" option is placed on the main page of the Science website. CABI has also created free access to more than 37,000 records related to COVID-19 in its online platforms, Global Health and CAB Abstracts in order to support global efforts to deal with the disease pandemic. Global Health provides researchers and students with unparalleled access to all public health research and practices in the world - providing knowledge without borders. “Sci-Dev.Net” also includes episodes about the coronavirus in the Health, Science and Development series. Wolters Kluwer is also one of the publishers that has provided free access to publications related to COVID-19 in order to support professionals. According to IFLA reports, the actions of publishers such as Penguin Random House and Macmillan, as well as the measures of Audible and ENSSIB in terms of access to resources, are worthy of attention. Some libraries, such as the National Library and Archives of Iran, have provided extensive access to their users. Some associations and scientific societies, such as the International Coalition of Library Consortia, LIBER and the Association of University Library Directors in France, have asked publishers to facilitate access to works. Italian and Spanish librarians have called for more open access efforts. During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, open access has also attracted the attention of scientific institutions, and extensive measures have been taken in this direction by them. In the January 30 statement, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board called for immediate measures such as the free and immediate sharing of all information about the pandemic, the cooperation of countries to immediately allocate resources to prevent, identify and inform about the pandemic and the rapid sharing of research data by the research community, support Low-income countries are advised to ensure proper notification to national and international communities to control the pandemic. On January 30, 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the disease pandemic a public health emergency of international concern. The world's scientists gathered on February 11-12, 2020 at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus and about critical questions and find solutions to contribute to accelerating and funding research priorities and solving the pandemic crisis and preparedness Discuss and negotiate for future issues. This meeting led to an agreement on two basic goals. The first case was to accelerate innovative research to help curb the pandemic and facilitate care, and the second case was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms. The World Health Organization believes that the coherence of countries is necessary to ensure fair access to the effects of COVID-19. The World Health Organization is collecting global research on the disease COVID-19 and the latest findings and international multilingual scientific information on the pandemic. UNESCO has also emphasized the value and necessity of open solutions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and believes that open access to scientific information can facilitate better and faster research in the direction of a suitable vaccine, and open Educational Resources help everyone to use their information. updates about COVID-19 and also teaches how to follow public health recommendations. Relying on its mission to ensure global access to information, UNESCO has taken various initiatives to apply open solutions in the fight against the pandemic. For example, the Coronavirus Watch provides a global view of the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 Universal REsource gateway (CURE) is also an immediate response to the pandemic. IFLA has made efforts to encourage the World Intellectual Property Organization to emphasize how balanced intellectual property laws can help facilitate access. IFLA has also provided a list of key resources for libraries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on its website. Open access is also emphasized in the statement of the President and Secretary General of IFLA. Following the COVID-19 crisis, priorities have also been considered in the SPARC program. Also, the Copyright Clearance Center recognizes publishing and information institutions to participate in the public interest through access to scientific, news and educational materials related to COVID-19. The list of institutions is regularly updated. The Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation Institute has also launched the "COVID-19 Visualizer" in order to provide up-to-date statistics about the pandemic situation and accelerate the transmission of scientific findings about COVID-19. In addition, government officials have also called for open access to the publications of COVID-19. The National Science and Technology Advisors of the United States of America, Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the European Commission have published an open letter asking scientific publishers to Pandemic, make publications related to COVID-19 available with open access through PubMed Central and other public databases such as the World Health Organization's COVID-19 database. The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. The present study is one of the first studies conducted in our country regarding the free access movement in the pandemic crisis and tried to present a picture of the efforts of the scientific community in this field in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is obvious that future researches on the wide dimensions and angles of this issue can cause the scientific community to become more aware of the importance of free access, especially in crises.
Conclusion: The world community’s efforts demonstrate the growing importance of open access and increasing attention to this issue. It seems that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis could provide lessons for better preparedness for possible future crises. If open access is considered as a value in the system of publishing and research communications, the development and generalization of this value requires the adoption of policies and requirements of the scientific community in order to develop it as a global value.
Mansoor Koohi Rostami, Hadi Alhaei, Zeinab Jozi, Mohammad Amin Sekhavatmanesh,
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Abstract
Introduction: Human life has always been subject to crisis. The important thing in dealing with a crisis is the appropriate response. The emergence of information technology has provided crisis managers with the best possible potential and capacities for crisis management. Today, managers should always be ready to deal with crises. These crises can be economic and financial or natural events such as storms, floods, tsunamis, or disease outbreaks. Managers who have not taken measures in advance to deal with such events will lose more. No one is aware of the crisis in advance. Expert managers have basic plans to deal with such situations. To overcome uneven events, managers should use the experiences of their predecessors to get acquainted with crisis coping strategies. Not all managers can overcome the crisis. However, if the managers in their organization believe in crisis management as an inseparable part of their strategic management responsibility, the probability of confronting a crisis will be significantly reduced. Crisis management activities are performed in three stages before the crisis, during the crisis, and after the crisis. The first step consists of the actions needed to prevent the crisis. This stage is the first step in identifying and diagnosing the crisis and also gathering information to deal with the crisis. The second stage includes the stage of crisis occurrence. In this stage, it is necessary to gather information to diagnose the causes of the crisis. The third stage is the actions that must be taken after the crisis. At this stage, we had to ensure that the crisis has resolved or not. Also, learning from the crisis so that it does not happen again occurs at this stage. The crisis is a test for stability in a system. A crisis is an unusual situation in which a problem or sudden event occurs that is not predictable. Etymologically, the word crisis has been derived from the Greek language. In ancient Greek, the word crisis (κριςις) means "judgment" or "decision". The crisis means that it is necessary to make a decision that has not been made before. In the 21st century, the growth of information technology and the expansion of research has created a significant increase in the understanding of the challenges of crisis management when facing a crisis to reduce victims, and thanks to technology and the use of communication technologies, crisis management has become more realistic. During crisis management, by using correct communication, participation, coordination, and integration in information systems play an important role in crisis control. In a crisis, those affected perceive, process, and act on information differently than in non-crisis times. One of the applications of information technology in crisis management is "crisis informatics". Crisis informatics deals with the relationship between people, organizations, information, and technology during a crisis. Crisis informatics means the knowledge of receiving and transmitting information. In other words, crisis computing is the science of information processing and information systems. On the other hand, inaccuracy in choosing and publishing news and information in crisis conditions can be called crisis informatics. The expansion of social media such as Facebook, and Twitter, search based on people, and response to the crisis of Google, YouTube, and Flickr has changed the face of information management in critical situations. One of the capabilities of information science specialists is information monitoring. Information specialists can identify which information is fake and which is valid through information review. Therefore, experts in this field can play an influential role in preparing information reports for decision-makers. Also, by producing correct and reliable content, they should prevent the information confusion of the public. Considering that information forms the link between crisis management, crisis informatics, and information science, the present study was conducted to explain the role and functions of information science in crisis informatics.
Methods: The current research was conducted using a library method with an analytical approach and after reviewing previous studies to identify concepts related to the concept of crisis informatics. In this study, researchers first searched for materials related to the purpose of the research using keywords (crisis informatics, disaster informatics, informatics patterns of crisis, information science and crisis, information science and disasters, crisis informatics in disasters and social media) in databases including Google Scholar, Emerald, WebOscience, Scopus, ScienceDirect paid. The researchers examined the recovered. After reviewing the found texts, the researchers selected the related materials based on the purpose of the research and presented them in this article. In this research, by examining the concept, history, and patterns of information flow in crisis informatics and the role of information science specialists, an analytical review has been made on the importance of the role and position of information science specialists as crisis informatics in times of crisis.
Findings: The findings showed that although the importance of social media in a crisis is critical to researchers and many studies have covered it and paid attention to its role in gathering information during a crisis as well as providing aid, so far Informing people when dangerous events occur in social networks has not been given serious attention. Self-coordination through social media among citizens and providing aid to fellow citizens, through the advice of shared posts, helps to improve crisis conditions, and authorities use media for public communication during a crisis. However, obstacles such as the lack of personnel to verify and disseminate information are still challenges to the efficient use of social media by authorities. Also, data mining of citizens' behaviors is one of the issues through which authorities can identify wrong information and deal with it. Officials and crisis managers can identify the fundamental gaps in society and take action to solve them by obtaining public information. In social networks, due to the existence of two types of official and unofficial information, the flow of communication is also two-way. This means that both people and authorities send and receive information. As a result, the main focus of crisis informatics is information. These findings show that providing information during a crisis, especially health information to accident victims, is still a challenge, despite the commonality of crisis informatics and information science, no independent research has yet addressed this issue. At the same time, the common point of information science and informatics is the crisis and the main topic of both information. Information science specialists can play an essential role in crisis informatics due to their capacities to produce reliable information, verify information, manage and set up information systems, create databases, and facilitate and accelerate information recovery.
Conclusion: Crisis informatics is a field of study that has received much attention and is proliferating. And its importance during the last decade has made it a subject area of research activities. This relatively new field has emerged to ensure that the full potential of information and communication technologies is maximized to improve decisions and actions at various stages of crisis management. Examining the definitions shows that crisis informatics is sometimes defined only in interaction with social networks (Palen et al., 2020), and sometimes it is generally understood in interaction with technology (Soden, 2017; Palen et al., 2009). In some cases, it has been proposed as a social system that is created as a result of communication between different groups (Soden, 2017; Palen and Soden, 2018; Palen and Anderson, 2016). But the commonality of all the above definitions can be seen as the existence of the social system and the interaction of humans and information. This field collects data from social reactions to crises and incidents and analyzes the results. Based on this, crisis informatics can be defined as the response of human groups to crises and incidents in the context of information technology. The increasing importance of social media in conflicts and crises has made people use them with more interest. People share feelings, thoughts and images with their friends on these media. During the crisis, this process increases. Most important events are quickly released to the public before they even hit the news. Although information on social networks may contain true and false information, including rumors. But these media are among the most important media for providing information about accidents and the condition of people who have been injured. Research on crisis informatics and social media has also shown that emergency services departments can use social media to obtain valuable information (e. g. eyewitness reports, images, or videos) that help them Inform about disaster situations so that they can send their immediate aid. Of course, due to the emerging nature of crisis informatics, we can expect to see more precise and more developed definitions in the future. Of course, the maturity of the field of crisis informatics requires providing a comprehensive, accurate, and precise definition, which in this study was tried to be formulated based on the theoretical background of the research.
The review of informatics literature also showed that this emerging field is an interdisciplinary research field that includes several different disciplines. Among them, the field of information and communication technology, health/medicine, and information systems play the most crucial role. It was also found that despite the centrality of information and its importance in the crisis, so far no research has been done on the role of information science and information specialists in informatics. Because information is very critical in all stages of a crisis and, accordingly, crisis informatics, the field of information science can play a crucial role in the best performance of crisis informatics. Validation of information was identified as one of the functions of this field, because the combination of a large volume of official information sources and content produced by citizens adds to the information load in crises. This increases uncertainty and difficulty in deciding who and what sources are trustworthy. Deciding which information providers and sources to trust in a crisis is very essential because acting on reliable information can shape and influence the nature of the crisis. Verification of the accuracy of this information can be done by experts in the field of information science.
Providing the information needs of people involved in the crisis, such as citizens, organizations, non-governmental groups, etc., can also be included in the scope of the duties of specialists in the field of information science. One of the primary needs after a crisis is accurate information, and this is what information specialists and librarians are trained for. This group can provide critical information to support the performance of local authorities, emergency managers, police, fire, and medical personnel. Librarians are trained to provide accurate information in various formats and are fast to solve problems. Most importantly, the general public considers librarians to be closer, more accessible, and more reliable than the employees of government agencies. Also, the organization of information recovery tools can be part of the roles of this field in crisis informatics. Controlling and directing the correct flow of information, and designing and implementing banks and information systems are also included in the activities of specialists in the field of information science. Summarized to the "right" person at the "right" time using a suitable platform for specific needs and groups. With population growth and ecological changes (such as climate changes, nature changes, and the destruction of many non-renewable natural resources), it is necessary to think of measures to prevent abnormal events in emergencies. The emergence of artificial intelligence technology and its use in information systems as well as social networks promises that the use of this technology will be fruitful in investigating the possibility of accidents and it is easy to provide people with the correct information in an intelligent way. Also, the authorities will strengthen their communication with the community through this technology. Promoting smartphones and increasing bandwidth to high-risk areas will also facilitate data recovery in times of crisis and increase self-organization among people affected by accidents.
Methods: The current research was conducted using a library method with an analytical approach and after reviewing previous studies to identify concepts related to the concept of crisis informatics. In this study, researchers first searched for materials related to the purpose of the research using keywords (crisis informatics, disaster informatics, informatics patterns of crisis, information science and crisis, information science and disasters, crisis informatics in disasters and social media) in databases including Google Scholar, Emerald, WebOscience, Scopus, ScienceDirect paid. The researchers examined the recovered. After reviewing the found texts, the researchers selected the related materials based on the purpose of the research and presented them in this article. In this research, by examining the concept, history, and patterns of information flow in crisis informatics and the role of information science specialists, an analytical review has been made on the importance of the role and position of information science specialists as crisis informatics in times of crisis.
Findings: The findings showed that although the importance of social media in a crisis is critical to researchers and many studies have covered it and paid attention to its role in gathering information during a crisis as well as providing aid, so far Informing people when dangerous events occur in social networks has not been given serious attention. Self-coordination through social media among citizens and providing aid to fellow citizens, through the advice of shared posts, helps to improve crisis conditions, and authorities use media for public communication during a crisis. However, obstacles such as the lack of personnel to verify and disseminate information are still challenges to the efficient use of social media by authorities. Also, data mining of citizens' behaviors is one of the issues through which authorities can identify wrong information and deal with it. Officials and crisis managers can identify the fundamental gaps in society and take action to solve them by obtaining public information. In social networks, due to the existence of two types of official and unofficial information, the flow of communication is also two-way. This means that both people and authorities send and receive information. As a result, the main focus of crisis informatics is information. These findings show that providing information during a crisis, especially health information to accident victims, is still a challenge, despite the commonality of crisis informatics and information science, no independent research has yet addressed this issue. At the same time, the common point of information science and informatics is the crisis and the main topic of both information. Information science specialists can play an essential role in crisis informatics due to their capacities to produce reliable information, verify information, manage and set up information systems, create databases, and facilitate and accelerate information recovery.
Conclusion: Crisis informatics is a field of study that has received much attention and is proliferating. And its importance during the last decade has made it a subject area of research activities. This relatively new field has emerged to ensure that the full potential of information and communication technologies is maximized to improve decisions and actions at various stages of crisis management. Examining the definitions shows that crisis informatics is sometimes defined only in interaction with social networks (Palen et al., 2020), and sometimes it is generally understood in interaction with technology (Soden, 2017; Palen et al., 2009). In some cases, it has been proposed as a social system that is created as a result of communication between different groups (Soden, 2017; Palen and Soden, 2018; Palen and Anderson, 2016). But the commonality of all the above definitions can be seen as the existence of the social system and the interaction of humans and information. This field collects data from social reactions to crises and incidents and analyzes the results. Based on this, crisis informatics can be defined as the response of human groups to crises and incidents in the context of information technology. The increasing importance of social media in conflicts and crises has made people use them with more interest. People share feelings, thoughts and images with their friends on these media. During the crisis, this process increases. Most important events are quickly released to the public before they even hit the news. Although information on social networks may contain true and false information, including rumors. But these media are among the most important media for providing information about accidents and the condition of people who have been injured. Research on crisis informatics and social media has also shown that emergency services departments can use social media to obtain valuable information (e. g. eyewitness reports, images, or videos) that help them Inform about disaster situations so that they can send their immediate aid. Of course, due to the emerging nature of crisis informatics, we can expect to see more precise and more developed definitions in the future. Of course, the maturity of the field of crisis informatics requires providing a comprehensive, accurate, and precise definition, which in this study was tried to be formulated based on the theoretical background of the research.
The review of informatics literature also showed that this emerging field is an interdisciplinary research field that includes several different disciplines. Among them, the field of information and communication technology, health/medicine, and information systems play the most crucial role. It was also found that despite the centrality of information and its importance in the crisis, so far no research has been done on the role of information science and information specialists in informatics. Because information is very critical in all stages of a crisis and, accordingly, crisis informatics, the field of information science can play a crucial role in the best performance of crisis informatics. Validation of information was identified as one of the functions of this field, because the combination of a large volume of official information sources and content produced by citizens adds to the information load in crises. This increases uncertainty and difficulty in deciding who and what sources are trustworthy. Deciding which information providers and sources to trust in a crisis is very essential because acting on reliable information can shape and influence the nature of the crisis. Verification of the accuracy of this information can be done by experts in the field of information science.
Providing the information needs of people involved in the crisis, such as citizens, organizations, non-governmental groups, etc., can also be included in the scope of the duties of specialists in the field of information science. One of the primary needs after a crisis is accurate information, and this is what information specialists and librarians are trained for. This group can provide critical information to support the performance of local authorities, emergency managers, police, fire, and medical personnel. Librarians are trained to provide accurate information in various formats and are fast to solve problems. Most importantly, the general public considers librarians to be closer, more accessible, and more reliable than the employees of government agencies. Also, the organization of information recovery tools can be part of the roles of this field in crisis informatics. Controlling and directing the correct flow of information, and designing and implementing banks and information systems are also included in the activities of specialists in the field of information science. Summarized to the "right" person at the "right" time using a suitable platform for specific needs and groups. With population growth and ecological changes (such as climate changes, nature changes, and the destruction of many non-renewable natural resources), it is necessary to think of measures to prevent abnormal events in emergencies. The emergence of artificial intelligence technology and its use in information systems as well as social networks promises that the use of this technology will be fruitful in investigating the possibility of accidents and it is easy to provide people with the correct information in an intelligent way. Also, the authorities will strengthen their communication with the community through this technology. Promoting smartphones and increasing bandwidth to high-risk areas will also facilitate data recovery in times of crisis and increase self-organization among people affected by accidents.
Samaneh Shadmanfar, Fatemeh Fahimnia, Abdolreza Noroozi Chakoli, Javad Taghizadeh Naeeni,
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Volume 10, Issue 4 (3-2024)
Abstract
In today’s hyper-connected world, personal reputation has become an essential currency in digital interactions, particularly within social networks. This research seeks to establish a comprehensive conceptual framework for personal reputation management, spotlighting the crucial need to comprehend how individuals successfully navigate and curate their reputations in an increasingly intricate digital landscape. Social media platforms, transcending their traditional roles as mere communication tools, have transformed into significant arenas for identity construction, negotiation, and maintenance. As individuals engage in these digital platforms, the management of personal reputation emerges as both a strategic endeavor and a reflective practice that mirrors the complexities of real-world interactions. The guiding inquiry of this study delves into the methods by which social network users actively manage their online personal reputations through the strategic use of online information. Furthermore, this research probes the intriguing question of whether social media users exhibit citation behaviors akin to those of academic researchers when engaged in reputation management.
Methods and Materoal
To investigate the dynamics of personal reputation management within digital contexts, a multi-stage qualitative research design was adopted. The research involved primary data collection methods, notably daily journal entries and semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of thirty professionals and managers hailing from various industries. The selection of participants was intentional, focusing on individuals who demonstrated significant engagement with prominent social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. This approach facilitated an in-depth examination of how distinct digital environments shape the strategies employed in reputation management.
The data collected underwent thematic analysis, which pinpointed six overarching themes along with nineteen sub-themes, categorized under two principal dimensions: “Identity Creation” and “Reputation Management.” This structured analytical framework provided a nuanced comprehension of participants’ perceptions regarding their online identities. It also illuminated the various strategies utilized in sustaining and enhancing their reputations across digital platforms. Through meticulous analysis, the research aimed to understand the interplay between identity formation and reputation management, shedding light on how individuals curate their online presence with intention and awareness.
Resultss and Discussion
The findings from this research unveil compelling insights into how users construct their online identities, revealing a nuanced approach where individuals present differing facets of their authentic selves rather than fabricating entirely new personas. Reported behaviors reflected a deliberate variation in information-sharing strategies across different social media platforms. For instance, LinkedIn emerged as the primary platform for professional interactions, whereas Twitter served as a space for personal discourse. In contrast, Instagram was viewed as a hybrid environment where users skillfully blended personal narratives with professional achievements.
A significant theme that surfaced during the analysis was the importance of communication management and information censorship, pivotal elements for effective reputation protection. Participants actively engaged in what can be termed “border management,” intentionally segregating personal and professional realms to mitigate conflicts and maintain a positive, coherent online image. This strategic separation underscores how perception management is intricately linked to individuals’ overarching reputational goals.
Interestingly, the study highlighted behavioral parallels to academic citation practices. Users bolstered their connections and credibility through various actions such as liking, reposting, and tagging—actions that resonate with how researchers cite academic work to fortify their scholarly networks. A notable observation was the tendency among participants to seek alignment with influential figures, not dissimilar to the methodical referencing found within academic literature. This alignment serves to enhance perceived credibility and fosters a sense of belonging within a broader digital community.
Moreover, users employed various self-promotion strategies by sharing achievements, milestones, and strategically curated content aimed at cultivating an appealing online presence. These practices inadvertently mirrored academic reputational building methods, revealing that individuals often adopt scholarly behaviors in their quest for personal reputation management, albeit subconsciously. Such insights suggest that the line between professional and personal reputation management is increasingly blurred in digital environments.
Conclusion
This research significantly illuminates the intricate relationship between online behavior and personal reputation management. The convergence of information-sharing behaviors with citation-like practices within social networks suggests that users may be more influenced by academic conventions than they consciously recognize. The citation-mimicking actions, though often unintentional, play a crucial role in shaping how credibility and reputation are perceived in digital interactions.
Contributing valuable insights into the interplay between online information and reputation management, this study offers a robust framework for future research in both information science and behavioral studies. The findings underscore the necessity for a nuanced understanding of digital reputation strategies and provide essential guidance for individuals and organizations seeking to enhance their online presence. Future research endeavors can delve deeper into demographic-specific approaches to reputation management, allowing for the development of tailored strategies that cater to diverse audiences. As social media continues to evolve, understanding the dynamics of personal reputation management will remain pivotal in navigating the complexities of digital identities.
Methods and Materoal
To investigate the dynamics of personal reputation management within digital contexts, a multi-stage qualitative research design was adopted. The research involved primary data collection methods, notably daily journal entries and semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of thirty professionals and managers hailing from various industries. The selection of participants was intentional, focusing on individuals who demonstrated significant engagement with prominent social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. This approach facilitated an in-depth examination of how distinct digital environments shape the strategies employed in reputation management.
The data collected underwent thematic analysis, which pinpointed six overarching themes along with nineteen sub-themes, categorized under two principal dimensions: “Identity Creation” and “Reputation Management.” This structured analytical framework provided a nuanced comprehension of participants’ perceptions regarding their online identities. It also illuminated the various strategies utilized in sustaining and enhancing their reputations across digital platforms. Through meticulous analysis, the research aimed to understand the interplay between identity formation and reputation management, shedding light on how individuals curate their online presence with intention and awareness.
Resultss and Discussion
The findings from this research unveil compelling insights into how users construct their online identities, revealing a nuanced approach where individuals present differing facets of their authentic selves rather than fabricating entirely new personas. Reported behaviors reflected a deliberate variation in information-sharing strategies across different social media platforms. For instance, LinkedIn emerged as the primary platform for professional interactions, whereas Twitter served as a space for personal discourse. In contrast, Instagram was viewed as a hybrid environment where users skillfully blended personal narratives with professional achievements.
A significant theme that surfaced during the analysis was the importance of communication management and information censorship, pivotal elements for effective reputation protection. Participants actively engaged in what can be termed “border management,” intentionally segregating personal and professional realms to mitigate conflicts and maintain a positive, coherent online image. This strategic separation underscores how perception management is intricately linked to individuals’ overarching reputational goals.
Interestingly, the study highlighted behavioral parallels to academic citation practices. Users bolstered their connections and credibility through various actions such as liking, reposting, and tagging—actions that resonate with how researchers cite academic work to fortify their scholarly networks. A notable observation was the tendency among participants to seek alignment with influential figures, not dissimilar to the methodical referencing found within academic literature. This alignment serves to enhance perceived credibility and fosters a sense of belonging within a broader digital community.
Moreover, users employed various self-promotion strategies by sharing achievements, milestones, and strategically curated content aimed at cultivating an appealing online presence. These practices inadvertently mirrored academic reputational building methods, revealing that individuals often adopt scholarly behaviors in their quest for personal reputation management, albeit subconsciously. Such insights suggest that the line between professional and personal reputation management is increasingly blurred in digital environments.
Conclusion
This research significantly illuminates the intricate relationship between online behavior and personal reputation management. The convergence of information-sharing behaviors with citation-like practices within social networks suggests that users may be more influenced by academic conventions than they consciously recognize. The citation-mimicking actions, though often unintentional, play a crucial role in shaping how credibility and reputation are perceived in digital interactions.
Contributing valuable insights into the interplay between online information and reputation management, this study offers a robust framework for future research in both information science and behavioral studies. The findings underscore the necessity for a nuanced understanding of digital reputation strategies and provide essential guidance for individuals and organizations seeking to enhance their online presence. Future research endeavors can delve deeper into demographic-specific approaches to reputation management, allowing for the development of tailored strategies that cater to diverse audiences. As social media continues to evolve, understanding the dynamics of personal reputation management will remain pivotal in navigating the complexities of digital identities.
Abolghasem Karimi, Alireza Rousta, Majid Ahmadi, Saeid Daniali,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Abstract
Information search strategies change rapidly in continuous mode, and successive searches gradually teach the user what can be retrieved inside the system. Users must be able to interact with the system appropriately to achieve their information needs. The information revolution is not a new issue, but understanding information seeking behavior is important and vital in this era. In future projects, extraordinary efforts should be made to create intelligent systems. Therefore, success or failure in this matter is not the responsibility of the new information technology, but it requires awareness of human needs and his behavior to obtain information. Therefore, in the companies based in Pardis Technology Park, according to the technology-oriented approach and innovation, it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of market information learning and joint innovative capacities to improve the organization's performance. Generally, because the environment and technology are constantly and rapidly changing, and specifically, the demographic characteristics of customers and their expectations undergo changes and transformations, Certainly, in order to have a successful presence in the national and international arena and their dynamism, as well as greater adaptation to environmental changes, these companies should aim to activate their potentials through improving the performance of the organization. In fact, this research seeks to answer the question of what is the role of explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the organization's performance with an information approach?
Methods and Materoal
This research is based on the applied purpose and according to the descriptive type of correlation, according to the model, we should use the structural equation modeling method. The statistical community of the research is top and middle managers of companies that are members of Pardis Technology Park in Tehran. Using Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as a sample and 400 questionnaires were distributed by available sampling method and 387 questionnaires were collected in 50 companies. The data collection method of this research was done by library method and using books and articles, and questionnaire was used in the field method. To measure the variable of market information learning ability with 7 items, internal learning ability with 10 items, relational learning ability with 7 items and administrative innovation with 6 items from Teece et al., 1997; Weerawardena et al., 2015; and to measure the variable of service innovation with 4 items and organization performance with 5 items from Thakur & Hale, 2013 questionnaire; and to measure the variable of shared innovative capacities with 3 items, Oly Ndubisi et al., 2019 questionnaire was used.
Resultss and Discussion
Demographic characteristics of the sample include gender, age and education. In the method of structural equation modeling, the fit of the model is checked to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the findings before implementing the model to test the hypotheses. Also, Cronbach's alpha indices of combined reliability of average variance were extracted and the coefficient of determination was used to measure the model. The average values of the extracted variance of all 7 model structures are at the optimal level. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability is for all model constructs, so the questionnaire has good and acceptable reliability. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability for all model constructs is more than 0/7, so the questionnaire has acceptable and acceptable reliability. The value of R2 for the endogenous constructs of the research confirms the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model. The results of the Q2 criterion for the endogenous structure indicate the appropriate predictive power of the model regarding the endogenous constructs of the research and indicate that the fitting model has appropriate and favorable predictive power. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to measure the reliability and validity of the measurement scale. The final results of the confirmatory factor analysis are reported in Table No. 4. Factor loadings greater than 5% have good validity. Figure 1, shows the confirmatory factor analysis for the whole model. Figure 2, shows the analysis of significant coefficients for the whole model. Since all the numbers on the paths are above 1/96%, it indicates the significance of the paths, the appropriateness of the structural model and the confirmation of all research hypotheses. The GOF criterion was used for the overall fit of the model, Since three values of 0/01, 0/25 and 0/36 are determined as weak, medium and strong values for GOF and on the other hand, the coefficient is in a good condition (0/598), Therefore, the results show that the fit of the model in the statistical population of the research is appropriate. Also, the t-test for all hypotheses is greater than 1/96. Therefore, with 95% confidence, the relationship between the variables is significant.
Conclusion
The present research was done by explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the performance of the organization with an information approach. Organizational performance is a valuable activity at the community level. It also has a fundamental role in the economy and is considered as a useful tool to achieve economic growth and benefits of the organization. In fact, it is like an umbrella that includes all concepts related to the success and activities of the entire organization. In this research, 7 hypotheses were tested and the results of the hypothesis analysis indicate that the ability to learn market information plays a role in the internal learning ability (0/945) and the ability to learn interfaces (0/785) and internal learning ability (0/220) and interface learning ability (0/662) have been effective on administrative innovation. Also, administrative innovation has had an effect on the organization's performance (0/488), and shared innovative capacities have a significant effect on service innovation (0/904). Finally, service innovation has played a role in the organization's performance (0/590).
Methods and Materoal
This research is based on the applied purpose and according to the descriptive type of correlation, according to the model, we should use the structural equation modeling method. The statistical community of the research is top and middle managers of companies that are members of Pardis Technology Park in Tehran. Using Cochran's formula, 384 people were selected as a sample and 400 questionnaires were distributed by available sampling method and 387 questionnaires were collected in 50 companies. The data collection method of this research was done by library method and using books and articles, and questionnaire was used in the field method. To measure the variable of market information learning ability with 7 items, internal learning ability with 10 items, relational learning ability with 7 items and administrative innovation with 6 items from Teece et al., 1997; Weerawardena et al., 2015; and to measure the variable of service innovation with 4 items and organization performance with 5 items from Thakur & Hale, 2013 questionnaire; and to measure the variable of shared innovative capacities with 3 items, Oly Ndubisi et al., 2019 questionnaire was used.
Resultss and Discussion
Demographic characteristics of the sample include gender, age and education. In the method of structural equation modeling, the fit of the model is checked to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the findings before implementing the model to test the hypotheses. Also, Cronbach's alpha indices of combined reliability of average variance were extracted and the coefficient of determination was used to measure the model. The average values of the extracted variance of all 7 model structures are at the optimal level. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability is for all model constructs, so the questionnaire has good and acceptable reliability. The amount of Cronbach's alpha and combined reliability for all model constructs is more than 0/7, so the questionnaire has acceptable and acceptable reliability. The value of R2 for the endogenous constructs of the research confirms the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model. The results of the Q2 criterion for the endogenous structure indicate the appropriate predictive power of the model regarding the endogenous constructs of the research and indicate that the fitting model has appropriate and favorable predictive power. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to measure the reliability and validity of the measurement scale. The final results of the confirmatory factor analysis are reported in Table No. 4. Factor loadings greater than 5% have good validity. Figure 1, shows the confirmatory factor analysis for the whole model. Figure 2, shows the analysis of significant coefficients for the whole model. Since all the numbers on the paths are above 1/96%, it indicates the significance of the paths, the appropriateness of the structural model and the confirmation of all research hypotheses. The GOF criterion was used for the overall fit of the model, Since three values of 0/01, 0/25 and 0/36 are determined as weak, medium and strong values for GOF and on the other hand, the coefficient is in a good condition (0/598), Therefore, the results show that the fit of the model in the statistical population of the research is appropriate. Also, the t-test for all hypotheses is greater than 1/96. Therefore, with 95% confidence, the relationship between the variables is significant.
Conclusion
The present research was done by explaining the effect of market information learning ability and joint innovative capacities on the performance of the organization with an information approach. Organizational performance is a valuable activity at the community level. It also has a fundamental role in the economy and is considered as a useful tool to achieve economic growth and benefits of the organization. In fact, it is like an umbrella that includes all concepts related to the success and activities of the entire organization. In this research, 7 hypotheses were tested and the results of the hypothesis analysis indicate that the ability to learn market information plays a role in the internal learning ability (0/945) and the ability to learn interfaces (0/785) and internal learning ability (0/220) and interface learning ability (0/662) have been effective on administrative innovation. Also, administrative innovation has had an effect on the organization's performance (0/488), and shared innovative capacities have a significant effect on service innovation (0/904). Finally, service innovation has played a role in the organization's performance (0/590).
Abdulamir Mabhoot, Mohammad Reza Farhadpoor, Ebrahim Hoseini,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Abstract
One of the most important current debates in organizational information security is information leakage. Information leakage, which refers to the unauthorized sharing of information by one organization with another, is one of the serious problems faced by organizations. Information leakage can cause losses to the company and affect its ability to gain a competitive advantage. Information leakage includes two types of leakage or intentional or unintentional disclosure of data or exclusive content to unauthorized persons. Intentional information leakage includes the intentional disclosure of information by employees to unauthorized persons. Deliberate information leakage is often caused by employee dissatisfaction with the company or a motive for personal gain. The main cause of intentional information leakage is revenge or unethical behavior of employees who are willing to betray their company or disclose sensitive information to competitors. In other words, if employees are not aware of how much information to disclose to outsiders, then unwanted/inadvertent information leakage may occur. These cases damage the reputation of the organization, its income and business. As a result, the pervasiveness of this uncertainty about information security in the work environment puts the organization's information assets at risk. In order to minimize or prevent information leakage, it is important to investigate and identify the factors that lead to this happening.
Regardless of the type of information leakage and the related motives, the impact of these actions in itself can lead to financial losses, disruption of the organization, loss of reputation and long-term impact on the organizational culture. Although the phenomenon of information leakage may happen in any organization; But considering the opportunities and values that every organization loses as a result, its importance can be understood. For this reason, the consequences of information leakage will be different from one organization to another, and accordingly, its degree of importance will also be different. The study and identification of factors affecting the phenomenon of information leakage is interesting from several aspects. First, the airport environment with the presence of various airlines is an example of a highly competitive market where the actions and operations of the airport are exposed to the customers. The second point is that the customers of the airport system are heterogeneous and may be people of different nationalities. Third point, the issue of security in airport systems is a complex and interesting phenomenon that is provided by the participation of different organizations. The fourth point is that the flow of information in the airport system is intense, intra-organizational and trans-organizational/cross-border. The fifth point is that the occurrence of an error in the flow of information in airport systems can have unfortunate human, financial, and other consequences. Considering these points, the present study was conducted at Ahvaz International Airport. Preventing information leakage is one of the most important security issues at Ahvaz International Airport. Because with the loss of data, the reputation of the airport is damaged and it loses its customers, it has to pay a high cost to fix the damages, and this will sometimes lead to the destruction of the organization. According to the mentioned contents, this research seeks to answer the question, what are the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport? How are they ranked? Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify and rank the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport using the Hierarchical Analysis Process.
Methods
Since the ultimate goal of the current research was to improve the understanding of the problem of information leakage as an important concern for the organization and to find a practical solution to reduce it, it is practical research in terms of the goal. Also, from the point of view of nature, the current research is descriptive-exploratory; Because what follows the data follower approach to "describe" and "interpret" the factors affecting organizational information leakage as it is. The research community was all information security experts in different parts of Ahvaz Airport; that by the snowball method (because it was difficult to identify the experts and the possibility of contacting and accessing them) 15 experts in the information security field of Ahvaz Airport (having relevant work experience of more than 15 years, a master's degree or higher and familiar with security issue and information leakage). In this study, the library method was used to compile the theoretical foundations of the research, the background of the research and the design of the decision tree. Then, the field method was used to distribute the five-point paired comparison questionnaire to collect data. The first questionnaire was taken from the research literature and was distributed among 15 experts using the Delphi technique. Opinions were sought from the expert group of the Delphi study, in the form of sending a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, consisting of 22 questions, in two rounds with the participation of 15 people, in such a way that first, the first questionnaire consisting of 22 questions was sent to the members of the Delphi group. After distributing and collecting completed questionnaires and evaluating the results of this Delphi round, 5 main factors and 21 important sub-factors were identified (laws and regulations sub-factor with an average of 2.87±83 and a t value of 0.61 was not recognized as significant and was excluded from the questionnaire for the second round) and after twenty days, from the initial opinion poll, the important factors were re-evaluated in order to conduct the next round of Delphi in the form of a questionnaire with 21 questions related to the important sub-factors, the collected data It showed the confirmation of all subfactors. Finally, the data was analyzed using the hierarchical analysis method and using Expert Choice software.
Resultss and Discussion
Based on the results, 5 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting organizational information leakage were identified. The weighting and prioritization of indicators showed that intentional individual factors (0.277) ranked first, unintentional individual factors (0.235) ranked second, organizational factors (0.188) ranked third, infrastructural factors (0.167) ranked fourth and environmental factors (0.133) ranked fifth.
Conclusion
The results showed that information leakage is a complex phenomenon that various individual, organizational, infrastructural and environmental factors are involved in its occurrence. However, the first and second rank of the intentional and unintentional dimensions of information leakage by individuals, on the one hand, indicate the complexity of the information leakage phenomenon, and on the other hand, require a review in the strategies related to human resources management in Ahvaz International Airport.
Based on the results, intentional individual factors with a weight of 0.277 were the first effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among intentional individual sub-factors, personal greed with a weight of 0.232 was the most important sub-factor and the experience of invasion of privacy with a weight of 0.078 was the least important sub-factor. The findings confirmed that intentional information leakage due to human factors should still be of concern to managers. Since it is not possible to abandon human factors in the organizational life cycle of information, managers should accept this challenge and look for appropriate mechanisms. In other words, despite human factors, organizations face the challenge of intentional or unintentional information leakage. Intentional leakage of information in the organization may have happened due to personal greed against organizational interests, where employees are willing to sell the organization's information to competitors for material reasons and prefer their interests over the interests of the organization. Jealousy of a company employee to colleagues or employees of competing companies, being dissatisfied with the company or feeling a grudge for any reason also causes the intentional leakage of information. Disgruntled employees may also intentionally disclose important information to unauthorized parties. Unintentional individual factors with a weight of 0.235 were the second most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among unintentional individual sub-factors, negligence with a weight of 0.283 was the most important sub-factor and the use of contract and temporary employees with a weight of 0.133 was the least important sub-factor. An inadvertent leak occurs when an insider inadvertently discloses business-critical information that is not intended to be shared with third parties. Unintentional individual threat is the potential behavior of an individual who has access to the network, system or data of an organization through an accidental act or action, without malicious intent, and causes damage or significantly increases the likelihood of serious damage in the future to confidentiality, integrity Or the value of the organization's information.
Organizational factors with a weight of 0.188 were the third most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the organizational sub-factors, lack of understanding the value of information with a weight of 0.392 was the most important sub-factor and lack of proper intra-organizational communication with a weight of 0.262 was the least important sub-factor. The first is a lack of understanding of the value of information. Employees evaluate information differently depending on the hierarchical level, the type of information and the type of organizational structure. Employees' perception of the value of information is described by various researchers as an important aspect. This lack of awareness leads to the fact that the value of information is not clear, so the negative consequences of information leakage are not taken seriously by them. The second case is inappropriate organizational structure. Large companies are sensitive to data protection in the long term. Smaller companies do not have such extensive awareness. In general, organizational structure in terms of formality and existing control mechanisms may affect information leakage. The third case is the lack of proper communication within the organization. To achieve shared understanding, communication is required to convey a set of necessary values and norms that define the rules or context of interaction. Infrastructural factors with a weight of 0.167 were the fourth most effective factor on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Similarly, among the infrastructure sub-factors, the weakness of information systems with a weight of 0.418 was the most important sub-factor and the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure with a weight of 0.258 was the least important sub-factor. The first is the weakness of information systems. Buying an incomplete information system and weak design of information systems may cause serious problems for organizations. Mechanisms that insiders use to perform business tasks based on their usual information systems can also be used to steal information assets. To prevent leakage and theft of information, mechanisms and protective measures against these methods should be used. The second case is improper use of physical means of data storage (hard drives, USB, CD, etc.). These days, most of the information inside the organization is stored electronically, the media of this information are hard drives, C drives. D. and U. S. etc.) are physical tools that are likely to be physically stolen. Preventing leakage with these devices requires implementing physical security measures. The third thing is the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure. The organization's networks are one of the essential parts of the organization's information technology infrastructure. There are several types of communication in the network. Internal-to-external communication includes any communication that is initiated within the boundaries of the organization and whose destination is outside the organization.
Finally, environmental factors with a weight of 0.133 were the fifth most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the environmental sub-factors, the stakeholders' request for information about security incidents with a weight of 0.416 was the most important sub-factor and the requirements of business partners with a weight of 0.259 was the least important sub-factor. One of the input sources that shape the behavior of people in an organization is the organizational environment. Employee decisions are influenced by environmental structure, the availability of environmental information, and the relevant meaning that employees assign to environmental information. The first case is the request of stakeholders to inform about security incidents. In the recent era, the demand for the type of information leakage events for companies is more intense, external and internal stakeholders are constantly concerned about maintaining a good public image of the organization. Overall, public interest in data breach incidents appears to exert pressure on organizations, while organizational responses are dynamic and appear to change over time. If stakeholder expectations are ignored and social influence is allowed to run its course, political and legal pressure will build, often leading to negative corporate outcomes. Stakeholder dissatisfaction arises when corporate actions do not meet societal expectations, and the gap between corporate actions and stakeholder expectations widens as public trust declines. Therefore, the greater the employees' understanding of information protection as a social expectation, the greater the perception of public leakage events as a threat to the company's image.
In general, the results show that information leakage is a major concern for organizations. In this context, the more the organization depends on information assets, the more relevant the concern of information leakage becomes. In such a situation, the taste of the competitors is stimulated more and more to think of the necessary mechanism to deal with it by getting the information of the organization, while being aware of the related organization's plans. Therefore, the identification of factors affecting information leakage in the form of 21 sub-factors in 5 groups provided the necessary insight to the managers of Ahvaz airport to strengthen the vulnerable points by adopting the necessary measures such as building trust, strengthening the sense of cooperation, observing professional ethics. , using motivational measures, raising awareness of the value of information, proper training of employees regarding information security, redesigning information systems, and designing targeted programs regarding information storage, sharing, and transfer.
Regardless of the type of information leakage and the related motives, the impact of these actions in itself can lead to financial losses, disruption of the organization, loss of reputation and long-term impact on the organizational culture. Although the phenomenon of information leakage may happen in any organization; But considering the opportunities and values that every organization loses as a result, its importance can be understood. For this reason, the consequences of information leakage will be different from one organization to another, and accordingly, its degree of importance will also be different. The study and identification of factors affecting the phenomenon of information leakage is interesting from several aspects. First, the airport environment with the presence of various airlines is an example of a highly competitive market where the actions and operations of the airport are exposed to the customers. The second point is that the customers of the airport system are heterogeneous and may be people of different nationalities. Third point, the issue of security in airport systems is a complex and interesting phenomenon that is provided by the participation of different organizations. The fourth point is that the flow of information in the airport system is intense, intra-organizational and trans-organizational/cross-border. The fifth point is that the occurrence of an error in the flow of information in airport systems can have unfortunate human, financial, and other consequences. Considering these points, the present study was conducted at Ahvaz International Airport. Preventing information leakage is one of the most important security issues at Ahvaz International Airport. Because with the loss of data, the reputation of the airport is damaged and it loses its customers, it has to pay a high cost to fix the damages, and this will sometimes lead to the destruction of the organization. According to the mentioned contents, this research seeks to answer the question, what are the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport? How are they ranked? Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify and rank the factors affecting organizational information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport using the Hierarchical Analysis Process.
Methods
Since the ultimate goal of the current research was to improve the understanding of the problem of information leakage as an important concern for the organization and to find a practical solution to reduce it, it is practical research in terms of the goal. Also, from the point of view of nature, the current research is descriptive-exploratory; Because what follows the data follower approach to "describe" and "interpret" the factors affecting organizational information leakage as it is. The research community was all information security experts in different parts of Ahvaz Airport; that by the snowball method (because it was difficult to identify the experts and the possibility of contacting and accessing them) 15 experts in the information security field of Ahvaz Airport (having relevant work experience of more than 15 years, a master's degree or higher and familiar with security issue and information leakage). In this study, the library method was used to compile the theoretical foundations of the research, the background of the research and the design of the decision tree. Then, the field method was used to distribute the five-point paired comparison questionnaire to collect data. The first questionnaire was taken from the research literature and was distributed among 15 experts using the Delphi technique. Opinions were sought from the expert group of the Delphi study, in the form of sending a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, consisting of 22 questions, in two rounds with the participation of 15 people, in such a way that first, the first questionnaire consisting of 22 questions was sent to the members of the Delphi group. After distributing and collecting completed questionnaires and evaluating the results of this Delphi round, 5 main factors and 21 important sub-factors were identified (laws and regulations sub-factor with an average of 2.87±83 and a t value of 0.61 was not recognized as significant and was excluded from the questionnaire for the second round) and after twenty days, from the initial opinion poll, the important factors were re-evaluated in order to conduct the next round of Delphi in the form of a questionnaire with 21 questions related to the important sub-factors, the collected data It showed the confirmation of all subfactors. Finally, the data was analyzed using the hierarchical analysis method and using Expert Choice software.
Resultss and Discussion
Based on the results, 5 main factors and 21 sub-factors affecting organizational information leakage were identified. The weighting and prioritization of indicators showed that intentional individual factors (0.277) ranked first, unintentional individual factors (0.235) ranked second, organizational factors (0.188) ranked third, infrastructural factors (0.167) ranked fourth and environmental factors (0.133) ranked fifth.
Conclusion
The results showed that information leakage is a complex phenomenon that various individual, organizational, infrastructural and environmental factors are involved in its occurrence. However, the first and second rank of the intentional and unintentional dimensions of information leakage by individuals, on the one hand, indicate the complexity of the information leakage phenomenon, and on the other hand, require a review in the strategies related to human resources management in Ahvaz International Airport.
Based on the results, intentional individual factors with a weight of 0.277 were the first effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among intentional individual sub-factors, personal greed with a weight of 0.232 was the most important sub-factor and the experience of invasion of privacy with a weight of 0.078 was the least important sub-factor. The findings confirmed that intentional information leakage due to human factors should still be of concern to managers. Since it is not possible to abandon human factors in the organizational life cycle of information, managers should accept this challenge and look for appropriate mechanisms. In other words, despite human factors, organizations face the challenge of intentional or unintentional information leakage. Intentional leakage of information in the organization may have happened due to personal greed against organizational interests, where employees are willing to sell the organization's information to competitors for material reasons and prefer their interests over the interests of the organization. Jealousy of a company employee to colleagues or employees of competing companies, being dissatisfied with the company or feeling a grudge for any reason also causes the intentional leakage of information. Disgruntled employees may also intentionally disclose important information to unauthorized parties. Unintentional individual factors with a weight of 0.235 were the second most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among unintentional individual sub-factors, negligence with a weight of 0.283 was the most important sub-factor and the use of contract and temporary employees with a weight of 0.133 was the least important sub-factor. An inadvertent leak occurs when an insider inadvertently discloses business-critical information that is not intended to be shared with third parties. Unintentional individual threat is the potential behavior of an individual who has access to the network, system or data of an organization through an accidental act or action, without malicious intent, and causes damage or significantly increases the likelihood of serious damage in the future to confidentiality, integrity Or the value of the organization's information.
Organizational factors with a weight of 0.188 were the third most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the organizational sub-factors, lack of understanding the value of information with a weight of 0.392 was the most important sub-factor and lack of proper intra-organizational communication with a weight of 0.262 was the least important sub-factor. The first is a lack of understanding of the value of information. Employees evaluate information differently depending on the hierarchical level, the type of information and the type of organizational structure. Employees' perception of the value of information is described by various researchers as an important aspect. This lack of awareness leads to the fact that the value of information is not clear, so the negative consequences of information leakage are not taken seriously by them. The second case is inappropriate organizational structure. Large companies are sensitive to data protection in the long term. Smaller companies do not have such extensive awareness. In general, organizational structure in terms of formality and existing control mechanisms may affect information leakage. The third case is the lack of proper communication within the organization. To achieve shared understanding, communication is required to convey a set of necessary values and norms that define the rules or context of interaction. Infrastructural factors with a weight of 0.167 were the fourth most effective factor on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Similarly, among the infrastructure sub-factors, the weakness of information systems with a weight of 0.418 was the most important sub-factor and the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure with a weight of 0.258 was the least important sub-factor. The first is the weakness of information systems. Buying an incomplete information system and weak design of information systems may cause serious problems for organizations. Mechanisms that insiders use to perform business tasks based on their usual information systems can also be used to steal information assets. To prevent leakage and theft of information, mechanisms and protective measures against these methods should be used. The second case is improper use of physical means of data storage (hard drives, USB, CD, etc.). These days, most of the information inside the organization is stored electronically, the media of this information are hard drives, C drives. D. and U. S. etc.) are physical tools that are likely to be physically stolen. Preventing leakage with these devices requires implementing physical security measures. The third thing is the presence of security holes in the network infrastructure. The organization's networks are one of the essential parts of the organization's information technology infrastructure. There are several types of communication in the network. Internal-to-external communication includes any communication that is initiated within the boundaries of the organization and whose destination is outside the organization.
Finally, environmental factors with a weight of 0.133 were the fifth most effective factors on information leakage in Ahvaz International Airport. Also, among the environmental sub-factors, the stakeholders' request for information about security incidents with a weight of 0.416 was the most important sub-factor and the requirements of business partners with a weight of 0.259 was the least important sub-factor. One of the input sources that shape the behavior of people in an organization is the organizational environment. Employee decisions are influenced by environmental structure, the availability of environmental information, and the relevant meaning that employees assign to environmental information. The first case is the request of stakeholders to inform about security incidents. In the recent era, the demand for the type of information leakage events for companies is more intense, external and internal stakeholders are constantly concerned about maintaining a good public image of the organization. Overall, public interest in data breach incidents appears to exert pressure on organizations, while organizational responses are dynamic and appear to change over time. If stakeholder expectations are ignored and social influence is allowed to run its course, political and legal pressure will build, often leading to negative corporate outcomes. Stakeholder dissatisfaction arises when corporate actions do not meet societal expectations, and the gap between corporate actions and stakeholder expectations widens as public trust declines. Therefore, the greater the employees' understanding of information protection as a social expectation, the greater the perception of public leakage events as a threat to the company's image.
In general, the results show that information leakage is a major concern for organizations. In this context, the more the organization depends on information assets, the more relevant the concern of information leakage becomes. In such a situation, the taste of the competitors is stimulated more and more to think of the necessary mechanism to deal with it by getting the information of the organization, while being aware of the related organization's plans. Therefore, the identification of factors affecting information leakage in the form of 21 sub-factors in 5 groups provided the necessary insight to the managers of Ahvaz airport to strengthen the vulnerable points by adopting the necessary measures such as building trust, strengthening the sense of cooperation, observing professional ethics. , using motivational measures, raising awareness of the value of information, proper training of employees regarding information security, redesigning information systems, and designing targeted programs regarding information storage, sharing, and transfer.
ِdr Shahnaz Khademizadeh, Mrs Fatemeh Rafieinasab, Dr Natarajan Radhakrishnan,
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 1 (6-2024)
Abstract
Introduction
With the emergence of the Internet and the expansion of information technologies in the current era, along with the increase in awareness and literacy levels in human societies, there has been a growing interest in accessing information in various fields. One type of information that has always captivated the general public is health-related information, as it directly impacts their quality of life. Health information encompasses a wide range of data that can influence decisions related to individual and social well-being. Electronic health resources play a crucial role in helping individuals manage important health issues, make informed decisions about their health, and communicate with healthcare providers. Studies have shown that internet users not only exhibit better adherence to treatment, reduced anxiety, and a greater sense of security, but also demonstrate improved self-care behaviors compared to those who do not utilize online resources (Riahi, 2017). By seeking health information online, individuals can gain a better understanding of their health status, which in turn can lead to the formation of informed opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards healthy behaviors, ultimately aiding in making informed decisions regarding healthcare (Ahedzadeh and Sharif, 2017; Brown, Skelly, Chew-Graham, 2020). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the health information-seeking behavior of clients within health and treatment networks in Ahvaz city.
Methods and Materoal
The current research is an experimental study conducted using the pre-test and post-test intervention method. The research population consisted of 40 clients from Ahvaz Medical Center, whose average score of health information-seeking behavior was one point below the average. Of these, 20 individuals were randomly assigned to the control group. Additionally, two groups of 20 people each were formed using block randomization: one as the control group and the other as the test group for the intervention. The educational intervention took the form of a 4-hour online training workshop. To assess changes in online health information search behaviors, uncertainty, and cyberchondria in the study group, the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) method was utilized. The protocol used for online education on social networks was the SDI protocol (Bhushan 2006, Juyani et al. 2022). A questionnaire served as the data collection tool, completed by the test groups within one month and returned to the researchers. Data collection occurred at baseline (pre-intervention) and at one, two, and three months post-intervention. Baseline scores were used as covariates in the model to adjust for differences between the control and intervention groups. The results of the GEE model reflected changes in the desired factors at the three measurement points post-intervention. Furthermore, Bonferroni's post hoc test was employed to compare the distribution of online health information search scores, uncertainty, and cyberchondria between the two groups at each time point. All analyses were conducted using SPSS software version 26.
Resultss and Discussion
Findings: There was no significant difference in the effect of the educational intervention on changes in the online health information search score (P>0.05). For the control group, the average uncertainty score increased over time. However, there was a significant difference in the effect of the educational intervention on changes in the uncertainty score (P<0.001). Results of the external post-hoc test comparing changes in the uncertainty score between the two intervention groups and the control group showed a significant difference in the distribution of uncertainty scores before the intervention (P>0.046), as well as two and three months after the intervention (P>0.001). Additionally, there was a significant difference in the cyberchondria score before the intervention (P>0.076) and three months after the intervention (P>0.025) in each case.
Conclusion
Health information behavior training is a positive step towards increasing the decision-making self-efficacy of community members and patients. When combined with other efforts to promote health and care, it can lead to improved health outcomes. The effectiveness of educational interventions in different groups depends on the methods, materials, and content used. This study found that a patient educational intervention aimed at teaching information-seeking behavior skills to health center visitors had a positive impact on reducing cyberchondria and increasing certainty. The availability of information search platforms, the type of sources used, and the ability to utilize them based on age requirements are important factors in information seeking (Bahadir and Dundar, 2022). Uncertainty and doubt can drive individuals to seek health information online (Khademizadeh, Rafieinasab and Radhakrishnan, 2024), making educational interventions focused on empowerment dimensions beneficial in improving clinical and psychological outcomes. These interventions can enhance quality of life for both society and patients, taking into account factors such as age, education, occupation, and income status. This research presents a new approach to educational interventions that are cost-effective, accessible, and complication-free for health management and promotion in society.
With the emergence of the Internet and the expansion of information technologies in the current era, along with the increase in awareness and literacy levels in human societies, there has been a growing interest in accessing information in various fields. One type of information that has always captivated the general public is health-related information, as it directly impacts their quality of life. Health information encompasses a wide range of data that can influence decisions related to individual and social well-being. Electronic health resources play a crucial role in helping individuals manage important health issues, make informed decisions about their health, and communicate with healthcare providers. Studies have shown that internet users not only exhibit better adherence to treatment, reduced anxiety, and a greater sense of security, but also demonstrate improved self-care behaviors compared to those who do not utilize online resources (Riahi, 2017). By seeking health information online, individuals can gain a better understanding of their health status, which in turn can lead to the formation of informed opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards healthy behaviors, ultimately aiding in making informed decisions regarding healthcare (Ahedzadeh and Sharif, 2017; Brown, Skelly, Chew-Graham, 2020). Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the health information-seeking behavior of clients within health and treatment networks in Ahvaz city.
Methods and Materoal
The current research is an experimental study conducted using the pre-test and post-test intervention method. The research population consisted of 40 clients from Ahvaz Medical Center, whose average score of health information-seeking behavior was one point below the average. Of these, 20 individuals were randomly assigned to the control group. Additionally, two groups of 20 people each were formed using block randomization: one as the control group and the other as the test group for the intervention. The educational intervention took the form of a 4-hour online training workshop. To assess changes in online health information search behaviors, uncertainty, and cyberchondria in the study group, the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) method was utilized. The protocol used for online education on social networks was the SDI protocol (Bhushan 2006, Juyani et al. 2022). A questionnaire served as the data collection tool, completed by the test groups within one month and returned to the researchers. Data collection occurred at baseline (pre-intervention) and at one, two, and three months post-intervention. Baseline scores were used as covariates in the model to adjust for differences between the control and intervention groups. The results of the GEE model reflected changes in the desired factors at the three measurement points post-intervention. Furthermore, Bonferroni's post hoc test was employed to compare the distribution of online health information search scores, uncertainty, and cyberchondria between the two groups at each time point. All analyses were conducted using SPSS software version 26.
Resultss and Discussion
Findings: There was no significant difference in the effect of the educational intervention on changes in the online health information search score (P>0.05). For the control group, the average uncertainty score increased over time. However, there was a significant difference in the effect of the educational intervention on changes in the uncertainty score (P<0.001). Results of the external post-hoc test comparing changes in the uncertainty score between the two intervention groups and the control group showed a significant difference in the distribution of uncertainty scores before the intervention (P>0.046), as well as two and three months after the intervention (P>0.001). Additionally, there was a significant difference in the cyberchondria score before the intervention (P>0.076) and three months after the intervention (P>0.025) in each case.
Conclusion
Health information behavior training is a positive step towards increasing the decision-making self-efficacy of community members and patients. When combined with other efforts to promote health and care, it can lead to improved health outcomes. The effectiveness of educational interventions in different groups depends on the methods, materials, and content used. This study found that a patient educational intervention aimed at teaching information-seeking behavior skills to health center visitors had a positive impact on reducing cyberchondria and increasing certainty. The availability of information search platforms, the type of sources used, and the ability to utilize them based on age requirements are important factors in information seeking (Bahadir and Dundar, 2022). Uncertainty and doubt can drive individuals to seek health information online (Khademizadeh, Rafieinasab and Radhakrishnan, 2024), making educational interventions focused on empowerment dimensions beneficial in improving clinical and psychological outcomes. These interventions can enhance quality of life for both society and patients, taking into account factors such as age, education, occupation, and income status. This research presents a new approach to educational interventions that are cost-effective, accessible, and complication-free for health management and promotion in society.
Dr. Afshin Hamdipour, Dr. Hashem Atapour, Negin Kajaiee,
Volume 11, Issue 3 (12-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 3 (12-2024)
Abstract
Information Seeking Behavior is a broad term encompassing a series of actions undertaken to articulate individuals’ information needs, search for information, evaluate it and select relevant data, ultimately leading to its use (Ozowa and Aba, 2017). According to Case and Given (2016), information-seeking is an integral part of human life. They note that humans frequently feel the need for information and actively seek it throughout their daily lives. In their research, which examined the information-seeking behaviors of professionals from various fields, including physicians, nurses, managers, engineers, journalists, customers, and other groups, the authors found significant differences in the information-seeking behaviors of various professions. These differences can be attributed to professional roles, work environments, and specific information needs. As a dimension of human behavior, information-seeking is influenced by numerous factors. Given the critical role of psychological aspects in shaping human information-seeking behavior and their impact on the interaction between humans and information, addressing these factors is vital. The increasing focus on user-centered (human-centered) studies in recent decades highlights the importance of such studies. This research explores personality traits that influence the information-seeking behavior of graduate students at the University of Tabriz.
Methods and Materials
This study used a descriptive-survey method. The statistical population comprised 2,826 graduate students (2,258 master’s and 568 doctoral students from 17 faculties at the University of Tabriz, excluding dependent units and the international campus, during the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The students were enrolled in four fields: humanities, basic sciences, engineering, and agriculture. Using Cochran’s formula, the sample size was calculated to be 338 students selected through stratified random sampling. The study employed a localized version of John and Srivastava’s (1999) questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire included two sections: six demographic items and 42 items rated on a five-point Likert scale to assess information-seeking behavior and five personality traits (Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Neuroticism). Validity was ensured through expert review by five faculty members, and reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, with coefficients ranging from 0.588 to 0.903. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression). Skewness and kurtosis coefficients that fell within ±2 confirmed the normal distribution of the data.
Results and Discussion
The findings of the present study showed that all five dimensions of personality traits (extroversion, conscientiousness, adaptability, acceptance of experience, and neuroticism with averages of 4.13, 3.94, 3.99, 4.11, and 2.69 respectively) have a significant effect on the information-seeking behavior of graduate students at Tabriz University; Specifically, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience demonstrated positive effects, while Neuroticism exhibited a negative effect. Other results showed that among information-seeking behaviors, "referring to the Internet to obtain information" has the highest priority among students, with an average of 4.72. In the extraversion dimension, "being friendly in the process of acquiring information" is the most important, with an average of 4.34. In the dimension of conscientiousness, "observance of order in the process of obtaining information" has the highest average score, with an average score of 4.22. In the adaptability dimension, "tendency to cooperate with others during information searching" has the highest score with an average of 4.29. In the experience acceptance dimension, "having an active imagination in the information seeking process" has the highest rank with an average of 4.42. In the dimension of neuroticism, "being nervous in the process of finding information" is the highest average score (3.03). The results of multiple linear regression also showed that the independent variables, extroversion, conscientiousness, adaptability, acceptance of experience, and neuroticism are significant predictors of information-seeking behavior, which explain 25.6% of the changes related to the dependent variable. Among the 5 independent variables, the conscientiousness variable, with a beta coefficient of 0.220, made a greater contribution than the other variables.
Conclusion
The findings of this study confirmed the effect of five important personality traits on information-seeking behavior. It is expected that librarians and information specialists will consider the different aspects of personality traits in information-seeking behavior and pay attention to the fact that knowledge of these issues will help them to provide effective information services to students. According to the findings of the present study, it is recommended that the libraries of University of Tabriz establish information systems based on individual student differences to facilitate an optimal environment for information searching. In addition, organizing workshops on communication skills can help students perform more effectively in information-seeking activities. These skills can be beneficial for both extroverted and even neurotic students. It is also recommended that information system designers tailor their systems and services based on the needs and personality traits of students. Furthermore, it is recommended that librarians receive the necessary training to identify students’ individual characteristics and differences and provide information services tailored to their personality traits during interactions with users. Finally, offering psychological counseling and stress management support for students can help them reduce their anxiety and improve their performance in information-seeking activities. This is particularly beneficial for students with high neuroticism levels.
Methods and Materials
This study used a descriptive-survey method. The statistical population comprised 2,826 graduate students (2,258 master’s and 568 doctoral students from 17 faculties at the University of Tabriz, excluding dependent units and the international campus, during the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The students were enrolled in four fields: humanities, basic sciences, engineering, and agriculture. Using Cochran’s formula, the sample size was calculated to be 338 students selected through stratified random sampling. The study employed a localized version of John and Srivastava’s (1999) questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire included two sections: six demographic items and 42 items rated on a five-point Likert scale to assess information-seeking behavior and five personality traits (Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Neuroticism). Validity was ensured through expert review by five faculty members, and reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, with coefficients ranging from 0.588 to 0.903. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression). Skewness and kurtosis coefficients that fell within ±2 confirmed the normal distribution of the data.
Results and Discussion
The findings of the present study showed that all five dimensions of personality traits (extroversion, conscientiousness, adaptability, acceptance of experience, and neuroticism with averages of 4.13, 3.94, 3.99, 4.11, and 2.69 respectively) have a significant effect on the information-seeking behavior of graduate students at Tabriz University; Specifically, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience demonstrated positive effects, while Neuroticism exhibited a negative effect. Other results showed that among information-seeking behaviors, "referring to the Internet to obtain information" has the highest priority among students, with an average of 4.72. In the extraversion dimension, "being friendly in the process of acquiring information" is the most important, with an average of 4.34. In the dimension of conscientiousness, "observance of order in the process of obtaining information" has the highest average score, with an average score of 4.22. In the adaptability dimension, "tendency to cooperate with others during information searching" has the highest score with an average of 4.29. In the experience acceptance dimension, "having an active imagination in the information seeking process" has the highest rank with an average of 4.42. In the dimension of neuroticism, "being nervous in the process of finding information" is the highest average score (3.03). The results of multiple linear regression also showed that the independent variables, extroversion, conscientiousness, adaptability, acceptance of experience, and neuroticism are significant predictors of information-seeking behavior, which explain 25.6% of the changes related to the dependent variable. Among the 5 independent variables, the conscientiousness variable, with a beta coefficient of 0.220, made a greater contribution than the other variables.
Conclusion
The findings of this study confirmed the effect of five important personality traits on information-seeking behavior. It is expected that librarians and information specialists will consider the different aspects of personality traits in information-seeking behavior and pay attention to the fact that knowledge of these issues will help them to provide effective information services to students. According to the findings of the present study, it is recommended that the libraries of University of Tabriz establish information systems based on individual student differences to facilitate an optimal environment for information searching. In addition, organizing workshops on communication skills can help students perform more effectively in information-seeking activities. These skills can be beneficial for both extroverted and even neurotic students. It is also recommended that information system designers tailor their systems and services based on the needs and personality traits of students. Furthermore, it is recommended that librarians receive the necessary training to identify students’ individual characteristics and differences and provide information services tailored to their personality traits during interactions with users. Finally, offering psychological counseling and stress management support for students can help them reduce their anxiety and improve their performance in information-seeking activities. This is particularly beneficial for students with high neuroticism levels.
Mozhgan Oroji, Nadjla Hariri, Fahimeh Babalhavaeji,
Volume 11, Issue 3 (12-2024)
Volume 11, Issue 3 (12-2024)
Abstract
Introduction
Introduction There are many data collections in decision-making and every day a large number of these data are collected in research projects by humans or by devices and in this data, to better understand the issues related to data, we need to first understand the data and the literacy related to them. Data literacy is defined as information by reading, creating and communicating with data: that we can find data, make information about it, learn the tools to work with data, have less management of it. We can have, analyze and refine data, learn to share data and make simple decisions.
Research data management includes; production, access, tools, storage and reuse of research data with sufficient and easy-to-use help in virtual research infrastructures that form the main part of the monitoring cycle, which itself includes ideation. It is to create or receive, evaluate, select, ingest, preserve, store, access, reuse (Cox and Verban, 2014).
Studies on research data management are now common, while there is a global ease of research data, but it continues to be difficult to keep data easily accessible. Session, we know more than yesterday about the role of research data in the design and implementation of new research, but the trends and infrastructure to support researchers in research data management, need. (Varana, 2024).
Considering the research that has been conducted on research data management literacy, the aim of this study is to determine the components and indicators of management literacy. ) and to provide a suitable model for research data management literacy.
Methods and Materoal
The present study was conducted with a quantitative and survey method and aimed at evaluating and validating the tool built using the proposed research model. The statistical population of the National Institute of Higher Education Research and Planning was 112 academic centers affiliated with the Ministry of Science and the total number of faculty members of the humanities and social sciences of the country's public universities was 8,441. Due to the large volume of data, 360 people were selected using cluster sampling. Then, the questionnaire was completed and descriptive statistical methods (mean, deviation indices, frequency table) and inferential statistics (structural equation modeling and exploratory factor analysis) and SPSS and Smart Pls software were used to analyze the data.
Resultss and Discussion
The findings indicate that the six factors of stakeholders, services, policy, types of literacy, data cycle, and financial issues are critical together, explaining 60 percent of the total variance of changes. Also, the highest level of the level is related to the stakeholders factor with a mean of 4.09 and a standard deviation of 0.57, followed by the factors of services, policy, data life cycle, types of literacy, and financial issues, respectively. Using the Pearson correlation coefficient test, it was shown that all components of research data management literacy have a positive and significant correlation with the set at the 0.01 error level. The coefficients of the factor loadings of the subscales of research data management literacy also have a good understanding of the concept of their analysis and have a strong and significant correlation with their belief.
Conclusion
Research data management contributes to scientific integrity at different levels. When research data management literacy is sufficient, research data are accurate, complete, valid, and reliable. The risk of losing or damaging data, as well as the risk of unauthorized access, is minimized. In addition, research data can be shared with others with minimal effort and individuals can easily confirm the results.
The relationships between the components and indicators of research data management literacy from the perspective of faculty members in the humanities and social sciences of Iranian public universities show that higher than any of these components in improving the quality and efficiency of research, research data management literacy has a positive effect. The search for understanding the methods and infrastructures related to data management is a research for individuals to achieve better research results and valuable results. The results of this study show that different levels of research data management literacy among university professors know, and also need to have literacy skills in research data management that they do and create. Collecting, processing, validating, publishing, sharing, and archiving data are involved, and this is a characteristic of good research data management.
Introduction There are many data collections in decision-making and every day a large number of these data are collected in research projects by humans or by devices and in this data, to better understand the issues related to data, we need to first understand the data and the literacy related to them. Data literacy is defined as information by reading, creating and communicating with data: that we can find data, make information about it, learn the tools to work with data, have less management of it. We can have, analyze and refine data, learn to share data and make simple decisions.
Research data management includes; production, access, tools, storage and reuse of research data with sufficient and easy-to-use help in virtual research infrastructures that form the main part of the monitoring cycle, which itself includes ideation. It is to create or receive, evaluate, select, ingest, preserve, store, access, reuse (Cox and Verban, 2014).
Studies on research data management are now common, while there is a global ease of research data, but it continues to be difficult to keep data easily accessible. Session, we know more than yesterday about the role of research data in the design and implementation of new research, but the trends and infrastructure to support researchers in research data management, need. (Varana, 2024).
Considering the research that has been conducted on research data management literacy, the aim of this study is to determine the components and indicators of management literacy. ) and to provide a suitable model for research data management literacy.
Methods and Materoal
The present study was conducted with a quantitative and survey method and aimed at evaluating and validating the tool built using the proposed research model. The statistical population of the National Institute of Higher Education Research and Planning was 112 academic centers affiliated with the Ministry of Science and the total number of faculty members of the humanities and social sciences of the country's public universities was 8,441. Due to the large volume of data, 360 people were selected using cluster sampling. Then, the questionnaire was completed and descriptive statistical methods (mean, deviation indices, frequency table) and inferential statistics (structural equation modeling and exploratory factor analysis) and SPSS and Smart Pls software were used to analyze the data.
Resultss and Discussion
The findings indicate that the six factors of stakeholders, services, policy, types of literacy, data cycle, and financial issues are critical together, explaining 60 percent of the total variance of changes. Also, the highest level of the level is related to the stakeholders factor with a mean of 4.09 and a standard deviation of 0.57, followed by the factors of services, policy, data life cycle, types of literacy, and financial issues, respectively. Using the Pearson correlation coefficient test, it was shown that all components of research data management literacy have a positive and significant correlation with the set at the 0.01 error level. The coefficients of the factor loadings of the subscales of research data management literacy also have a good understanding of the concept of their analysis and have a strong and significant correlation with their belief.
Conclusion
Research data management contributes to scientific integrity at different levels. When research data management literacy is sufficient, research data are accurate, complete, valid, and reliable. The risk of losing or damaging data, as well as the risk of unauthorized access, is minimized. In addition, research data can be shared with others with minimal effort and individuals can easily confirm the results.
The relationships between the components and indicators of research data management literacy from the perspective of faculty members in the humanities and social sciences of Iranian public universities show that higher than any of these components in improving the quality and efficiency of research, research data management literacy has a positive effect. The search for understanding the methods and infrastructures related to data management is a research for individuals to achieve better research results and valuable results. The results of this study show that different levels of research data management literacy among university professors know, and also need to have literacy skills in research data management that they do and create. Collecting, processing, validating, publishing, sharing, and archiving data are involved, and this is a characteristic of good research data management.
Yazdan Shirmohammadi, Fatemeh Safa,
Volume 11, Issue 4 (1-2025)
Volume 11, Issue 4 (1-2025)
Abstract
Tourism is recognized as one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing economic sectors in recent decades, acting as a major driver of economic development, employment generation, and cultural exchange worldwide (Cristó & Sharpley, 2019). Within this broader industry, tourism start-ups play a central role in developing innovative products and services, enhancing destination attractiveness, and increasing stakeholder engagement. The performance of such start-ups, especially in urban tourism ecosystems such as Tehran, is increasingly dependent on their ability to leverage Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), foster knowledge integration, and innovate in both products and services. ICT has emerged as a key enabler of competitiveness in knowledge-intensive and service-oriented industries. It facilitates the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge across organizational boundaries, allowing firms to accelerate internal learning, adopt open innovation practices, and improve overall performance (Harif et al., 2022). Moreover, in the context of start-ups, where agility, adaptability, and resource constraints are often interwoven, strategic application of ICT becomes not just an operational necessity, but a performance catalyst.
Methods and Materoal
The present study employed a descriptive-correlational methodology based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using the SmartPLS 3 software. A total of 280 managers and employees from tourism start-ups based in Tehran were selected through convenience sampling. Standardized questionnaires were used to measure the constructs of interest, including ICT (Azam, 2015), open innovation (Hamed et al., 2018), knowledge integration, knowledge management (Iqbal et al., 2023), service innovation (Hu, 2009), marketing strategy (Koksal & Ozgul, 2007), and firm performance. Validity and reliability of the constructs were confirmed through Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and discriminant validity measures. Items with factor loadings below 0.4 were removed to ensure model parsimony. The GoF (Goodness-of-Fit) index was computed and interpreted based on Kline's (2010) thresholds to ensure robustness of the overall model.
Resultss and Discussion
The results reveal that ICT significantly influences three critical mediating variables: external knowledge integration (β = 0.60, t = 18.0), open innovation (β = 0.75, t = 26.55), and knowledge management (β = 0.512, t = 7.17). These findings support prior studies that conceptualize ICT not only as a data processing tool but also as a vehicle for organizational learning and innovation (Scuotto et al., 2017; Bhatt & Grover, 2005).Moreover, the integration of external knowledge has a direct and significant effect on knowledge management (β = 0.40, t = 8.59), underscoring the importance of external inputs in shaping internal learning systems and innovation capacity (Liao & Marsillac, 2015). In contrast, the direct relationship between open innovation and knowledge management was not statistically significant (t = 0.18), suggesting that open innovation may be more effective when coupled with internal absorptive capabilities or organizational culture conducive to knowledge utilization.Knowledge management, as a central construct in this model, demonstrated strong effects on both service innovation (β = 0.70, t = 24.96) and organizational performance (β = 0.389, t = 3.87). This aligns with the existing literature that highlights the strategic role of knowledge systems in enabling innovation and competitive advantage (Darroch, 2005; Harif et al., 2022). Furthermore, service innovation itself has a modest yet significant impact on performance (β = 0.17, t = 2.66), echoing previous studies that link new service development to firm-level outcomes (Aas & Pedersen, 2010; Cheng & Huizingh, 2014).Surprisingly, the direct effect of marketing strategy on performance was not significant (t = 1.62), which contradicts the results of some earlier studies (Kitsios & Kamariotou, 2016). However, a significant moderating effect of marketing strategy was found on the relationship between service innovation and performance (t = 3.10, β = 0.138), indicating that when strategically aligned with innovation initiatives, marketing strategies can enhance the impact of innovation efforts.The structural model exhibited strong explanatory power, with R² values of 0.658 for knowledge management, 0.494 for service innovation, and 0.429 for performance. The global GoF value of 0.638 exceeded the threshold for strong model fit (Kline, 2010), confirming the robustness of the conceptual framework.
Conclusion
This study offers multiple contributions to both academic theory and managerial practice. First, it empirically validates the critical role of ICT as a driver of performance in tourism start-ups, particularly through its impact on knowledge integration and innovation mechanisms. Second, it emphasizes the importance of effective knowledge management systems as a bridge between external knowledge inputs and internal innovation outcomes. Third, it suggests that while marketing strategy may not directly influence performance, it plays a valuable role as a moderator when combined with service innovation.The implications for practitioners are clear: tourism start-ups should invest in ICT infrastructure and training not merely for operational efficiency but as strategic assets for learning and innovation. Knowledge integration systems, such as customer databases, supplier collaboration platforms, and staff training modules, should be prioritized. In addition, marketing strategies should be designed to amplify the value created through service innovation.Given the limited geographic focus of the study, future research should replicate this model in other cities and cultural contexts. Mixed-method approaches incorporating qualitative insights could also enrich the findings. Moreover, examining the role of individual characteristics such as entrepreneurial orientation, digital literacy, or organizational culture may shed further light on the boundary conditions of these relationships.
Methods and Materoal
The present study employed a descriptive-correlational methodology based on structural equation modeling (SEM) using the SmartPLS 3 software. A total of 280 managers and employees from tourism start-ups based in Tehran were selected through convenience sampling. Standardized questionnaires were used to measure the constructs of interest, including ICT (Azam, 2015), open innovation (Hamed et al., 2018), knowledge integration, knowledge management (Iqbal et al., 2023), service innovation (Hu, 2009), marketing strategy (Koksal & Ozgul, 2007), and firm performance. Validity and reliability of the constructs were confirmed through Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and discriminant validity measures. Items with factor loadings below 0.4 were removed to ensure model parsimony. The GoF (Goodness-of-Fit) index was computed and interpreted based on Kline's (2010) thresholds to ensure robustness of the overall model.
Resultss and Discussion
The results reveal that ICT significantly influences three critical mediating variables: external knowledge integration (β = 0.60, t = 18.0), open innovation (β = 0.75, t = 26.55), and knowledge management (β = 0.512, t = 7.17). These findings support prior studies that conceptualize ICT not only as a data processing tool but also as a vehicle for organizational learning and innovation (Scuotto et al., 2017; Bhatt & Grover, 2005).Moreover, the integration of external knowledge has a direct and significant effect on knowledge management (β = 0.40, t = 8.59), underscoring the importance of external inputs in shaping internal learning systems and innovation capacity (Liao & Marsillac, 2015). In contrast, the direct relationship between open innovation and knowledge management was not statistically significant (t = 0.18), suggesting that open innovation may be more effective when coupled with internal absorptive capabilities or organizational culture conducive to knowledge utilization.Knowledge management, as a central construct in this model, demonstrated strong effects on both service innovation (β = 0.70, t = 24.96) and organizational performance (β = 0.389, t = 3.87). This aligns with the existing literature that highlights the strategic role of knowledge systems in enabling innovation and competitive advantage (Darroch, 2005; Harif et al., 2022). Furthermore, service innovation itself has a modest yet significant impact on performance (β = 0.17, t = 2.66), echoing previous studies that link new service development to firm-level outcomes (Aas & Pedersen, 2010; Cheng & Huizingh, 2014).Surprisingly, the direct effect of marketing strategy on performance was not significant (t = 1.62), which contradicts the results of some earlier studies (Kitsios & Kamariotou, 2016). However, a significant moderating effect of marketing strategy was found on the relationship between service innovation and performance (t = 3.10, β = 0.138), indicating that when strategically aligned with innovation initiatives, marketing strategies can enhance the impact of innovation efforts.The structural model exhibited strong explanatory power, with R² values of 0.658 for knowledge management, 0.494 for service innovation, and 0.429 for performance. The global GoF value of 0.638 exceeded the threshold for strong model fit (Kline, 2010), confirming the robustness of the conceptual framework.
Conclusion
This study offers multiple contributions to both academic theory and managerial practice. First, it empirically validates the critical role of ICT as a driver of performance in tourism start-ups, particularly through its impact on knowledge integration and innovation mechanisms. Second, it emphasizes the importance of effective knowledge management systems as a bridge between external knowledge inputs and internal innovation outcomes. Third, it suggests that while marketing strategy may not directly influence performance, it plays a valuable role as a moderator when combined with service innovation.The implications for practitioners are clear: tourism start-ups should invest in ICT infrastructure and training not merely for operational efficiency but as strategic assets for learning and innovation. Knowledge integration systems, such as customer databases, supplier collaboration platforms, and staff training modules, should be prioritized. In addition, marketing strategies should be designed to amplify the value created through service innovation.Given the limited geographic focus of the study, future research should replicate this model in other cities and cultural contexts. Mixed-method approaches incorporating qualitative insights could also enrich the findings. Moreover, examining the role of individual characteristics such as entrepreneurial orientation, digital literacy, or organizational culture may shed further light on the boundary conditions of these relationships.
Ms Elham Askarian Kakh, Ms Somaye Sadat Akhshik, Mr Abdolhossein Farajpahlou, Mr Reza Rajabali Beglou,
Volume 11, Issue 4 (1-2025)
Volume 11, Issue 4 (1-2025)
Abstract
Information poverty has a wide-ranging negative impact on people’s health and socio-economic well-being. Over the past twenty years, researchers have used Chatman’s information poverty theory as a guide to understanding information behaviors in diverse contexts and situations, and it continues to be useful in advancing our understanding of the social dynamics and cultural contexts of information behaviors.
Information poverty is a condition in which individuals and groups in a particular context lack the skills, abilities, and tools necessary to access information appropriately, or to transform and use it optimally. The marginalization of information through institutional and contextual processes such as economic and racial inequalities, as well as information overload, negatively affects an individual’s information behavior. Marginalized groups find limited resources to meet their information needs, have limited economic and social capital, are suspicious of outside information, and engage in self-protective behaviors to reduce marginalization. Chatman (1996) proposed the information poverty theory. According to him, people who do not believe that external information can help them are inclined to engage in self-protective behaviors such as deception and secrecy, which ultimately make them unable to obtain richer information. The theory he proposed makes the following six propositions:
1. The information poor perceive themselves to be devoid of any sources that might help them.;
2. Information poverty is partially associated with class distinction;
3. Information poverty is determined by self-protective behaviors which are used in response to social norms;
4. Both secrecy and deception are self-protecting mechanisms due to a sense of mistrust regarding the interest or ability of others to provide useful information;
5. A decision to risk exposure about our true feelings is often not taken due to a perception that negative consequences outweigh benefits;
6. New knowledge will be selectively introduced into the information world of poor people. A condition that influences this process is the relevance of that information in response to everyday problems and concerns.
The components associated with Chatman's information poverty theory are: Secrecy, deception, risk-taking, and situational relevance. Risk-taking refers to a person’s perception of the value of a particular type of information and the perception of the risk involved in seeking or sharing this information. Secrecy is the intentional protection of oneself from revealing information. In contrast, deception involves the intentional presentation of a false reality, as the person shares meaningless information, and the information received is irrelevant. Situational relevance refers to the fact that, to be useful, information sources must be meaningful to the individual and accepted by others in the group. Lack of knowledge about issues leads people to resort to rumors and superstitions, to feel helpless, and to avoid actively seeking information. One area that has been particularly affected by information poverty has been the field of medicine, especially infectious diseases. The experience of illness is a phenomenon that evokes suffering, intense emotions, and a desire to talk to others. The desire to talk to others is shaped by the perception that other people who do not suffer from the disease are unable to understand the world of patients, so relevant information should only be obtained from insiders who share their experiences. One of the social concerns about pandemics is fatalism. Some attribute the information poverty during the COVID-19 outbreak to the spread of fake news through social media, and believe that fake news, conspiracy theories, poverty and hunger, a shortage of doctors for patients, and social ignorance have created challenges in combating the pandemic. A combination of fear, social stigma, criminalization, and narrow-minded laws prevent marginalized individuals and social groups from volunteering for information when they need health and medical care. Stigma has always been a social challenge in social studies of health. Social stigma caused by infectious diseases causes psychosocial stress and other social barriers. Stigma can hinder health information-seeking behaviors and delay diagnosis and treatment; and can also lead to poverty and ignorance through social marginalization, resistance to health institutions, and mistrust of information and information sources. One of the main challenges for health policymakers is to develop effective measures to reduce stigma associated with illness, which requires further research. Since Chatman's theory has been used for many years to assess information poverty, it is expected to be useful for investigating the subject of the present study.
The problem is that in such circumstances, when the level of trust between individuals (patients and non-patients) and medical staff decreases, the role of people such as healthcare workers as a bridge between specialists and non-specialists can be necessary. Healthcare workers also play the role of transferring information between these two groups. Therefore, measuring the level of information poverty of healthcare workers in relation to epidemic diseases is so important. On the other hand, if the factors affecting the information poverty of different groups of individuals, including medical staff, in the field of infectious diseases are identified, the results can also be extended to possible epidemic conditions in the future and help in appropriate interventions at different stages of managing and controlling public health emergencies as quickly as possible. Identifying the challenges and problems of information behavior of healthcare workers who face epidemic diseases and appropriate and timely planning for their management can lead to the design of effective strategies for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of affected communities.
The aim of the study was to show how the small world of Tehran healthcare workers fits into Chatman's information poverty theory. The main question of this research was to investigate their information poverty situation based on the components of Chatman's information poverty theory.
The sub-questions were as follows:
1. What is the situation of the secrecy component in healthcare workers?
2. What is the situation of the deception component in healthcare workers?
3. What is the situation of the risk-taking component in healthcare workers?
4. What is the situation of the situational relevance component in healthcare workers?
5. What is the grouping of healthcare workers based on the components of Chatman's information poverty theory?
Methods and Materoal
The method of this survey study included the identification and analysis of the key components of information poverty of healthcare workers who were working in health homes in Tehran during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because due to their direct contact with the community, they had valuable information about their health situation and health needs, and the information poverty of healthcare workers in this field could be extended to the community.
Data collection was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire based on Chatman's information poverty theory. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha formula, and the content validity ratio was used to examine the validity of the questionnaire.
A stratified random sampling method was used and 125 questionnaires were collected. In order to ensure better diversity and representation, the population was divided into subgroups, and the categories were identified based on the supervising universities, and a sample was selected from each category to ensure the necessary statistical sample size.
Results and Discussion
The findings related to the main components showed that deception had the highest mean with a value of 3.85. This indicates a conscious effort to present a false social reality. After that, the mean of secrecy, protecting oneself from revealing information, is in second place with a value of 3.728. The mean of situational relevance is also in third place with a value of 3.687. This index indicates that the healthcare workers selectively received information about their daily lives. In addition, the mean of risk-taking (3.615) also indicates the healthcare workers' fear of the consequences of seeking information in complex health conditions.The findings related to the secrecy show that the highest mean (3.924) belonged to the component of "Coping with a lack of information processing skills". This was followed by “mistrust”, “privacy protection”, “adherence to one’s own in-group culture”, “welcoming cyberspace to exchange information”, “hiding one’s position, feeling or opinion”, “establishing and maintaining superiority over unwell individuals”, “lack of information and information assets”, and “avoiding negative consequences” and finally, “adherence to a unique personal attitude”.Findings related to the risk-taking showed that “usefulness and value of information” had the highest mean of 3.752. After that, "privacy protection" with an average of 3.74, "adherence to one's own in-group culture" with an average of 3.645, "welcoming cyberspace for information exchange" with an average of 3.642, "emotional and cognitive effort to choose between true and false information" with an average of 3.64, "mistrust" with an average of 3.58, "avoidance of possible negative consequences".
The situation of the situational relevance shows that the "usefulness and value of information" component with an average of 3.726 has the highest score. This was followed by “using insider information” with an average of 3.725, “adherence to one’s own in-group culture” with an average of 3.688, “lack of information and information assets” with an average of 3.616, and the “mistrust” with the lowest average.
Analysis of the situation of the deception showed that the “risk avoidance” had the highest average (3.988). This was followed by “mistrust” with an average of 3.884, “lack of information and information assets” with an average of 3.876, “maintaining privacy” with an average of 3.876, and “failing to present the true reality, situation, or feeling” with an average of 3.828, respectively. Finally, the lowest average (3.796) was related to the “establishing and maintaining superiority over unwell individuals” component.
The findings related to the grouping of healthcare workers showed that the deception component had the highest number of observations and the situational relevance component was in second place after the deception. Also, the number of observations of secrecy was higher compared to risk-taking.
Conclusion
The results indicate the complex behaviors of healthcare workers in interacting with information and information sources, and "deception" was prominent as the main strategy among these components, while situational relevance, risk-taking, and secrecy acted as complementary behaviors.
The most effective factor on healthcare workers' secrecy was coping with the lack of information processing skills. This is while mistrust of information sources and information also played a prominent role in the process of not presenting facts, feelings, and thoughts of healthcare workers. While the most important factor on risk-taking was ignoring information that did not match their conditions, because they were afraid of its consequences and possible risks. The second factor affecting risk-taking was due to the preservation of information and personal and group privacy. Also the most effective factor on "situational relevance" was that they assessed the usefulness and value of information from the perspective of their own needs and limited information. Another factor was that the healthcare workers prioritized the use of inside information because they considered it relevant to their position. Finally the most influential factor in the deception of the healthcare workers was that they reduced the risks of seeking information. Another factor was that they did not trust the information and the sources from which it was disseminated.
The grouping of healthcare workers showed that the largest number of them was in the deceptive group. A smaller number of them also assessed the relevance and usefulness of the information to their current situation and were placed in the second group. The third group, with a smaller number, belongs to the secretive group, while the number of risk-averse individuals was lower compared to secretive healthcare workers. There are signs in the findings that place people in two groups at the same time. This phenomenon can be caused by psychological and social complexities and the effects of various factors on information poverty. On the other hand, all four components can be involved in an individual's information-seeking behavior at the same time. It is also possible for one component to have an effect on the other. For example, the concept of secrecy is closely related to risk-taking. This highlights the depth of information poverty and the complexity of human behavior, which can be influenced by multiple factors, including social and cultural contexts. It also allows us to understand that individuals do not simply fit into a particular pattern and may act differently in different situations. Overall, these findings emphasize the need to develop training programs and create safe spaces for information exchange so that healthcare workers can more confidently access and utilize new information.
The analyses lead us to conclude that in order to reduce information poverty, we need to strengthen educational infrastructure, improve access to information, and create a culture of transparency and trust. Finally, the findings provide new insights into the constraints experienced by healthcare workers in health homes, and provide evidence of systematic marginalization and classification of access to and use of information, indicating that protective, secretive, and deceptive measures were employed by healthcare workers not only to cope with living in a small world, but also to circumvent socio-cultural boundaries. The results provide further insight into the role of health professionals and policymakers in supporting the information needs of healthcare workers and guiding their information behaviors.
Keywords: Information Poverty, Chatman's theory, Primary healthcare worker.
Information poverty is a condition in which individuals and groups in a particular context lack the skills, abilities, and tools necessary to access information appropriately, or to transform and use it optimally. The marginalization of information through institutional and contextual processes such as economic and racial inequalities, as well as information overload, negatively affects an individual’s information behavior. Marginalized groups find limited resources to meet their information needs, have limited economic and social capital, are suspicious of outside information, and engage in self-protective behaviors to reduce marginalization. Chatman (1996) proposed the information poverty theory. According to him, people who do not believe that external information can help them are inclined to engage in self-protective behaviors such as deception and secrecy, which ultimately make them unable to obtain richer information. The theory he proposed makes the following six propositions:
1. The information poor perceive themselves to be devoid of any sources that might help them.;
2. Information poverty is partially associated with class distinction;
3. Information poverty is determined by self-protective behaviors which are used in response to social norms;
4. Both secrecy and deception are self-protecting mechanisms due to a sense of mistrust regarding the interest or ability of others to provide useful information;
5. A decision to risk exposure about our true feelings is often not taken due to a perception that negative consequences outweigh benefits;
6. New knowledge will be selectively introduced into the information world of poor people. A condition that influences this process is the relevance of that information in response to everyday problems and concerns.
The components associated with Chatman's information poverty theory are: Secrecy, deception, risk-taking, and situational relevance. Risk-taking refers to a person’s perception of the value of a particular type of information and the perception of the risk involved in seeking or sharing this information. Secrecy is the intentional protection of oneself from revealing information. In contrast, deception involves the intentional presentation of a false reality, as the person shares meaningless information, and the information received is irrelevant. Situational relevance refers to the fact that, to be useful, information sources must be meaningful to the individual and accepted by others in the group. Lack of knowledge about issues leads people to resort to rumors and superstitions, to feel helpless, and to avoid actively seeking information. One area that has been particularly affected by information poverty has been the field of medicine, especially infectious diseases. The experience of illness is a phenomenon that evokes suffering, intense emotions, and a desire to talk to others. The desire to talk to others is shaped by the perception that other people who do not suffer from the disease are unable to understand the world of patients, so relevant information should only be obtained from insiders who share their experiences. One of the social concerns about pandemics is fatalism. Some attribute the information poverty during the COVID-19 outbreak to the spread of fake news through social media, and believe that fake news, conspiracy theories, poverty and hunger, a shortage of doctors for patients, and social ignorance have created challenges in combating the pandemic. A combination of fear, social stigma, criminalization, and narrow-minded laws prevent marginalized individuals and social groups from volunteering for information when they need health and medical care. Stigma has always been a social challenge in social studies of health. Social stigma caused by infectious diseases causes psychosocial stress and other social barriers. Stigma can hinder health information-seeking behaviors and delay diagnosis and treatment; and can also lead to poverty and ignorance through social marginalization, resistance to health institutions, and mistrust of information and information sources. One of the main challenges for health policymakers is to develop effective measures to reduce stigma associated with illness, which requires further research. Since Chatman's theory has been used for many years to assess information poverty, it is expected to be useful for investigating the subject of the present study.
The problem is that in such circumstances, when the level of trust between individuals (patients and non-patients) and medical staff decreases, the role of people such as healthcare workers as a bridge between specialists and non-specialists can be necessary. Healthcare workers also play the role of transferring information between these two groups. Therefore, measuring the level of information poverty of healthcare workers in relation to epidemic diseases is so important. On the other hand, if the factors affecting the information poverty of different groups of individuals, including medical staff, in the field of infectious diseases are identified, the results can also be extended to possible epidemic conditions in the future and help in appropriate interventions at different stages of managing and controlling public health emergencies as quickly as possible. Identifying the challenges and problems of information behavior of healthcare workers who face epidemic diseases and appropriate and timely planning for their management can lead to the design of effective strategies for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of affected communities.
The aim of the study was to show how the small world of Tehran healthcare workers fits into Chatman's information poverty theory. The main question of this research was to investigate their information poverty situation based on the components of Chatman's information poverty theory.
The sub-questions were as follows:
1. What is the situation of the secrecy component in healthcare workers?
2. What is the situation of the deception component in healthcare workers?
3. What is the situation of the risk-taking component in healthcare workers?
4. What is the situation of the situational relevance component in healthcare workers?
5. What is the grouping of healthcare workers based on the components of Chatman's information poverty theory?
Methods and Materoal
The method of this survey study included the identification and analysis of the key components of information poverty of healthcare workers who were working in health homes in Tehran during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because due to their direct contact with the community, they had valuable information about their health situation and health needs, and the information poverty of healthcare workers in this field could be extended to the community.
Data collection was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire based on Chatman's information poverty theory. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha formula, and the content validity ratio was used to examine the validity of the questionnaire.
A stratified random sampling method was used and 125 questionnaires were collected. In order to ensure better diversity and representation, the population was divided into subgroups, and the categories were identified based on the supervising universities, and a sample was selected from each category to ensure the necessary statistical sample size.
Results and Discussion
The findings related to the main components showed that deception had the highest mean with a value of 3.85. This indicates a conscious effort to present a false social reality. After that, the mean of secrecy, protecting oneself from revealing information, is in second place with a value of 3.728. The mean of situational relevance is also in third place with a value of 3.687. This index indicates that the healthcare workers selectively received information about their daily lives. In addition, the mean of risk-taking (3.615) also indicates the healthcare workers' fear of the consequences of seeking information in complex health conditions.The findings related to the secrecy show that the highest mean (3.924) belonged to the component of "Coping with a lack of information processing skills". This was followed by “mistrust”, “privacy protection”, “adherence to one’s own in-group culture”, “welcoming cyberspace to exchange information”, “hiding one’s position, feeling or opinion”, “establishing and maintaining superiority over unwell individuals”, “lack of information and information assets”, and “avoiding negative consequences” and finally, “adherence to a unique personal attitude”.Findings related to the risk-taking showed that “usefulness and value of information” had the highest mean of 3.752. After that, "privacy protection" with an average of 3.74, "adherence to one's own in-group culture" with an average of 3.645, "welcoming cyberspace for information exchange" with an average of 3.642, "emotional and cognitive effort to choose between true and false information" with an average of 3.64, "mistrust" with an average of 3.58, "avoidance of possible negative consequences".
The situation of the situational relevance shows that the "usefulness and value of information" component with an average of 3.726 has the highest score. This was followed by “using insider information” with an average of 3.725, “adherence to one’s own in-group culture” with an average of 3.688, “lack of information and information assets” with an average of 3.616, and the “mistrust” with the lowest average.
Analysis of the situation of the deception showed that the “risk avoidance” had the highest average (3.988). This was followed by “mistrust” with an average of 3.884, “lack of information and information assets” with an average of 3.876, “maintaining privacy” with an average of 3.876, and “failing to present the true reality, situation, or feeling” with an average of 3.828, respectively. Finally, the lowest average (3.796) was related to the “establishing and maintaining superiority over unwell individuals” component.
The findings related to the grouping of healthcare workers showed that the deception component had the highest number of observations and the situational relevance component was in second place after the deception. Also, the number of observations of secrecy was higher compared to risk-taking.
Conclusion
The results indicate the complex behaviors of healthcare workers in interacting with information and information sources, and "deception" was prominent as the main strategy among these components, while situational relevance, risk-taking, and secrecy acted as complementary behaviors.
The most effective factor on healthcare workers' secrecy was coping with the lack of information processing skills. This is while mistrust of information sources and information also played a prominent role in the process of not presenting facts, feelings, and thoughts of healthcare workers. While the most important factor on risk-taking was ignoring information that did not match their conditions, because they were afraid of its consequences and possible risks. The second factor affecting risk-taking was due to the preservation of information and personal and group privacy. Also the most effective factor on "situational relevance" was that they assessed the usefulness and value of information from the perspective of their own needs and limited information. Another factor was that the healthcare workers prioritized the use of inside information because they considered it relevant to their position. Finally the most influential factor in the deception of the healthcare workers was that they reduced the risks of seeking information. Another factor was that they did not trust the information and the sources from which it was disseminated.
The grouping of healthcare workers showed that the largest number of them was in the deceptive group. A smaller number of them also assessed the relevance and usefulness of the information to their current situation and were placed in the second group. The third group, with a smaller number, belongs to the secretive group, while the number of risk-averse individuals was lower compared to secretive healthcare workers. There are signs in the findings that place people in two groups at the same time. This phenomenon can be caused by psychological and social complexities and the effects of various factors on information poverty. On the other hand, all four components can be involved in an individual's information-seeking behavior at the same time. It is also possible for one component to have an effect on the other. For example, the concept of secrecy is closely related to risk-taking. This highlights the depth of information poverty and the complexity of human behavior, which can be influenced by multiple factors, including social and cultural contexts. It also allows us to understand that individuals do not simply fit into a particular pattern and may act differently in different situations. Overall, these findings emphasize the need to develop training programs and create safe spaces for information exchange so that healthcare workers can more confidently access and utilize new information.
The analyses lead us to conclude that in order to reduce information poverty, we need to strengthen educational infrastructure, improve access to information, and create a culture of transparency and trust. Finally, the findings provide new insights into the constraints experienced by healthcare workers in health homes, and provide evidence of systematic marginalization and classification of access to and use of information, indicating that protective, secretive, and deceptive measures were employed by healthcare workers not only to cope with living in a small world, but also to circumvent socio-cultural boundaries. The results provide further insight into the role of health professionals and policymakers in supporting the information needs of healthcare workers and guiding their information behaviors.
Keywords: Information Poverty, Chatman's theory, Primary healthcare worker.
Dr Mahdieh Mirzabeigi, Ms Reihaneh Bahri,
Volume 12, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Volume 12, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Abstract
Introduction
Given the important impact of information literacy in today's societies and in line with the efficiency of individuals, especially students, information literacy can be predicted and planned for its management through indicators. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the relationships between the variables of cognitive flexibility and openness to experience with the level of information literacy by examining students of Shiraz University, a university that enjoys a distinguished scientific position in the country and the results of this study may contribute to its scientific growth through further understanding of the factors affecting the information literacy of its students, and to test the extent of the impact of the two variables in predicting the level of information literacy of the said society, if a relationship exists.
Methods and Materoal
This research is descriptive in terms of data collection and quantitative in terms of data nature. The statistical population also includes students of Shiraz University in the academic year 1400-1401, about 17,000 people, and the sample size was calculated as 375 people using the Cochran formula. The members of the research sample were selected using convenience sampling. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire. To measure the level of information literacy, the research questionnaires of Seng et al. (2020), Pinto et al. (2020), and Lee et al. (2020) were used, based on the classification of the Information Literacy Framework for Higher Education (2016). To measure face and content validity, the questionnaire was sent to seven information science and knowledge experts, and the final version was obtained based on their opinions. The reliability of the research tool was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.937. To measure cognitive flexibility, the cognitive flexibility questionnaire developed by Dennis & Vander Wal (2010) was used, whose validity was measured by these researchers, and its convergent validity with the cognitive flexibility scale of Martin and Robin (1995) was 0.75. The reliability of this questionnaire was also obtained using Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.787. To measure openness to experience, the Big Five Personality Factors questionnaire by Goldberg (1999) was used, whose validity was proven in the Khormai study (2006) using factor analysis. The reliability of this questionnaire was obtained using Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.788. Pearson correlation tests, linear regression, and stepwise regression were also used to analyze the data.
Resultss and Discussion
in order to examine the power of each variable in predicting the level of information literacy, the correlation between the variables was first calculated through the Pearson correlation test, and the results showed that cognitive flexibility, openness to experience, and information literacy have a positive and significant relationship with each other.
Then, a simple linear regression test was used to examine the role of cognitive flexibility in predicting the level of information literacy of the subjects, and the cognitive flexibility variable was entered as a predictor variable and information literacy as a criterion variable in the regression equation. The findings showed that the regression model of the predictive power of the cognitive flexibility variable on information literacy (F(1/278)=(43/682 p=0/000) with a coefficient of determination R2=/136 is significant. For each unit increase in cognitive flexibility, the information literacy score increases by 58/567 units. In other words, according to the calculated standard regression coefficient, cognitive flexibility explains 36/8 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 2). Then, a simple linear regression test was used to examine the role of openness to experience in predicting the level of information literacy of the subjects, and the openness to experience variable as a predictor variable and information literacy as a criterion variable was entered into the regression equation and the findings showed that the regression model of the predictive power of the variable of openness to experience on information literacy is significant F(1/ 298) = (97/167 p = 0/000) with a coefficient of determination R2 = /246. For each unit increase in openness to experience, the information literacy score increases by 112/313 units. In other words, according to the calculated standard regression coefficient, openness to experience explains 49/6 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 3). Finally, the stepwise regression test was used to predict the level of information literacy of users based on the variables of cognitive flexibility and openness to experience. The results of the stepwise regression test showed that among the predictor variables in the first step, the component of openness to experience was able to be the strongest The variable was significantly able to predict the level of information literacy of the subjects (p= /000). This variable alone was able to explain about 50/9 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy. In the second step, the variable of openness to experience explained about 43/1 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy, and cognitive flexibility was able to enter the model and explained 19/5 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy (p= /000). Accordingly, in total, the two variables of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility were able to explain 62/6 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 4).
Conclusion
The results of this study can be an effort to improve the existing knowledge about information literacy and identify more factors that influence it. Also, the results of this study can help universities, with the help of information literacy experts, design curricula and training workshops to strengthen these components and improve the level of information literacy and to develop students who have higher information literacy and are prepared for future life and careers. Students, also aware of the important role of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility, can overcome the potential problems associated with their lack of information literacy by improving their level of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility by participating in workshops related to these components and also by increasing their information literacy skills by participating in workshops and information literacy training courses.
Given the important impact of information literacy in today's societies and in line with the efficiency of individuals, especially students, information literacy can be predicted and planned for its management through indicators. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the relationships between the variables of cognitive flexibility and openness to experience with the level of information literacy by examining students of Shiraz University, a university that enjoys a distinguished scientific position in the country and the results of this study may contribute to its scientific growth through further understanding of the factors affecting the information literacy of its students, and to test the extent of the impact of the two variables in predicting the level of information literacy of the said society, if a relationship exists.
Methods and Materoal
This research is descriptive in terms of data collection and quantitative in terms of data nature. The statistical population also includes students of Shiraz University in the academic year 1400-1401, about 17,000 people, and the sample size was calculated as 375 people using the Cochran formula. The members of the research sample were selected using convenience sampling. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire. To measure the level of information literacy, the research questionnaires of Seng et al. (2020), Pinto et al. (2020), and Lee et al. (2020) were used, based on the classification of the Information Literacy Framework for Higher Education (2016). To measure face and content validity, the questionnaire was sent to seven information science and knowledge experts, and the final version was obtained based on their opinions. The reliability of the research tool was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.937. To measure cognitive flexibility, the cognitive flexibility questionnaire developed by Dennis & Vander Wal (2010) was used, whose validity was measured by these researchers, and its convergent validity with the cognitive flexibility scale of Martin and Robin (1995) was 0.75. The reliability of this questionnaire was also obtained using Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.787. To measure openness to experience, the Big Five Personality Factors questionnaire by Goldberg (1999) was used, whose validity was proven in the Khormai study (2006) using factor analysis. The reliability of this questionnaire was obtained using Cronbach's alpha, which was 0.788. Pearson correlation tests, linear regression, and stepwise regression were also used to analyze the data.
Resultss and Discussion
in order to examine the power of each variable in predicting the level of information literacy, the correlation between the variables was first calculated through the Pearson correlation test, and the results showed that cognitive flexibility, openness to experience, and information literacy have a positive and significant relationship with each other.
Then, a simple linear regression test was used to examine the role of cognitive flexibility in predicting the level of information literacy of the subjects, and the cognitive flexibility variable was entered as a predictor variable and information literacy as a criterion variable in the regression equation. The findings showed that the regression model of the predictive power of the cognitive flexibility variable on information literacy (F(1/278)=(43/682 p=0/000) with a coefficient of determination R2=/136 is significant. For each unit increase in cognitive flexibility, the information literacy score increases by 58/567 units. In other words, according to the calculated standard regression coefficient, cognitive flexibility explains 36/8 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 2). Then, a simple linear regression test was used to examine the role of openness to experience in predicting the level of information literacy of the subjects, and the openness to experience variable as a predictor variable and information literacy as a criterion variable was entered into the regression equation and the findings showed that the regression model of the predictive power of the variable of openness to experience on information literacy is significant F(1/ 298) = (97/167 p = 0/000) with a coefficient of determination R2 = /246. For each unit increase in openness to experience, the information literacy score increases by 112/313 units. In other words, according to the calculated standard regression coefficient, openness to experience explains 49/6 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 3). Finally, the stepwise regression test was used to predict the level of information literacy of users based on the variables of cognitive flexibility and openness to experience. The results of the stepwise regression test showed that among the predictor variables in the first step, the component of openness to experience was able to be the strongest The variable was significantly able to predict the level of information literacy of the subjects (p= /000). This variable alone was able to explain about 50/9 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy. In the second step, the variable of openness to experience explained about 43/1 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy, and cognitive flexibility was able to enter the model and explained 19/5 percent of the variance in the level of information literacy (p= /000). Accordingly, in total, the two variables of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility were able to explain 62/6 percent of the variance in information literacy (Table 4).
Conclusion
The results of this study can be an effort to improve the existing knowledge about information literacy and identify more factors that influence it. Also, the results of this study can help universities, with the help of information literacy experts, design curricula and training workshops to strengthen these components and improve the level of information literacy and to develop students who have higher information literacy and are prepared for future life and careers. Students, also aware of the important role of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility, can overcome the potential problems associated with their lack of information literacy by improving their level of openness to experience and cognitive flexibility by participating in workshops related to these components and also by increasing their information literacy skills by participating in workshops and information literacy training courses.
Rahman Marefat, Mahmood Sangari,
Volume 12, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Volume 12, Issue 1 (5-2025)
Abstract
Background and purpose: The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying methods of validating methods of resources among sports science students of Birjand University. In numerous classes involving students from various disciplines, a recurring challenge reported by students was their unfamiliarity with source validation methods. Students, consistently indicated a lack of knowledge on how to assess the credibility of sources. When provided with examples of valid and invalid sources, many students struggled to properly evaluate them. Some students even expressed the belief that source validation was unnecessary, emphasizing merely the importance of using sources rather than verifying their validity. The researchers focused on a specific group—sports science students at Birjand University—to investigate how these students evaluate the sources they need and what challenges they encounter in the process.
Studies suggest that students often lack the skills to assess the credibility of articles found in databases or general websites like Wikipedia and online encyclopedias (Marefat, 1401; Azarang, 1399). For printed sources, students typically consider the author's credibility, organizational affiliation, and the publisher’s reputation as indicators of source reliability (Moradi, 1384). Marefat identified ten main categories related to evaluating sources, including institutional credibility, author credibility, content accuracy, observational reliability, referential validation, publication date, information distortion, credibility doubts, recognition of source credibility, and citation rate, particularly from psychology students’ perspectives (Marefat, 1396).
Research by Keshavarz, Vasfi, and Sha'bani (1393) examined the credibility of internet health information and how personality traits like conscientiousness influence evaluation methods among health-medical professionals. They found that many struggle to assess quality, relying mainly on impartiality, timeliness, and author credibility. Similarly, Roozbahani and Riahi-nia (1395) highlighted that faculty members prioritize content accuracy, data reliability, logical consistency, and relevance in determining source credibility. Kader’s study (Kader, 2013) on nurses identified a six-stage process for evaluating online health information, depending on skills, time, and website quality. Liu and Huang’s research (2005) among Chinese students revealed that current students often base their judgments on author name, affiliation, and website reputation, whereas graduates focus more on the information’s accuracy and quality.
Despite many evaluation efforts, challenges remain: first, understanding how users process unobservable information is difficult; second, differing information needs lead to varied processing approaches; and third, establishing a universal criterion for correct information processing is often impossible outside controlled environments. These issues highlight the complexity of assessing information credibility and the ongoing need for effective evaluation strategies (Liu, 2000).The main questions of the present study are:
1. What are the challenges faced by sports science students at Birjand University in evaluating their required resources?
2. How do sports science students at Birjand University evaluate their required resources?
Method:The statistical population of the present study consisted of 67 sports science students at Birjand University at the time of the research. Given the effort to collect maximum data, all 67 individuals were considered part of the research population, and no sampling was performed. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. In total, twenty master's students in sports science were interviewed. The interview process continued until saturation was reached, after interviewing sixteen students. From the sixteenth to the twentieth interview, the data obtained were repetitive, and based on this, the researchers decided to stop data collection. The initial codes were placed under sub-categories and main categories. In the present study, member checking was used to determine the research's credibility. In the present study, the constructivist approach in grounded theory, as proposed by Charmaz (2014), was adopted as the basis for the work, therefore, there is no need to present a paradigmatic model. Data analysis was also performed using MAXQDA 2020 software.
Findings: Among the 67 members of the research population, a total of 20 sports science students from Birjand University were interviewed. A totoal of 50% of the interviewees were women (10 people), and 10 (50%) were men. Categorizes and presents the concepts and codes extracted from the interviews related to the research questions. In the axial coding of the data, a total of 6 main challenges related to the validation methods of resources of sports students present in the interviews were found, such as lack of familiarity with investigating research violations, lack of familiarity with plagiarism, lack of familiarity with plagiarism software, etc. Also, 15 core codes related to the second research question, how to accredit sports students, were obtained.
Conclusion: Interviews with the research population revealed that students in the research population face certain challenges in validating sources. They highlighted "unfamiliarity with examining research misconduct, unfamiliarity with plagiarism, unfamiliarity with plagiarism software, unfamiliarity with citation styles and citation management software, disregard for the author's academic rank, and unfamiliarity with the credibility of open-access articles" in their conversations with researchers.
These points were derived from the overall final concepts identified during the interviews, which included "unfamiliarity with how to examine research misconduct, unfamiliarity with examining research misconduct, unfamiliarity with examining plagiarism, unfamiliarity with plagiarism software, unfamiliarity with citation styles, unfamiliarity with EndNote, disregard for the author's academic rank, and unfamiliarity with the credibility of open-access articles." The findings of the present study emphasize the need for serious attention from all students, including sports science students and other students, to the issue of information credibility and quality, and the necessity of sufficient and continuous training and skills in this area. Skill training in determining the quality and credibility of sources, based on specific and strong criteria, in the form of training courses, workshops, laboratories, projects, and research, are among the immediate actions in this field.
Especially, It is suggested that to better understand the problems and provide better solutions, other qualitative and mixed methods such as foresight and videography with highly standardized checklists be conducted in more extensive and broader research to achieve more generalizable and broader results. It seems that training in source validation methods is needed for the sports science students participating in the research, and their training can reduce the challenges of source validation among students and improve their source validation methods. It is suggested that the data from this research be measured as a quantitative study among students of Birjand University and other various universities across the country.
Studies suggest that students often lack the skills to assess the credibility of articles found in databases or general websites like Wikipedia and online encyclopedias (Marefat, 1401; Azarang, 1399). For printed sources, students typically consider the author's credibility, organizational affiliation, and the publisher’s reputation as indicators of source reliability (Moradi, 1384). Marefat identified ten main categories related to evaluating sources, including institutional credibility, author credibility, content accuracy, observational reliability, referential validation, publication date, information distortion, credibility doubts, recognition of source credibility, and citation rate, particularly from psychology students’ perspectives (Marefat, 1396).
Research by Keshavarz, Vasfi, and Sha'bani (1393) examined the credibility of internet health information and how personality traits like conscientiousness influence evaluation methods among health-medical professionals. They found that many struggle to assess quality, relying mainly on impartiality, timeliness, and author credibility. Similarly, Roozbahani and Riahi-nia (1395) highlighted that faculty members prioritize content accuracy, data reliability, logical consistency, and relevance in determining source credibility. Kader’s study (Kader, 2013) on nurses identified a six-stage process for evaluating online health information, depending on skills, time, and website quality. Liu and Huang’s research (2005) among Chinese students revealed that current students often base their judgments on author name, affiliation, and website reputation, whereas graduates focus more on the information’s accuracy and quality.
Despite many evaluation efforts, challenges remain: first, understanding how users process unobservable information is difficult; second, differing information needs lead to varied processing approaches; and third, establishing a universal criterion for correct information processing is often impossible outside controlled environments. These issues highlight the complexity of assessing information credibility and the ongoing need for effective evaluation strategies (Liu, 2000).The main questions of the present study are:
1. What are the challenges faced by sports science students at Birjand University in evaluating their required resources?
2. How do sports science students at Birjand University evaluate their required resources?
Method:The statistical population of the present study consisted of 67 sports science students at Birjand University at the time of the research. Given the effort to collect maximum data, all 67 individuals were considered part of the research population, and no sampling was performed. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. In total, twenty master's students in sports science were interviewed. The interview process continued until saturation was reached, after interviewing sixteen students. From the sixteenth to the twentieth interview, the data obtained were repetitive, and based on this, the researchers decided to stop data collection. The initial codes were placed under sub-categories and main categories. In the present study, member checking was used to determine the research's credibility. In the present study, the constructivist approach in grounded theory, as proposed by Charmaz (2014), was adopted as the basis for the work, therefore, there is no need to present a paradigmatic model. Data analysis was also performed using MAXQDA 2020 software.
Findings: Among the 67 members of the research population, a total of 20 sports science students from Birjand University were interviewed. A totoal of 50% of the interviewees were women (10 people), and 10 (50%) were men. Categorizes and presents the concepts and codes extracted from the interviews related to the research questions. In the axial coding of the data, a total of 6 main challenges related to the validation methods of resources of sports students present in the interviews were found, such as lack of familiarity with investigating research violations, lack of familiarity with plagiarism, lack of familiarity with plagiarism software, etc. Also, 15 core codes related to the second research question, how to accredit sports students, were obtained.
Conclusion: Interviews with the research population revealed that students in the research population face certain challenges in validating sources. They highlighted "unfamiliarity with examining research misconduct, unfamiliarity with plagiarism, unfamiliarity with plagiarism software, unfamiliarity with citation styles and citation management software, disregard for the author's academic rank, and unfamiliarity with the credibility of open-access articles" in their conversations with researchers.
These points were derived from the overall final concepts identified during the interviews, which included "unfamiliarity with how to examine research misconduct, unfamiliarity with examining research misconduct, unfamiliarity with examining plagiarism, unfamiliarity with plagiarism software, unfamiliarity with citation styles, unfamiliarity with EndNote, disregard for the author's academic rank, and unfamiliarity with the credibility of open-access articles." The findings of the present study emphasize the need for serious attention from all students, including sports science students and other students, to the issue of information credibility and quality, and the necessity of sufficient and continuous training and skills in this area. Skill training in determining the quality and credibility of sources, based on specific and strong criteria, in the form of training courses, workshops, laboratories, projects, and research, are among the immediate actions in this field.
Especially, It is suggested that to better understand the problems and provide better solutions, other qualitative and mixed methods such as foresight and videography with highly standardized checklists be conducted in more extensive and broader research to achieve more generalizable and broader results. It seems that training in source validation methods is needed for the sports science students participating in the research, and their training can reduce the challenges of source validation among students and improve their source validation methods. It is suggested that the data from this research be measured as a quantitative study among students of Birjand University and other various universities across the country.
Reza Naserijahromi, Mehdi Mohammadi, Marzieh Abdolvahabi, Solmaz Khademi, Majid Kowsari, Sedigheh Shadi,
Volume 12, Issue 2 (9-2025)
Volume 12, Issue 2 (9-2025)
Abstract
Objective: This research was a synthesis research approach to the concept of critical information literacy.
Methodology: This research was a qualitative method using a five-stage interpretive-critical approach. The statistical population of this research focused on primary sources close to the field of the present study. The criterion for selecting the studies under study was alignment and coherence with the purpose, title, and variables of the present study. In this regard, the search for sources was carried out according to the research question and based on the knowledge gained from reviewing the theoretical background. The keywords entered in scientific search engines and databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, Scopus were: synthesis research approach, media literacy, critical literacy, critical information literacy, and information news. After the collected data reached a saturation point and the need to select studies was no longer needed, the review and interpretation process began. The findings obtained from the analysis and synthesis of research reports related to critical information literacy were categorized into three main themes: "Scientometrics of Information Literacy", "Correlation of Information Literacy and Critical Thinking", and "Media Information Literacy".
Conclusion: In fact, a necessary knowledge, awareness, and skills with a standard framework of information and critical literacy can independently provide a suitable infrastructure and foundation for the interaction of information literacy and critical literacy, which will create a balance and interaction between the capacities and abilities of curiosity, creativity, and judgment in individuals.
Mohammad Hossein Marzban, Rahman Sharifzadeh, ,
Volume 12, Issue 2 (9-2025)
Volume 12, Issue 2 (9-2025)
Abstract
As information becomes one of the most important resources for companies and cyber threats get more advanced, there has been a big increase in spending on security tools. But research shows that over 90% of big security problems come from mistakes made by human. This shows that it's really important to focus on "information security culture" along with technical tools. Most traditional ideas about security culture, like those from Schein and Hofstede, are centered around human and don't take into account the role of non-human elements. This gap in understanding means we need better ways, like Actor-Network Theory, to look at how all different factors work together. This study was done to fill that gap and look at what influences security culture in a major financial organization. The research used a qualitative method and included interviews with 25 managers, experts, and users at the Central Bank of Iran, as well as field observations and document analysis. The results showed that security culture comes from the interaction of three main human groups: senior managers who make big decisions, employees who carry out daily tasks, and technical teams that turn policies into real actions. Also, five types of non-human elements were found: policies like ISO 27001, technologies such as SIEM and MFA, physical infrastructure, documents, and organizational processes. A key finding was the role of hybrid actors, like authentication systems, which mix humans and technology and affect how people behave. Compared to simple models, this study shows that building a better security culture needs a network approach that considers all the different factors. Recommendations include making security tools easier to use, training managers, and embedding security into everyday work. This approach can help financial and governance organizations that face similar challenges.
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