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Verifying web-based information: Detailed accounts of web use in real time

Overbey, David W.

Abstract Details

2007, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
This dissertation focuses on two empirical studies designed to generate descriptive accounts of web use that offer potential prescriptive value: a survey and three think-aloud protocols. The survey study compares the frequency with which web users verify information to Flanigan and Metzger’s (2000) participants. Age and frequency of web use for personal or professional reasons turned out to be statistically significant demographic variables for certain strategies itemized on the survey. Results, I argue, show that the strategies participants use to verify web-based information, rather than the frequency with which they do so, demonstrate key differences in how participants from my study confront this problem compared to Flanigan and Metzger’s participants. Think-aloud protocol results, I argue, provide detailed accounts of web use in real time that offer potential prescriptive value. I also argue that protocol results reinforce the value of prescriptive approaches I discuss in chapter two. Based on the results of these two studies, I hypothesize that intertext sense – participants’ information recall while web use is in progress – plays a vital role in how they verify web-based information. I conclude that the results of my research demonstate the value of studying web use in real time and recommend that future studies of web use consider the merits of this approach.
Christina Haas (Advisor)
148 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Overbey, D. W. (2007). Verifying web-based information: Detailed accounts of web use in real time [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1196445421

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Overbey, David. Verifying web-based information: Detailed accounts of web use in real time. 2007. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1196445421.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Overbey, David. "Verifying web-based information: Detailed accounts of web use in real time." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1196445421

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)