Online health information search and evaluation: observations and semi-structured interviews with college students and maternal health experts

Background: While the Internet is a popular source of health information, health seekers’ inadequate skills to locate and discern quality information pose a potential threat to their healthcare decision‐making. Objectives: We aimed to examine health information search and appraisal behaviours among young, heavy users of the Internet. Methods: In study 1, we observed and interviewed 11 college students about their search strategies and evaluation of websites. In study 2, three health experts evaluated two websites selected as the best information sources in study 1. Results: Familiarity with health websites and confidence in search strategies were major factors affecting search and evaluation behaviours. Website quality was mostly judged by aesthetics and peripheral cues of source credibility and message credibility. In contrast to users’ favourable website evaluation, the experts judged the websites to be inappropriate and untrustworthy. Conclusion: Our results highlight a critical need to provide young health seekers with resources and training that are specifically geared toward health information search and appraisal. The role of health seekers’ knowledge and involvement with the health issue in search effort and success warrants future research.     

Discourse Roles,Gender and Language Textbook Dialogues: Who learns what from John and Sally?

ABSTRACT Much work has been done on gender stereotyping in textbooks for foreign language teaching. However, little has focused on the language of dialogues, which are a characteristic feature of language textbooks. In the light of this gap, this article describes the author's own study analysing discourse roles in dialogues in three recent text books for the teaching of English as a foreign language. The results showed an encouraging level of gender fairness. The authors then explore whether this fairness was achieved through the creation of gender balance in social and occupational roles, and suggest that this was so in the case of these three books. They also discuss the negative implications of gender-imbalanced dialogues for female students + language practice opportunities. This study has implications for language teachers, teacher educators, and writers and publishers of language teaching materials.     

REFERENCE GROUPS, OPINION INTENSITY, AND PUBLIC OPINION EXPRESSION

Noelle-Neumann's work on the spiral of silence (1974, 1977,1984) has been one of the most significant theoretical developmentsin public opinion research of the past quarter-century. Thetheory is well known among public opinion researchers, and anumber of research efforts have been directed toward examiningspecific parts of the theory. However, the theory is difficultto test, incorporating psychological, social-psychological andsociological variables, including psychological variables andsweeping changes in the social climate of opinion (cf. Noelle-Neumann1984). This study investigated the role of opinion thresholds, socialgroups and weighing of others' opinions in opinion expression.Using Krassa's (1988) computer simulation and modificationsof Noelle-Neumann's (1974) spiral of silence as a base, we testseveral theoretical modifications to the spiral of silence modelusing data gathered from people living in or near six nationalparks in Canada. Primary interest is on the ability of opinionthresholds, social group and weighing of others' opinions topredict the expression of opinion for particular issues.     

Data Handling: An Introduction to Higher Order Processes

An activity is described which allows students with a range of abilities to become involved in data analysis and informal inference while working in self-selected small group environments.