Search persistence and failure on the web: a "bounded rationality" and "satisficing" analysis
Search persistence and failure on the web: a "bounded rationality" and "satisficing" analysis
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DOI：
10.1108/00220410710827754
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发表时间：
2007-01-01
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Ford, Nigel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mansourian, Yazdan;Ford, Nigel
目的-本文旨在检查我们目前对搜索者如何感知和应对在搜索网络有限的情况下丢失潜在重要信息的可能性的知识。这项研究旨在调查这些看法和反应，并探索西蒙的“有限理性”理论在多大程度上有助于解释这些问题。设计/方法论/方法-三个大学系的37名学术人员、研究人员和研究生就他们的网络搜索进行了采访。对开放式、半结构化访谈进行归纳性分析。“足够好”搜索的概念的出现促使进一步的分析，以探索数据在多大程度上可以用西蒙的“有限理性”和“满意”的概念来解释。发现-结果表明，受访者担心遗漏潜在重要信息的风险。他们对遗漏信息的可能程度和重要性的估计影响了个人关于何时停止搜索的决定--这些决定基于非常不同的标准，这与西蒙的概念很好地映射在一起。在访谈数据的基础上，作者提出了对信息缺失风险的初步分类，包括“无关紧要的”、“可容忍的”、“破坏性的”和“灾难性的”，以及包括“敷衍”、“极简主义”、“紧张”和“广泛”的搜索策略。结论是，至少有一个初步的案例表明，在我们寻求更好地理解人类信息行为的各个方面时，有限理性和满足感被认为是潜在的有用概念。研究局限/影响-尽管研究结果基于相对较小的样本和探索性的定性分析，但该研究提出了一些有趣的问题，并对网络搜索和信息文学领域的理论和实践发展具有启示意义。原创性/价值-本文关注的是网络搜索迄今尚未得到很好探索的一个方面。虽然研究已经做了很多工作来阐明搜索者对他们在网络上找到的东西的看法，但我们对他们对他们找不到的信息的看法和反应知之甚少。这里报告的研究提供了一些基于经验证据的这些现象的试探性模型。
Purpose - This paper aims to examine our current knowledge of how searchers perceive and react to the possibility of missing potentially important information whilst searching the web is limited. The study reported here seeks to investigate such perceptions and reactions, and to explore the extent to which Simon's "bounded rationality" theory is useful in illuminating these issues.Design/methodology/approach - Totally 37 academic staff, research staff and research students in three university departments were interviewed about their web searching. The open-ended, semi-structured interviews were inductively analysed. Emergence of the concept of "good enough" searching prompted a further analysis to explore the extent to which the data could be interpreted in terms of Simon's concepts of "bounded rationality" and "satisficing".Findings - The results indicate that the risk of missing potentially important information was a matter of concern to the interviewees. Their estimations of the likely extent and importance of missed information affected decisions by individuals as to when to stop searching - decisions based on very different criteria, which map well onto Simon's concepts. On the basis of the interview data, the authors propose tentative categorizations of perceptions of the risk of missing information including "inconsequential" "tolerable" "damaging" and "disastrous" and search strategies including "perfunctory" "minimalist" "nervous" and "extensive". It is concluded that there is at least a prima facie case for bounded rationality and satisficing being considered as potentially useful concepts in our quest better to understand aspects of human information behaviour.Research limitations/implications - Although the findings are based on a relatively small sample and an exploratory qualitative analysis, it is argued that the study raises a number of interesting questions, and has implications for both the development of theory and practice in the areas of web searching and information literacy.Originality/value - The paper focuses on an aspect of web searching which has not to date been well explored. Whilst research has done much to illuminate searchers' perceptions of what they find on the web, we know relatively little of their perceptions of, and reactions to information that they fail to find. The study reported here provides some tentative models, based on empirical evidence, of these phenomena.