Hansen Derek L, Derry Holly A, Resnick Paul J, Richardson Caroline R
School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
J Med Internet Res. 2003 Oct 17;5(4):e25. doi: 10.2196/jmir.5.4.e25.
Adolescents' access to health information on the Internet is partly a function of their ability to search for and find answers to their health-related questions. Adolescents may have unique health and computer literacy needs. Although many surveys, interviews, and focus groups have been utilized to understand the information-seeking and information-retrieval behavior of adolescents looking for health information online, we were unable to locate observations of individual adolescents that have been conducted in this context.
This study was designed to understand how adolescents search for health information using the Internet and what implications this may have on access to health information.
A convenience sample of 12 students (age 12-17 years) from 1 middle school and 2 high schools in southeast Michigan were provided with 6 health-related questions and asked to look for answers using the Internet. Researchers recorded 68 specific searches using software that captured screen images as well as synchronized audio recordings. Recordings were reviewed later and specific search techniques and strategies were coded. A qualitative review of the verbal communication was also performed.
Out of 68 observed searches, 47 (69%) were successful in that the adolescent found a correct and useful answer to the health question. The majority of sites that students attempted to access were retrieved directly from search engine results (77%) or a search engine's recommended links (10%); only a small percentage were directly accessed (5%) or linked from another site (7%). The majority (83%) of followed links from search engine results came from the first 9 results. Incorrect spelling (30 of 132 search terms), number of pages visited within a site (ranging from 1-15), and overall search strategy (eg, using a search engine versus directly accessing a site), were each important determinants of success. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants used a trial-and-error approach to formulate search strings, scanned pages randomly instead of systematically, and did not consider the source of the content when searching for health information.
This study provides a useful snapshot of current adolescent searching patterns. The results have implications for constructing realistic simulations of adolescent search behavior, improving distribution and usefulness of Web sites with health information relevant to adolescents, and enhancing educators' knowledge of what specific pitfalls students are likely to encounter.
青少年在互联网上获取健康信息的能力，部分取决于他们搜索并找到与健康相关问题答案的能力。青少年可能有独特的健康和计算机素养需求。尽管已经开展了许多调查、访谈和焦点小组讨论，以了解青少年在网上寻找健康信息时的信息寻求和信息检索行为，但我们未能找到在此背景下对青少年个体进行的观察研究。
本研究旨在了解青少年如何利用互联网搜索健康信息，以及这可能对健康信息获取产生何种影响。
从密歇根州东南部的1所中学和2所高中选取了12名学生（年龄在12至17岁之间）作为便利样本，向他们提出6个与健康相关的问题，并要求他们使用互联网寻找答案。研究人员使用能够捕捉屏幕图像以及同步音频记录的软件，记录了68次具体搜索。随后对记录进行审查，并对具体的搜索技术和策略进行编码。还对言语交流进行了定性审查。
在观察到的68次搜索中，47次（69%）取得成功，即青少年找到了与健康问题相关的正确且有用的答案。学生们试图访问的大多数网站是直接从搜索引擎结果（77%）或搜索引擎推荐链接（10%）中获取的；只有一小部分是直接访问的（5%）或从其他网站链接的（7%）。搜索引擎结果中被点击的链接，大多数（83%）来自前9个结果。拼写错误（132个搜索词中有30个）、在一个网站内访问的页面数量（从1到15个不等）以及整体搜索策略（例如，使用搜索引擎还是直接访问网站），都是成功的重要决定因素。定性分析表明，参与者采用试错法来制定搜索字符串，随机浏览页面而非系统浏览，并且在搜索健康信息时不考虑内容来源。
本研究提供了当前青少年搜索模式的有用概况。研究结果对于构建青少年搜索行为的现实模拟、改善与青少年相关的健康信息网站的传播和实用性，以及增强教育工作者对学生可能遇到的具体陷阱的了解具有重要意义。
