Puheenjohtajan katsaus vuoteen 2017

Informaatiotutkimu

Health information matters:everyday health information literacy and behaviour in relation to health behaviour and physical health among young men

Abstract This study increases the understanding of young men’s everyday health information literacy and behaviour in relation to their health behaviour, physical health, and socio-demographic characteristics. The conceptual framework of the study builds upon theories of information behaviour, practices and literacy, and health behaviour change. The empirical data were collected with questionnaires (n = 3,293) and physiological measurements (n = 3,063) in 2010 to 2013 at the Finnish Defence Forces’ call-ups, where a population-based sample of young Finnish men could be reached. Everyday health information literacy was studied using a previously developed screening tool, and with a focus on its relationship with health behaviour and physical fitness. Information behaviour was investigated in the context of physical activity, and in relation to men’s readiness to change exercise behaviour according to the Transtheoretical Model. Statistical analyses of the data include multivariate regression analyses, and a critical realist approach was adopted in interpreting the results. The results show that general upper secondary education and higher socio-economic position of a parent increase the likelihood of good health information literacy. Health information literacy is positively associated with health-promoting behaviour and health independent of socio-economic position; confidence in one’s abilities to find, evaluate and use health information is associated with regular exercise and healthy eating habits, and good physical fitness, for example. In the context of physical activity, the practices used to acquire information are associated with the stage of exercise behaviour change. Men in the maintenance stage seek information most actively. Information avoidance, in turn, is connected to low health information literacy, not to the stage of change. The study provides novel knowledge on healthy young people’s everyday health information literacy and behaviour, and on their relationship. It is among the first to investigate health information behaviour in the stages of behaviour change and health information literacy in connection with objectively measured fitness. It proposes a framework for future studies on the relationship between health information literacy and behaviour, and health information outcomes. The results may be utilised when designing tailored health communications and health information literacy education.Tiivistelmä Tutkimus lisää ymmärrystä siitä, millainen yhteys nuorten miesten arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidolla ja terveystietokäyttäytymisellä on terveyskäyttäytymiseen, fyysiseen terveyteen ja sosiodemografisiin tekijöihin. Sen käsitteellinen viitekehys rakentuu tietokäyttäytymisen ja -käytäntöjen, terveystiedon lukutaidon sekä terveyskäyttäytymisen muutoksen teorioille. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin kyselyillä (n = 3 293) ja fysiologisilla mittauksilla (n = 3 063) vuosina 2010–2013 Puolustusvoimien Oulun alueen kutsuntatilaisuuksissa, joissa oli mahdollista saavuttaa suomalaisten nuorten miesten väestöpohjainen otos. Terveystiedon lukutaitoa arvioitiin aiemmin kehitetyllä seulontavälineellä sekä suhteessa terveyskäyttäytymiseen ja fyysiseen kuntoon. Terveystietokäyttäytymistä tarkasteltiin liikunnan kontekstissa ja suhteessa transteoreettisen mallin mukaiseen liikuntakäyttäytymisen muutosvalmiuteen. Aineistot analysoitiin tilastollisesti monimuuttujamenetelmin, ja tuloksia tulkittiin kriittisen realismin näkökulmasta. Tulokset osoittavat, että lukiokoulutus ja korkeassa sosioekonomisessa asemassa oleva vanhempi lisäävät hyvän arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidon todennäköisyyttä. Terveystiedon lukutaito on positiivisesti yhteydessä terveyttä edistäviin elintapoihin ja terveyteen sosioekonomisesta asemasta riippumatta. Luottamus omiin kykyihin löytää, arvioida ja ymmärtää terveystietoa on yhteydessä muun muassa säännölliseen liikuntaan ja terveellisiin syömistottumuksiin sekä hyvään fyysiseen kuntoon. Liikunnan kontekstissa terveystietokäytännöt kytkeytyvät käyttäytymisen muutosvaiheeseen. Aktiivisimmin liikuntatietoa hankkivat liikuntakäyttäytymisen ylläpitovaiheessa olevat. Tiedon välttäminen sen sijaan on yhteydessä alhaiseen terveystiedon lukutaitoon, ei muutosvaiheeseen. Tutkimus tuottaa uutta tietoa nuorten, terveiden ihmisten arkielämän terveystiedon lukutaidosta ja terveystietokäyttäytymisestä sekä niiden suhteesta toisiinsa. Uutta on myös terveystietokäytäntöjen tutkiminen terveyskäyttäytymisen muutosvaiheissa ja terveystiedon lukutaidon tarkastelu suhteessa objektiivisesti mitattuun fyysiseen kuntoon. Tutkimuksessa esitetään viitekehys tuleville tutkimuksille terveystiedon lukutaidon ja tietokäytäntöjen vaikutuksesta terveyteen. Tulokset ovat hyödynnettävissä räätälöidyn terveysviestinnän ja terveystiedon lukutaidon koulutuksen suunnittelussa

Nameless strangers, similar others:the affordances of a young people’s anonymous online forum for health information practices

Abstract Purpose: The study examines how the technical features and associated social practices of an anonymous, text-based online forum intended for young people make it a unique platform for acquiring and sharing health information among peers. Design/methodology/approach: The features and content of a young people’s section of a popular Finnish discussion forum were examined with a focus on health-related threads. Observational notes and thread content were analysed with a focus on the forum’s affordances for health information practices. Findings: The findings indicate that the forum’s affordances including anonymity, persistence, searchability, cohesion and tolerance enabled the pooling of peer experiences, opinions and experience-based advice on health, rather than sharing factual information or embracing reciprocal discussion. As such, instead of competing for a cognitive authority position with medical authorities or offering emotional support like tight online support communities, the anonymous forum served as a platform for young people to gain information on others’ experiences and opinions on sensitive, mundane and disnormative health issues and for reflecting their own lived experiences to those of others. Originality/value: The study is original in its approach to examining the affordances of an online platform for health information practices. It helps in understanding young people’s ways of using different resources to meet their diverse health information needs and the value of gaining access to experiential health information

Cognitive authorities in health education classrooms:a nexus analysis on group-based learning tasks

Abstract Socio-technical changes have transformed information practices and challenged conceptions of cognitive authorities, referring to information sources that are deemed credible and legitimate and influence people’s thinking. Cognitive authorities in group-based knowledge-construction projects in health education lessons were explored in this study. Nexus analysis was used to analyze participant interviews and video-observed social actions in three secondary school health-education classrooms (Grades 8–9) in Finland. The findings show how group-based projects employing multiple information sources offer opportunities for the distribution and co-construction of cognitive authorities. However, explicit negotiations on the authority of sources were rare. Cognitive authorities appeared as contextual and situational but also guided by broader discourses circulating in the scene of action. By embedding information literacy instruction throughout the curriculum, information professionals and teachers can support young learners to recognize relevant authorities in different spheres of knowledge and to become competent users of health information

“Let’s keep this video as real as possible”:young video bloggers constructing cognitive authority through a health-related information creation process

Abstract Purpose: This study examines the information literacy practices of young video bloggers, focusing on the ways in which they construct their cognitive authority through a health-related information creation process. Design/methodology/approach: This study draws upon socially oriented information literacy research and nexus analysis as its methodological framework. Data, including YouTube videos, theme interviews and video diaries, were collected with three Finnish video bloggers and qualitatively analysed using nexus analytical concepts to describe the central elements of social action. Findings: The study shows that video bloggers employ several information practices during the information creation process, including planning, information-seeking, organization, editing and presentation of information. They construct their cognitive authority in relation to their anticipated audience by grounding it on different types of information: experience-based, embodied and scientific. Trustworthiness, emphasized with authenticity and genuineness, and competence, based on experience, expertise and second-hand information, were recognized as key components of credibility in this context. Originality/value: This study increases the understanding of the complex ways in which young people create information on social media and influence their audiences. The study contributes to information literacy research by offering insights into the under-researched area of information creation. It is among the few studies to examine cognitive authority construction in the information creation process. The notion of authority as constructed through trustworthiness and competence and grounded on different types of information, can be taken into account in practice by information professionals and educators when planning information literacy instruction

Employing nexus analysis in investigating information literacy

Abstract Introduction: This study discusses the potential of nexus analysis in information literacy research. Nexus analysis is a theoretical-methodological approach that examines the linkages between discourse and action. Method. Nexus analysis is discussed in relation to other socially oriented approaches to information literacy research and illustrated with an empirical example. Analysis: The key ideas and concepts of nexus analysis are explained, compared to related approaches, namely, practice and sociocultural theories and discourse analysis. An empirical example on the information literacy practices of a young video blogger is used to illustrate the application of this approach. Results: Whereas practice-theoretical and sociocultural information literacy studies tend to examine the practices of fixed social groups, nexus analysis focuses first on social action. In contrast to most discourse analytical studies, it investigates how discourses are manifested in action. The empirical example illustrated how the key tasks of nexus analysis and data triangulation provided diverse perspectives on exploring information literacy. Conclusion: The value of nexus analysis lies in its unique way of combining elements from various approaches and the practical guidelines it offers for multimodal analysis. It provides new insight for socially oriented information literacy research by focusing on the ways individuals’ histories and identities, discourses circulating in a scene and mutually produced interaction order intersect in a specific moment in time to enable social action

Uncomfortable in my own skin:emerging, early-stage identity-related information needs of transgender people

Abstract Purpose: This study aims to increase the understanding of the early-stage identity-related information needs of transgender people. Design/methodology/approach: This study draws on social constructivism, queer theory and information practice research. In accordance with the queer phenomenological approach which emphasises lived experiences, data was collected by interviewing 25 individuals who identified as transgender. The data was analysed with a focus on how early-stage information needs are formed into conscious information needs. Findings: The formation of early-stage information needs were conceptualised as a chain including a trigger for information seeking, finding the right words and understanding the experience. Especially the bodily changes starting at puberty were strong causes of discomfort causing friction between the subjects' own gendered body and their gender experience, even leading to gender dysphoria. Finding words to describe the experience played an important role in the process of identity formation. In many cases this was difficult because of the lack of accurate and relevant information. Social implications: Providing information especially of varying transgender experiences is vital for individuals trying to understand and verbalise their gender identity. Originality/value: This study provides an understanding of the early-stage information needs described by transgender people and the process of building identities through disorientation. This study suggests that early-stage information needs are a valid concept to help understand how embodied experiences and the friction between the lived experience and the social world can lead to information seeking

The cognitive authority of user-generated health information in an online forum for girls and young women

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of one particular online discussion forum as a potentially authoritative health information source for its users. The concept of cognitive authority is used as a starting point for understanding information evaluation in this context. The focus is placed on the types of information users seek for from this forum, the ways they assess the credibility of information obtained, and their views on the impact of this information. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical data were collected with a questionnaire survey from the users of a Finnish online forum for girls and young women (n=290). The data were analyzed qualitatively with content analytic techniques and quantitatively by using descriptive analysis. Findings: The forum was found to offer girls and young women the possibility to receive health information from peers. It was viewed as an appropriate source for experiential rather than factual health information and used to find information on sexuality, bodily functions and diets, for example. Author-related cues, argumentation and tone, veracity and verification were recognized as means to evaluate information credibility. Credibility evaluation was found to be linked with conceptions of the forum and the type of information sought. A share of the respondents recognized the information obtained to have influence on their thinking or behavior. Originality/value: Based on the findings, it can be argued that the members of the online forum — individually or collectively — can act as cognitive authorities for other users. The findings cannot be generalized beyond this online forum, to Finnish girls or young women, or even the users of the online forum. However, they provide insights into the ways young people evaluate user-generated information in a particular online setting and domain of knowledge and as such contribute to research on cognitive authority, credibility evaluation and information literacy

Examining energy information literacy with an adaptation of the everyday health information literacy screening tool

Abstract This study explores energy information literacy by applying an adapted version of an everyday health information literacy (EHIL) screening tool. For this study, the original EHIL tool was modified by adjusting its ten statements to an energy context. Data were collected with an online survey from students present for the academic year in 2016–2017 (n = 11,381) at the University of Oulu. Statistical analyses include an exploratory factor analysis and comparison of mean factor scores. Survey items on respondents’ background were also included in the analyses. The response rate was 12.2% (n = 1,390). The screening tool’s factorial structure was found to be multifaceted and to resemble that of the original EHIL tool with three factors: motivation (‘motivation’), confidence in finding energy information (‘confidence’), and perceived ability to evaluate it (‘evaluation’). Mean factor scores varied by gender and field of study. The study is among the first to examine energy information literacy

Harvinaissairaiden käsityksiä sairaudesta ja sitä koskevan tiedon kognitiivisista auktoriteeteista

Abstract This article examines the illness representations as viewed by Finnish adults with a hereditary rare disease, and ways these representations manifest in their information behaviour, focusing on the cognitive authority of information sources. Data were gathered with five theme interviews and analysed using theory bound content analysis. The results show that doctors and researchers specialised in rare diseases had a central cognitive authority status among the patients. Additionally, personal expertise and experience, and peer information, particularly of practicalities, were also crucial. Information sources, and information provided by the sources, were significant in constructing illness representations and for controlling the disease. The core information sources and their evaluation varied in different disease phases and along with evolving illness identity. The results cannot be generalised to all Finnish adults with a rare disease but they add knowledge about patients’ views of information sources in a situation where information is scarce. Because of the general lack of information about rare diseases, information supply, information behaviour and information creation are examples of prolific study subjects