Chapter 4 Results
4.4 Multitasking Behaviour during Web Searching
4.4.3 Evolving Information Problem
An evolving information problem (EIP) was a type of information problem that was produced during the course of successive Web searching. It reflected a dynamic and interactive property of the Web searching behaviour. Compared to an original
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information problem which was consciously set by study participants, the generation of an evolving information problem had an attribute of improvisation. It could be conscious or unconscious.
Table 4-16 listed all the evolving information problems generated during forty-two study participants’ Web searches.
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Table 4-16. Evolving information problems generated per study participant Study
Participant Evolving Information Problem (EIP) 1 None
2 None
3 EIP1. Looking for the Website URL of “eBay”.
4 None
EIP1. Looking for the Website URL of “EA Sports”.
EIP2. Looking for the Website URL of “Microsoft Games”.
EIP3. Information on names of gaming companies.
EIP4. Looking for the Website URL of “MSN answers”.
EIP5. Looking for the Website URL of “a CBD building”.
EIP6. Looking for the Website URL of “another building”.
EIP7. Looking for the Website URL of “another building”.
5
EIP8. Looking for the Website URL of “another CBD building”.
6 None 7 None
EIP1. Information on the transit visa in Malaysia.
8
EIP2. Looking for the differences between revenue generation and travel demand management.
EIP1. Information on the job salary as a statistician.
EIP2. Looking for scholarships for international students in Australia.
EIP3. Looking for some news headlines about USA financial crisis.
EIP4. Information on how to become an actuary.
9
EIP5. Information on how to become a statistician.
EIP1. Looking for the book reviews of a book in Google Books.
10
EIP2. Looking for the book twentieth-century world in Google Books.
EIP1. Looking for the cheapest ticket from Brisbane to Auckland.
EIP2. Looking for the Website URL of “Jetstar”.
11
EIP3. Looking for the cheapest ticket from Brisbane to Christchurch.
12 EIP1. Information on how the hired car can be returned in USA.
EIP1. Information on the definition of concepts: local and municipal.
EIP2. Looking for the local government structure in Canada.
EIP3. Looking for the local government structure in Malaysia.
13
EIP4. Looking for the Website URL of “Yahoo Scholar”.
14 None
EIP1. Looking for the surrounding suburbs around my home in Google Maps.
EIP2. Information on the distance between a parking place and Melbourne.
EIP3. Looking for the cheapest flight from Brisbane to Auckland.
EIP4. Looking for the cheapest accommodation in Auckland CBD.
15
EIP5. Information on the area in Auckland.
EIP1. Looking for the Website URL of “Cuil”.
EIP2. Looking for the Website URL of “Google”.
16
EIP3. Looking for easy rocking stallion statistics.
EIP1. Information on the structure of questions & answers in automatic FAQ system.
EIP2. Looking for the reason why there is a financial crisis.
17
EIP3. Looking for the reason why we age.
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Table 4-16. (Continued) Study
Participant Evolving Information Problem (EIP) EIP1. Information on the concept of "gige" in Wikipedia.
EIP2. Looking for the Website URL of “Wikipedia”.
EIP3. Looking for the comparison between wankel engines and combustion engines.
EIP4. Information on the future of the cars, like hybrid cars.
18
EIP5. Looking for the comparison of hybrid car technologies.
19 None
20 EIP1. Information on the experimental finite element modelling EIP1. Information on the legal meaning of responsibility.
21
EIP2. Information on the legal meaning of liability.
EIP1. Information on correlation analysis in data mining.
EIP2. Information on correlation analysis association rule mining.
EIP3. Information on how to deal with difficult people in software engineering.
22
EIP4. Looking for a diet plan for losing weight.
EIP1. Information on the big four banks in Australia.
EIP2. Looking for Website URL of “New York Times”.
EIP3. Information on the USA presidential election date.
EIP4. Information on Uranium Information Centre.
23
EIP5. Information on nuclear waste disposal.
24 EIP1. Looking for the motivational theories adopted by Fisher & Paykel.
25 None
EIP1. Looking for the URL of “PubMed” database.
EIP2. Looking for the papers written by the author Yamagishi, A.
EIP3. Information on the Chinese meaning of the word “angiogenesis”.
EIP4. Looking for the Website URL of “online dictionary”.
26
EIP5. Information on the dosage of shark cartilage in order to cure arthritis.
EIP1. Information on the relationship between Victor Harbor and Adelaide.
EIP2. Information on the relationship between Victor Harbor and Granite Island.
27
EIP3. Information on the distance between Monarto Zoo and Victor Harbor.
EIP1. Information on “Edgewater Resort”.
EIP2. Looking for the reviews on “Edgewater Resort”.
EIP3. Looking for the reviews on “Cook Islands” packages for couples.
28
EIP4. Information on the research done by the author Larissa Mclean.
EIP1. Looking for tour packages from Brisbane to Bryon Bay.
EIP2. Looking for cruise tour packages from Australia to anywhere.
29
EIP3. Looking for tour packages in Cairns.
EIP1. Looking for the Website URL of “Wikipedia”.
30
EIP2. Information on the concept of “procurement”.
EIP1. Looking for an English word with the meaning of “short-sighted”.
31
EIP2. Looking for the real location of the virtual store”eyeglasses4you”.
32 EIP1. Looking for the URL of “Google Scholar”.
33 None
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Table 4-16. (Continued) Study
Participant Evolving Information Problem (EIP) EIP1. Looking for the resolution of subprime crisis.
EIP2. Looking for the qualifications for jobs in Venture Capital industry.
EIP3. Looking for career opportunities in the Venture Capital Industry in India.
34
EIP4. Looking for salary information in Indian venture capital industry.
35 None
EIP1. Looking for the contact details of the Australia Institute.
EIP2. Looking for the Website URL of “Australia ABS”.
EIP3. Looking for Australian government portals.
36
EIP4. Scholar papers about diasporic telecommunication media.
37 EIP1. Information on migrants in Australia.
EIP1. Looking for the Website URL of “McGraw-Hill publisher”.
EIP2. Looking for the email from Stephanie Beames in the Yahoo email Inbox.
EIP3. Looking for the books on flow in QUT Library.
EIP4. Looking for a correct spelling of the book author’s name.
EIP5. Information on the author of the book “Emotional Intelligence”.
38
EIP6. Looking for the books on emotional intelligence in QUT Library.
39 None 40 None
41 EIP1. Looking for the URL of “PubMed” database.
EIP1. Information on grounded theory seminars in China or in Australia.
EIP2. Information on grounded theory seminars in Australia.
EIP3. Looking for the Website URL of “all conferences”.
42
EIP4. Conference information in nursing focusing on qualitative methods.
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Table 4-17 shows the number of study participants with evolving or non-evolving information problems during Web searching.
Table 4-17. Number of study participants with evolving or non-evolving information problems developed
Study Participant Number of Evolving Information Problems
Number %
The number of evolving information problems per study participant ranged from zero to eight.
• Twelve study participants (29%) did not generate any evolving information problems, in the cases of Study Participants 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 14, 19, 25, 33, 35, 39 and 40.
• Over 70% of the study participants developed evolving information problems during the successive Web searching.
• Seven study participants (17%) developed one evolving information problem, in the cases of Study Participants 3, 12, 20, 24, 32, 37 and 41.
• Five study participants (12%) developed two evolving information problems, in the cases of Study Participants 8, 10, 21, 30 and 31.
• Another five study participants (12%) developed three evolving information problems, in the cases of Study Participants 11, 16, 17, 27 and 29.
• Six study participants (14%) developed four evolving information problems, in the cases of Study Participants 13, 22, 28, 34, 36 and 42.
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• Five study participants (12%) developed five evolving information problems, in the cases of Study Participants 9, 15, 18, 23 and 26.
• Only one study participant (2%) generated six evolving information problems (Study Participant 38).
• One study participant (2%) generated eight evolving information problems (Study Participant 5).
Compared with study participants’ original information problems, evolving information problems were represented as changed problems or totally new ones.
An Evolving Information Problem as a Changed One
Examples:
• Problem 1 was about statistics job market in Australia and the rest of the world. After getting some information, he would like to check out specific information on job salary for a statistician. (Study Participant 9)
• Problem 3 was about the scholarships for postgraduate students in Australian Universities. The evolving information problem was about the scholarships for international postgraduate students in Australian Universities. It was identified as a changed problem by refining the scope to international postgraduate students. (Study Participant 9)
An Evolving Information Problem as a New One
Examples:
• The evolving information problem was searching for the URL of eBay Website which was totally different from the original three problems. (Study Participant 3)
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• Problem 3 was for information on a day tour in Malaysia, including tour guides and the cost involved. The evolving information problem was for transit visa at Malaysia airport. (Study Participant 8)