Informing on a Rugged Landscape: How Complexity Drives Our Preferred Information Sources

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: Provides a theoretical model as to where we should source our information as the environment becomes more complex. Background: Develops a theoretical model built on extrinsic complexity and offers a conceptual scheme relating to the relative value of different sources. Methodology: The paper is purely conceptual in nature. Contribution: Develops a model that could be tested relating to where clients should search for information. Findings: Arguments can be made that different environments warrant different priorities for informing sources. Recommendations for Practitioners: Assess how your sources of information match your perceived environment. Recommendation for Researchers: Consider developing research designs to test the proposed model. Impact on Society: Offers a new way of thinking about informing sources. Future Research: Develop propositions from the model that could be empirically tested in future research.

Fake News and Informing Science

“…The preferred informing sources model (Gill, Mullarkey, & Satterfield, 2018) builds on the ruggedness model to consider how our preference for informing sources may change based upon the extrinsic complexity of the environment. Extrinsic complexity extends the concept of ruggedness in several ways:…”

“…The informing transition model specifically looks at the process that a client must undergo in moving from one local peak to another. It considers three distinct types of complexity (Gill et al, 2018):…”