Planning and information foraging theories

Abstract

Information foraging theory and strategic planning theory can help technical communicators think about effective research methods. A broader understanding of social theory can complement Gattis's approach by adding considerations related to underlying ideological assumptions and to how research practices are situated in the larger contexts of organizations, communities, and cultures. Document Preparation--information foraging Keywords--information, foraging, behavioral ecology, documentationIn "Planning and Information Foraging Theories and Their Value to the Novice Technical Communicator," Lyn Gattis seeks to explain how novice technical communicators learn to search for information. Recognizing that no single model can fully represent this complex process, Gattis combines two different cognitive models: information foraging theory and strategic planning theory. As I understand it, information foraging theory attempts to explain how people evaluate the choices they encounter while conducting research, weighing quality and quantity of information against expenditures of time and effort. Strategic planning theory explains how people formulate research plans in relation to social goals, balancing efficiency or productivity against such concerns as credibility and social appropriateness. By combining these two models, novice technical communicators can get a sense of the research strategies people use, and of the types of decisions they make as they conduct research in particular situations. As Gattis notes, "The foraging model accounts for how individuals choose data sources, while the planning model focuses on the strategies they use to obtain the data from those sources, once identified" (p.9). I certainly agree that these models complement each other in productive ways, helping novice technical communicators to understand and develop sound research strategies.Although Gattis claims that her approach is situated "contextually or environmentally" (p. 15), it is somewhat unclear to me exactly how context and environment influence the research approach she advances. In the conclusion to her article, for instance, Gattis explains that strategic planning theory supplies the social element that information foraging theory lacks. As she puts it, her approach "accounts for both facets of cognitive processing--activities associated with solitary information gathering and those that depend on interaction as well" (p. 15-16). So social interaction seems to be the only "contextual" or "environmental" factor