Strategy and accuracy during information search on the Web: Effects of age and complexity of the search questions

Chevalier, Aline; Dommès, Aurélie; Marquié, Jean-Claude

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.017

Cited by 67 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Older adults were found to click significantly less and reformulate queries significantly less often than younger adults. These results were in line with the outcomes of previous studies [4,10,21] and therefore provide stronger foundation to the main contributions of this study.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Assuming that these activated concepts are included as terms in the search queries formulated by users, we hypothesize that the semantic relevance of a query with the target information would be higher for difficult tasks compared to simple tasks (Hyp3a). Also, based on the outcomes of the study by [4], in which younger adults were found to be better at controlling phase of information search (modifying the query and strategy if required, which resulted in their higher performance) compared to older adults, we hypothesize that the semantic relevance of queries generated by younger adults would be higher than that of older adults (Hyp3b).…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more recent study by [4] looked at the three important phases in an information search process: planning (dividing a problem into sub-problems, formulating the first query), evaluating (assessing the relevance of search results) and controlling (modifying the query and strategy if required). In line with one of their earlier studies [3], they found significant differences in the amount of time allocated to the three phases of information search in relation to age and task difficulty.…”

Section: Aging and Search Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-related Differences in the Content of Search Queries when Reformulating

Karanam

Oostendorp

2016

Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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This study investigated the change in the content of the queries when performing reformulations in relation to age and task difficulty. Results showed that both generalization and specialization strategies were applied significantly more often for difficult tasks compared to simple tasks. Young participants were found to use specialization strategy significantly more often than old participants. Generalization strategy was also used significantly more often by young participants, especially for difficult tasks. Young participants were found to reformulate much longer than old participants. The semantic relevance of queries with the target information was found to be significantly higher for difficult tasks compared to simple tasks. It showed a decreasing trend across reformulations for old participants and remained constant for young participants, indicating that as old participants reformulated, they produced queries that were further away from the target information. Implications of these findings for design of information search systems are discussed.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aging and Search Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age-related Differences in the Content of Search Queries when Reformulating

Karanam

Oostendorp

2016

Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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“…In relation to the latter, there is evidence of a reduced aptitude for learning new technologies in older age groups, although the literature does not consistently define the concept of the "older adult" (Chevalier, 2015). When searching for information on the web using Google, older (60-68 years) participants have been found to formulate fewer queries, use fewer keywords and find fewer correct answers than younger participants.…”

Section: User Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When searching for information on the web using Google, older (60-68 years) participants have been found to formulate fewer queries, use fewer keywords and find fewer correct answers than younger participants. Further, older people find it more difficult to modify unsuccessful search strategies and to extricate themselves from search impasses (Chevalier, 2015). A lack of interest is the most commonly identified reason for older adults not adopting technology; they tend to be less interested in "adopting technology, simply for the sake of adopting technology" than younger users (Hanson, 2011). 3.3 Searching humanities resources Clough et al (2015) comment that tools to allow access to digital cultural heritage have traditionally focused on supporting "subject specialists and experienced users" but that this is changing as institutions attempt to make collections "accessible and appealing" to a wider audience of non-domain specialists.…”

Section: User Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Usability testing of the Letters of 1916 Digital Edition

Wusteman

2017

LHT

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and how the results of the testing were used to inform the subsequent redesign of the site.• Findings: Results imply that a majority of users, even digital humanists, were not looking for a unique and specialised interface, but assumed -and preferred -a user experience that reflects common search systems. Although the audience for digital humanities sites is becoming increasingly diverse, the needs of the different user groups may be more similar than had previously been assumed.• Research limitations: The usability test employed eleven participants, five of whom were coded as "general public". Four of this five had previously volunteered to transcribe and upload letters. This meant that they were already familiar with the project and with the Letters of 1916 Transcription Desk. However, their prior involvement was a result of their genuine interest in the site, thus ensuring that their interactions during testing were more realistic.• Practical implications: Lesson learned may be useful for the digital editions of future crowdsourced humanities projects.• Originality/value: Letters of 1916 is the first crowdsourced humanities project inIreland. The theme of the project is topical, emotive and socially important in Ireland and among Irish diaspora today. The project's content has been created by the "ordinary citizens of Ireland" and they are likely to be the major users of the Digital 1 Edition. The study explores how the Digital Edition can support these users, while also facilitating the range of traditional scholars and digital humanities researchers.

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