Using diaries in group based information behavior research: a methodological study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents and discusses the usage of the diary method in two case studies of group members' information behavior and reflects upon the results and implications for future work. The diary focused on group members' activities and emotional experiences during a project assignment, but differed in both design and usage between the two case studies, e.g. between a structured diary with fixed response-categories and an unstructured diary with no response-categories; between an electronic and a manually kept diary; and between four weeks and one week at three selected points. The diary method was found to generate useful data on group members' actions and behavior, though also stressing the importance of a proper introduction, training, a free format with minor structure, practical feasibility, and participant motivation. As a side effect, both diaries turned out to serve as an instrument for group members' reflection and project management.

REFERENCES

• 1: Alaszewski, A. (2006). Using diaries for social research. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
• 2: Corti, L. (1993). Using diaries in social research. Social Reseach Update. Issue 2. UK: Department of sociology, University of Surrey. {Available at: http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU2.html}. Visited 26 04, 2006.
• 3: Mary Czerwinski , Eric Horvitz , Susan Wilhite, A diary study of task switching and interruptions, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.175-182, April 24-29, 2004, Vienna, Austria [doi>10.1145/985692.985715]
• 4: Leysia Palen , Marilyn Salzman, Voice-mail diary studies for naturalistic data capture under mobile conditions, Proceedings of the 2002 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, November 16-20, 2002, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA [doi>10.1145/587078.587092]
• 5: John Rieman, The diary study: a workplace-oriented research tool to guide laboratory efforts, Proceedings of the INTERCHI '93 conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.321-326, May 1993, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 6: Katriina Byström , Kalervo Järvelin, Task complexity affects information seeking and use, Information Processing and Management: an International Journal, v.31 n.2, p.191-213, March/April 1995 [doi>10.1016/0306-4573(94)00041-Z]
• 7: Preben Hansen , Kalervo Järvelin, Collaborative information retrieval in an information-intensive domain, Information Processing and Management: an International Journal, v.41 n.5, p.1101-1119, September 2005 [doi>10.1016/j.ipm.2004.04.016]
• 8: Kuhlthau, C. C. (1991). Inside the Search Process: Seeking Meaning from the Users Perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science (Vol. 42), no.5: 361--371.
• 9: Kuhlthau, C. C. (1993). Seeking meaning. Norvood, NJ: Ablex.
• 10: Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Seeking meaning - a process approach to library and information services. 2nd, ed. London: Libraries Unlimited.
• 11: Elaine G. Toms , Wendy Duff, "I spent 1 1/2 hours sifting through one large box....": diaries as information behavior of the archives user: lessons learned, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, v.53 n.14, p.1232-1238, December 2002 [doi>10.1002/asi.10165]
• 12: Vakkari, P. (2001). A theory of the task-based information retrieval process: a summary and generalization of a longitudinal study. Journal of Documentation, 57(1): 44--60.
• 13: Wang, P. (1999). Methodologies and methods for user behavioural research. Annual Review of Information science and Technology (ARIST), volume 34: 53--99.
• 14: Barbara M. Wildemuth, Introduction and overview: effective methods for studying information seeking and use, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, v.53 n.14, p.1218-1222, December 2002 [doi>10.1002/asi.10163]
• 15: Launsø, L. & Rieper, O. (2005). Forskning om og med mennesker -- forskningstyper og forskningsmetoder I samfundsforskning. Kbh.: Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck.
• 16: Verbrugge, L. M. (1980). Health diaries. Medical Care. 18(1): 73--95.
• 17: Jette Hyldegård, Collaborative information behaviour: exploring Kuhlthau's information search process model in a group-based educational setting, Information Processing and Management: an International Journal, v.42 n.1, p.276-298, January 2006 [doi>10.1016/j.ipm.2004.06.013]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

General Terms:
Experimentation, Human Factors, Measurement, Standardization

Keywords:
collaborative information behavior research, diaries, research methodology