How College Students Search the Internet for Weight Control and Weight Management Information: An Observational Study.

Background:Few studies have attempted to examine how young adults search for health information on the Internet, especially information related to weight control and weight management.Purpose:The purpose of this study was to determine search strategies that college students used for finding informat...

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Publicado en:American Journal of Health Education Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 231 - 241
Autores principales: Senkowski, Valerie, Branscum, Paul
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jul-Aug2015
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jul-Aug2015
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        atl: How College Students Search the Internet for Weight Control and Weight Management Information: An Observational Study.
      aug:
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          Senkowski, Valerie
          Branscum, Paul
        affil: The University of Oklahoma
      sug:
        subj:
          Obesity Therapy
          Obesity Prevention and Control
          Weight Control
          Information Seeking Behavior
          Health Information
          Health Education
          World Wide Web
          Information Resources
          Students, College
          Videorecording
          Audiorecording
          Thematic Analysis
          Web Search Engines
          Information Literacy
          Convenience Sample
          Colleges and Universities
          Oklahoma
          Questionnaires
          Vignettes
          Quantitative Studies
          Qualitative Studies
          Content Analysis
          Descriptive Statistics
          Male
          Female
          Adolescence
          Adult
          Ethnic Groups
          Employment Status
          Body Mass Index
          Health Knowledge
          Mobile Applications
          Human
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background:Few studies have attempted to examine how young adults search for health information on the Internet, especially information related to weight control and weight management.Purpose:The purpose of this study was to determine search strategies that college students used for finding information related to weight control and weight management on the Internet.Methods:A sample of undergraduate students (n = 30) were given 11 scenarios related to weight control and weight management and used the Internet to find solutions. Observations were recorded using video and audio software (Camtasia).Results:Participants used search engines for 97% of searches, and all participants but one used Google. Success rates varied from 96.4% to 57.1%. Transcripts from the audio recordings taken during the search revealed 4 themes: (1) Google is efficient; (2) perceptions about common sense information; (3) determinants of website credibility; and (4) difficulties finding and interpreting information.Discussion:Google was oftentimes exclusively accessed and relied upon to help users craft relevant search terms and correct misspellings. Users are also oftentimes confused about what dictates “credible” information.Translation to Health Education Practice:Health educators can use information from this study to develop interventions targeting health and computer literacy.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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