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LIS 510

LIS 510. THEORIES OF IB Part Three - Finale Nov 13, 2007. In Homage to the ISP…. Models to be Covered. Chatman’s Info Poverty, Life in the Round, & Normative Behavior Savolainen’s Everyday Life Info Seeking Zipf’s Least Effort Uses and Gratifications Play Theory. The IB Theories of

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LIS 510

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  1. LIS 510 THEORIES OF IB Part Three - Finale Nov 13, 2007

  2. In Homage to the ISP…

  3. Models to be Covered • Chatman’s Info Poverty, Life in the Round, & Normative Behavior • Savolainen’s Everyday Life Info Seeking • Zipf’s Least Effort • Uses and Gratifications • Play Theory

  4. The IB Theories of Elfreda Chatman

  5. Elfreda Chatman • Professor, Florida State • Keynote speaker, ISIC 2000 (Sweden) • 3 theories of IB: (1) Info Poverty (2) Life in the Round (3) Normative Behavior • Emphasis on anomalies/counter examples • Addresses info avoidance, non-use • Set within small worlds

  6. Small World Phenomenon • Everyday happenings occur with some degree of predictability • Legitimized Others: • share a physical &/or conceptual space within a common landscape of cultural meaning • place narrow boundaries around the possibilities of info behaviors • Shape and modify info according to worldview

  7. Social Network Theory • SNT examines how individuals create and enter into relationships with others to form networks • Frequently used to map patterns of info flow and interaction in organizations and communities

  8. Example Sociogram From http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r87/r87_e.shtml

  9. (1) Info Poverty • Based on studies of working poor (diffusion T), janitors (alienation T) & retired women (social net T) • Info poverty ≠ economic poverty/digital divide • How people define life to survive in a world of extreme distrust • IP occurs when potentially helpful info is ignored despite its need • To keep their world together, people engage in self-protective behaviors • When people know valuable and relevant info is available, but view it as too costly to pursue or just figure, why bother?

  10. (2) Life in the Round (LIR) • Female inmates, maximum security prison • Focus on • social norms, self-protective behaviors, and worldview • life with enormous imprecision but surprisingly, accepted levels of uncertainty • LIR has negative effect on info seeking: for everyday purposes, people will not seek info if there is no need to do so • People ignore info because world is working without it

  11. LIR Propositions • Legitimized others (mostly “insiders”) set behavior boundaries • Social norms force private behavior to undergo public scrutiny • Common worldview--language, values, meanings, symbols & context that holds worldview within temporal boundaries • Worldview played out as LIR: life taken for granted because works most of the time with enough predictability that, unless critical problem arises, no point in seeking info • Individuals will cross boundaries only if (1) info is perceived as critical, (2) have collective expectation that info is relevant, and (3) perceived that LIR life is no longer functioning

  12. (3) Normative Behavior (aka “Pleasantville”) • Explains common/routine events that characterize everyday reality of people who share a common cultural space and whose small worlds lack sweeping surprise • Driven by mores and norms, provides a predictable, routine, and manageable approach to everyday reality • Info seeking is normative: people look at world with some interest • Info that holds this world together is appropriate, legitimate, & has rightful place in general scheme of things • Aspects of interest are those things which serve to legitimize and justify values, which embody social existence

  13. TNB Concepts • social norms: standards that dictate “rightness” & “wrongness” in social appearances • worldview: collective/common perception members of social world hold regarding things deemed important or trivial/unimportant • social types: absolute definition given to members of social world, which pertains to classification of a person(s) • info behavior: state in which one may/may not act on info received

  14. TNB Propositions • Social norms: standards members of social world comply to exhibit desirable expressions of public behavior • Members choose compliance because it’s a way to affirm what is normative for this context at this time • Worldview: shaped by normative values that influence how members think about ways of the world: collective, taken-for-granted attitude that sensitizes members to be responsive to certain events & ignore other • Everyday reality says members show enough interest to influence behavior; process of placing persons in ideal categories of lesser/greater quality is social typification • IB: construct for approaching everyday reality. Appropriate actions based on what members believe support normative way of life

  15. Geophagy Study • The deliberate consumption of earth • Test theory of normative behavior  Notes from the Field (Forthcoming Chatman tribute book)

  16. Let’s Ponder… • Which of Chatman’s theories might apply best to iSchool MLIS students? • How can we, as info professionals, address the needs of people living in the small-world settings Chatman explores?

  17. Savolainen’s Everyday Life Info Seeking (ELIS)

  18. Savolainen’s ELIS • Developed in mid 1990’s • Built on Bourdieu’s critical sociology • Holistic framework of social & cultural factors affecting people’s everyday IB • Motivated by need to elaborate: • terminological issues of IB studies • ELIS vs. job-related IB

  19. Way of life • Central point of the ELIS model • Defined as “order of things” • Things: various activities taking place in the daily life world • Order: preferences given to activities • Major factors used to operationalize the concept • Structure of time budget • Models of consumption of goods and services • Nature of hobbies

  20. Mastery of Life • Mastery of life = active care • Info seeking  central component • Eliminate dissonance between perceptions of “how things are” & “how they should be” • 4 major types of mastery of life: • Optimistic-cognitive • Pessimistic-cognitive • Defensive-affective • Pessimistic-affective

  21. ELIS Model • “way of life” & “mastery of life” determine each other • “way of life” & “mastery of life” determine how person seeks info in individual situations

  22. Question • How could ELIS explain different approaches someone might take to getting their neighbor’s barking dog under control?

  23. Zipf’s Law of Least Effort

  24. Zipf's Principle of Least Effort • Zipf's law, named after the Harvard linguistic professor George Kingsley Zipf (1902-1950) • According to Zipf (1949), each individual will adopt a course of action that will involve the expenditure of the probable least average  of his or her work—the least effort

  25. Zipf's Principle of Least Effort • Zipf’s law is often demonstrated by examining the regularity in the distribution of city sizes • Populations of cities in almost any country follow a harmonic distribution • For example, the Netherlands

  26. Zipf’s Principle of Least Effort • Example, search engines.

  27. Still Pondering… • Does the principle of least effort describe you (or, your partner at home)? • How could Zipf be used to design an info system for voters?

  28. Uses & Gratifications

  29. Uses & Gratifications • Introduced in late ‘50s by Jay Blumler & Elihu Katz • Replaced the image of audience member as passive victim with an active selector of media messages   • Explains why audiences do not passively wait for media messages to arrive • Used by Elfreda Chatman to study janitors (1991)

  30. Uses & Gratifications Directed at: • Social & psychological origins of needs • Way in which needs generate expectations regarding sources of info & entertainment • Resulting manner in which people expose themselves to media • Resulting gratifications of needs, along with other consequences, many of which may be unintended

  31. Theoretical Assumptions • Audience of mass communication is active & goal-oriented • Audience member is largely responsible for choosing media to meet needs • Media compete with other sources of need gratification   • Media use can be studied by asking people directly about their interests

  32. Active Audience Utility • mass communication has uses for people Intentionality • media consumption is directed by prior motivation Selectivity • media behavior reflects prior interests

  33. Media Functions • Cognitive motivation • information seeking • Diversion and escape • relief from boredom and constraints of daily routines • Personal identity • reinforcement of what people personally appreciate, stand for, and value

  34. Question • What aspect of info behavior could this theory be most useful in examining?

  35. Play Theory

  36. Play Theory • Introduced in 1967 by William Stephenson • Focuses on media user’s relationship with the medium • Premise: people manipulate their intake of entertainment and info to serve their emotional needs

  37. Play Theory • Most often applied to viewing entertainment media, newspapers, and magazines • Key to this theory is the idea that humans tend to combine work and play • Similarly, to MAS it addresses people’s motivations in seeking info

  38. Questions • Can a distinction be made between info and entertainment? • How might patterns of work and play differ?

  39. Next Class • Start Team Presentations • Students • Scholars

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