Sanger, S., Bath, P.A. orcid.org/0000-0002-6310-7396 and Bates, J. orcid.org/0000-0001-7266-8470 (2019) ‘Berrypicking’ in the formation of ideas about problem drinking amongst users of alcohol online support groups. Information in Contemporary Society, 11420. pp. 806-816. ISSN 0302-9743
Abstract
Beliefs held by individuals about the illnesses or problems that affect them have been shown to impact upon the health and other outcomes that they achieve. Online support groups (OSGs) are one source of information used by those with health problems which may influence or determine what they think about their particular issue and how to resolve it. Problem drinking remains a major source of significant costs to society. This article explores whether the discussion forums of alcohol OSGs that do not follow the 12-step philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous influence the formation of these beliefs, reporting on the outcome of thematic analysis of interviews with 25 users from five groups. It argues that Bates’ ‘Berrypicking’ model of information searching is helpful in illuminating group members’ information seeking activities. It looks at the four key aspects of berrypicking identified by Bates – the nature of the search query, the information ‘domains’ drawn on, the information retrieved and the search techniques used. The study finds that users are typically berrypickers, selecting information from different sources and forming their own interpretations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019. © Year Copyright holder. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Information in Contemporary Society. iConference 2019. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Berrypicking; Information seeking; Online support groups; Alcohol |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 Jul 2019 11:36 |
Last Modified: | 13 Mar 2020 01:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer International Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/978-3-030-15742-5_76 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148659 |