How task frames affect the process and products of inquiry
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Information, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Novin, Alamir
issued: 2023-09-13T22:06:17Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: According to Goffman’s (1974) Framing Theory, information is always presented in a frame (i.e., parameters that both limit and contextualize information). For example, a photograph is often framed both to communicate essential information (e.g., by focusing on a subject) and to remove information deemed unnecessary (e.g., by cropping a scene). However, when people look at the information, they might not always have the frame's parameters in mind (e.g., what information did a photographer crop out of the photograph?). In addition, many topics are open problems, meaning they are subject to multiple frames (e.g., how to solve climate change). How do people reconcile these multiple frames in an open problem when they seek online information? To explore this question, I conducted an experiment to understand how frames affect the search process of students working to solve open-ended information problems. Participants were asked to research on Google the use of cellphones on campus, and divided into two conditions: one condition was provided with a task framed around health, while the other condition had a task with no frame. The study found a significant difference between conditions both in the behaviors students exhibit with selecting information and their activities when using information. I used a think-aloud to observe abductive reasoning (i.e., the reasoning people use to find information outside of a frame). An analysis of the think-aloud data identified eight themes whereby people reference frames, which can assist abductive reasoning. My findings have implications for both information systems design and the end-users of those systems (e.g., from information design to teachers creating information curricula). As our search systems become more automated and more reliant on advanced AI, the role of frames will become essential to our mediation and evaluation of information.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/85913
note: HOW TASK FRAMES AFFECT THE PROCESS AND PRODUCTS OF INQUIRY by ALAMIR NOVIN B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2009 MA., Concordia University, 2012 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Library, Archival and Information Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2023 © Alamir Novin, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: How task frames affect the process and products of inquiry submitted by Alamir Novin in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies Examining Committee: Eric Meyers, Associate Professor, Library, Archival and Information Studies, UBC Supervisor Heather O’Brien, Associate Professor, Library, Archival and Information Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Richard Arias-Hernández, Associate Professor, Library, Archival and Information Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Luanne Sinnamon, Associate Professor, Library, Archival and Information Studies, UBC University Examiner Alfred John Hermida, Professor, School of Journalism, UBC University Examiner iii Abstract According to Goffman’s (1974) Framing Theory, information is always presented in a frame (i.e., parameters that both limit and contextualize information). For example, a photograph is often framed both to communicate essential information (e.g., by focusing on a subject) and to remove information deemed unnecessary (e.g., by cropping a scene). However, when people look at the information, they might not always have the frame's parameters in mind (e.g., what information did a photographer crop out of the photograph?). In addition, many topics are open problems, meaning they are subject to multiple frames (e.g., how to solve climat…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0435870
language: eng
degree discipline: Library, Archival and Information Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Meyers, Eric M. (Professor in information science)
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85913