Research Methods in Information Studies

Researchers with backgrounds in psychology might ask the following questions: What mental characteristics of users lead them to search for information in specific ways? How do personality, mental abilities, or learning styles affect how people interact with information systems? Researchers with backgrounds in sociology, anthropology, or business administration might ask the following questions: How does membership in a group such as a profession, or an economic class, lead people to use information systems in distinctive ways? How do people in organizations such as firms and non-profit associations understand information technology, and how do such organizations establish norms for information-related behavior? How do ethnic or organizational cultures construct their own understandings of information and of information technologies and services? Researchers with backgrounds in political science might ask the following questions: How does information influence policymaking by legislatures and government agencies? How does information influence voting patterns in the electorate? What effect do information policies have on society as a whole? Researchers with backgrounds in economics might ask the following questions: What value does information have for people? How much are people willing to pay for information?

To study information interactions, researchers sometimes use public opinion surveys to ask users about their perceptions of information systems.

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