Tweens

Everyday Life Information Behaviors of Tweens Meyers, Fisher and Marcoux

What is a Tween?
Child between the ages of 9 and 13; also sometimes referred to as:
Millennials
Generation Y’s
Preteens

Research Informed by:
Dervin’s Sense-Making
Chatman’s Normative Behavior
Fisher’s Information grounds
Sociologist notion of “Small World”
Everyday happenings occur with some degree of predictability
Legitimized others share conceptual and physical space and thus shape social norms around information and others behavior

Research Questions Used:
RQ 1: What types of everyday information do tweens perceive themselves as needing?
RQ 2: How do tweens seek everyday information?
RQ 3: What barriers do tweens encounter in seeking and using information?
RQ 4: How do tweens Manage Their accumulated everyday information?

Research Questions Continued
RQ 5: What criteria do tweens use in assessing and sharing information and information sources?
RQ 6: What roles are played by different social types regarding information flow?
RQ 7: What are the roles of information grounds in tweens’ lives?

Uses Harris and Dewdney’s Six General Principals of Information Needs
Arise from the help-seeker’s situation
Decision to seek help (or not) affected by many factors
People seek information that is most accessible
Information seekers expect emotional support
People follow habitual patterns in seeking information

Method:
5 Hour “Play Date”
Used social interaction
Creative play
Multiple data collection methods

Procedural Elements of Research
Child Protection: (parents provided a schedule and contact info)
Schedule design: (kids provides healthy snacks, breaks to socialize)
Data collection: 2 Focus Groups of 4 to 6 teens
WebQuest: (Tweens designed Web page for other teens, one-on-one with a researcher)
Incentives and Recognition: (tweens provided with gift bags and personalized certificates)

Data Collection Scenario
A new kid (focus group participant’s age) moves into the neighborhood. Tweens asked to describe what everyday life would be like for the new tween and what types of things he or she would need to know.
Then tweens asked to discuss sources they would use to seek information:

Focus Group 1
Tweens indentified the information grounds (social settings) where people go for a particular purpose-activity

Focus Group 2
Expansion of the Grounds discussed in Focus Group 1:
Frequency of use
Who else would be present
What one would talk about
What one liked about it

Systematic Data Analysis
Consistent note-taking and use of multiple researchers
Using multiple, triangulated methods
Comparing emergent themes with findings from related studies
Employing intercoder checks
Analyzing the data for incidents of observer effect

Major Themes (or First Level Codes ) Emerged and…
Were mapped onto the instruments’ questions
Analyzed using iterative pattern-coding techniques (Atlas Ti 5.0) resulting in thematic sets
Particularly rich questions were further analysis using third-level coding schemes

Findings
Were organized by the research questions initially posed.

Types of Everyday Information Tweens Perceive Themselves Needing
Concrete, immediate or short-term goals and activities
Examples: school work, social events and relationships, sports and hobbies, consumer information, fashion and popular culture, neighborhood information, and “stuff” (spontaneous, undirected information-sharing)
Need to share and receive private or secret information
Tweens from urban population included: how to deal with bullies, dangerous strangers, drug and alcohol users, and unsafe placed

Ways Tweens Seek Everyday Information
Interpersonal peer sources most salient
Information-sharing enhanced by telephone, instant messaging, and email
Internet used, but accessibility largely varied
Print sources, TV and Radio, less popular than electronic and interpersonal, however, varied according to socio-economic status

Barriers Tweens Encounter in Seeking and Using Information
Concerns for safety: ( parental restrictions on media access, fear of predators)
Reduced Mobility: (reliance on parents for transportation)
Adult Authority: (Control or enforcement of parents upon behavior, organization, sharing practices )
Oversight Monitoring: (trust gap in presence of adult)
Access to information technologies
Social costs, perceptions: (embarrassment, loss of esteem)

How Tweens Manage Their Accumulated Everyday Information
Bookmarking
Unique Artifacts and Strategies (homemade calendars, planners, writing on hands, mnemonic devices (ie. Self-generated songs
Parental involvement (family calendars or parental reminders)
Only five participants mentioned use of computers

Criteria Tweens use in Assessing and Sharing Information and Sources
Varying and often naïve criteria
Notions of credibility and trust
Social costs associated with information sharing (ie. Embarrassment)
Rely heavily on the judgment of peers
Rely less and less on parental judgment
Measure information against their personal experience
Gender specific, depending on information being sought

Roles Played by Different Social Types Regarding Information Flow
Tweens displayed a vetting process relying on affective concerns, trust and duration of relationship
Personal information only shared with “strong ties”
Logistical information sought only from “weak ties”
Parents and teachers seen as distinctly different from adults in general

Roles Played by Different Social Types Regarding Information Flow Continued :
Two types of answers:
Kid answers: Can be understood by young people
Adult Answers: perceived by tweens as inappropriate and punitive
Peer Group Status: Good Friends (very trusted), Friends (less trusted)

Roles of Information Grounds
“ An information ground is a synergistic environment temporarily created when people come together for a singular purpose but from whose behavior emerges a social atmosphere that fosters the spontaneous and serendipitous sharing of information.” (54. p. 811)”
Most Common Information Grounds
Cafeteria
Hallway
Playground
Bus
Shopping Mall
Athletic Fields
Community Parks
Home
Neighborhood

Concluding Tween Principles
Information seeking is a natural and necessary part of tweens’ physical social and intellectual growth
All aspects of information behavior have social and affective nuances
Information literacy is developed and hones in informal settings as well as in tandem to with formal scholastic venues
Trust, as a blend of cognitive authority and multivariate cost, is a critical determinate of information literacy
Informational social setting provide key opportunities for information exchange, particularly about everyday-life situations

Tweens

by mdscils598s09 on Mar 13, 2010

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