Soo Young Rieh School of Information University of Michigan Information Ethics Roundtable Misinformation and Disinformation April 3-4, 2009 University of Arizona, Tucson

Yale Group – Carl Hovland (1950s) Defined credibility as a receiver-based construct Determined by audience’s acceptance of a speaker Credibility = trustworthiness and expertise Looking at both source credibility (characteristics of speakers) and message credibility (characteristics of messages or information)

Two key dimensions Trustworthiness: Perceived goodness and morality of the source Expertise: perceived knowledge, skill, and experience of the source

Credibility Typology 1 Presumed credibility Based on general assumptions (stereotype) Reputed credibility Endorsement from people, media, source Surface credibility From simple inspection Experienced credibility Based on first-hand experience Tseng & Fogg (1999)

Credibility Typology 2 Conferred credibility Recommended or produced by well-regarded entities Tabulated credibility Influenced by other individual’s ratings or recommendations Emergent credibility Arises from group and social engagement Flanagin & Metzger (2008)

Related Concepts Information Quality Credibility of one of the chief aspects of quality Credibility provides one more layer of evaluation to select items that are initially judged to be good enough Cognitive Authority More than competence and trustworthiness Influence other people’s thoughts individually Trust Reliability, dependability, confidence in a person, object, or process Rieh & Danielson (2007)

What is Human Information Behavior? Human information behavior How do people recognize information need, seek for information and use the information through various types of systems, services, technology Totality of human behavior including both active and passive information seeking and information use

What is Information Seeking Behavior? What people do in response to goals (intentions) which require information support How people seek information by interacting with various information systems Information Searching Behavior Behavior employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems

Nature of Credibility Selecting credible information during the information seeking process is a challenge People make judgments of information credibility Judgments and decisions are always made internally and can be observed through choice and its outcome Credibility assessments are shaped by, embedded within, and exert an influence on people’s information seeking process

Credibility and HIB Credibility assessment can be better understood by examining information seeking strategies with respect to goals and tasks Credibility assessment as a process Predictive Judgments Predictions reflecting what they can expect when accessing information resources Evaluative Judgments They express values and preferences about information Verification

My Past Credibility Research Credibility assessment in the process of information seeking and Web searching Credibility assessment in a wide variety of information seeking activities using diverse sources and media Credibility assessment with respect to various goals and tasks related to school, work, health, product, hobbies, entertainment, etc.

Exploratory Study (1998) How do people make judgments about information quality and authority? Do people apply their evaluation criteria used in traditional information systems to those in the Web? Rieh & Belkin (1998). ASIST Proceedings

Major Findings from 1998 Study The interviewees were more or less concerned with evaluating information quality depending upon three factors: Consequences of use of information Act or commitment based on information The focus of inquiry Most interviewees employed “different rules” or “different evaluation criteria” for the Web than in traditional information systems

Experimental Study (2002) How do people decide which information source(s) to look at when they make choices among multiple sources in the Web? To what extent are people concerned with quality and authority when they search in the Web? What are the characteristics and factors that influence people’s judgments about information quality and cognitive authority? Rieh (2002). JASIST

Major Findings from 2002 Study Judgment and decision making in the Web is a continuous process Subjective, relative, and situational nature in the dimensions of quality and authority Content as a critical factor Diverse ways of characterizing sources Institutional level of source > individual level of source

Judgment of IQ and CA - 5 dimensions of IQ - 6 dimensions of CA User’s knowledge Characteristics of information objects Predictive Judgment Evaluative Judgment Characteristics of sources Other factors Status/ discipline Task

Credibility Judgments and Everyday Life Information Seeking Study (2008) How do people make credibility assessment with respect to a variety of information activities using diverse sources and media? How are people’s credibility concerns are related to their information seeking goals? How do people’ credibility assessment influence on their information seeking strategies? Rieh & Hilligoss (2008). A chapter in Digital media, youth, and credibility; Hilligoss & Rieh (2008). Information Processing & Management;

Major Findings from 2008 Study Credibility concerns are closely related to information seeking goals in terms of consequences of information use Credibility judgments in social context When information obtained affects other people, credibility concerns increase Participants relied on other people’s credibility judgments Credibility assessment can be better understood by looking at information seeking strategies Starting at a trusted place Using multiple resources and cross-referencing

Three Levels of Credibility Assessment Construct: conceptualizations of credibility Heuristics: General rules of thumb which are broadly applicable to a variety of situations Interaction: Specific attributes associated with particular information objects and sources for credibility judgments

Information Information object Interaction Content cues, peripheral source cues, peripheral information object cues Heuristics Media-related, source-related, endorsement-based, aesthetics-based Construct Truthfulness, believability, trustworthiness, objectivity, reliability Context Information seeker A Unifying Framework of Credibility Assessment

Influence of Each Level Construct Provides a particular point of view for judging credibility Heuristics Provides effective ways of finding useful information conveniently and making credibility judgments quickly Interaction Provides characteristics of information source or object on which a judgment can be based Context: Provides boundaries by Guiding the selection of resources Limiting the applicability of judgments

Key Challenges Complexity and continuation of Information Seeking For one information seeking episode, people use multiple media resources over time From information seekers to creators A new set of heuristics might be used as people engage in a variety of information activities including finding, summarizing, rating, creating, sharing Encourage people to make effort for selecting and using credible information by emphasizing the consequences of bad judgments and decisions based on information

Next Steps Credibility Assessment in the Participatory Web Environment Project funded by the MacArthur Foundation Goals To identify new sets of constructs and heuristics of credibility assessment have emerged in the participatory Web environment (Web 2.0) To examine the relationship among online activity, user context, motivation, confidence, and credibility assessment

Research Questions in Progress  To what extent people’s involvement in the participatory Web is related to their concerns about credibility?  How do people assess the credibility of user- generated content (UGC)?  When people post UCC (user-created content) or UMC (user-mediated content) on publicly accessible web sites, to what extent are they concerned about credibility?

Soo Young Rieh School of Information University of Michigan