Information and poverty: information-seeking channels used by African American low-income households
Introduction
Information seeking is a complex information and communication activity requiring access to diverse sources of information to deal with personal, social, and work-related problems. The proliferation of personal computers, the growth of the Internet, and the accompanying development of information and communication services provide citizens with access to many new services and potential new channels of information access. However, the development, implementation, and use of effective information services for ordinary citizens, particularly low-income citizens, depends on a sensitive assessment of their information needs, an assessment that goes beyond a simple description of information use. This study focuses on the channels low-income residents use when they seek out information, and explains in a theoretical model how these residents seek information taking into account the type of task for which the information is needed. Furthermore, this study not only puts its conclusions in a precise framework so that future research can test the findings, but it also incorporates a wider divergence of behavior-influencing factors than the usual information use assessment studies.
This article reports results from a study of the information-seeking behavior and information needs of low-income largely African American households from the Wynnewood Project in Dallas, Texas. The Parks at Wynnewood is a residential housing urban revitalization project and a major community development project for the Center for Public Service (CPS) at the University of North Texas (UNT), School of Community Service. The aim of the project is to assess the physical and social redevelopment of the Wynnewood 400-unit residential area in Dallas being developed by Dallas City Homes. The UNT CPS cooperates with the Dallas Urban League, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and other area agencies to develop services to support Wynnewood residents to stimulate self-help and self-improvement efforts; identify and address common concerns; and organize resources to prevent crime and deviant behavior in the area.
In the needs assessment phase of the project, which this article reports, we investigated the types of information low-income households need and seek in everyday life to resolve personal or family problems or to reduce the barriers of social isolation. Wide-ranging information behavior studies of this type contribute to the development of neighborhood infrastructure for this socially isolated group. The study of nonwork information seeking or citizen information seeking is an important and emerging area of interdisciplinary information science research (Savolainen, 1996).
Section snippets
Literature review
Models of human information-seeking processes and the role of information in human problem solving have been developed Dervin & Nilan, 1986, Ellis, 1993, Krikelas, 1983, Kuhlthau, 1991, Leckie et al., 1996, Wilson, 1997. Specific studies have explored the information-seeking behavior of cattle ranchers (Spink & Hicks, 1996), battered women (Harris, 1988/1989), intercity gatekeepers (Agada, 1999), students and library users (Kuhlthau, 1991), health workers (Lundeen, Tenopir, & Wermager, 1991),
Research design
Three hundred of 400 Wynnewood volunteer households were interviewed using an extensive 12-page questionnaire, including questions on their household situation, need for community services, information needs, and information-seeking behavior. A team of information scientists and sociologists from the University of North Texas in conjunction developed a survey instrument with Wynnewood residents involved in the design and data collection. The questionnaire was pretested with a small group of
News events
Participants were asked to indicate what sources of news were important for their family, including television, radio, newspapers, school, friends, family, neighbors, and others, and the relative importance of those information channels (Table 2).
Most participants mentioned all channels, with other family members as the highest ranked source of news, followed by school, television, and newspaper. This finding reflects the respondent's view of a news event — those events that are directly
Discussion
The Wynnewood Community has few financial or information resources, limited employment opportunities, and limited educational opportunities (only 10% of the participants had more than high school education). Residents are isolated from both the larger Dallas community and the Wynnewood community itself. A total of 81% of adult residents did not vote in city elections, 84.59% did not vote in local elections, 72% did not know the Wynnewood project manager, 82% did not know anyone on the Wynnewood
Conclusion
Looking at information-seeking behavior in terms of use of channels has a long tradition in information science, as well as sister disciplines like communications. There are other possible foci when examining the information needs and uses of low-income residents. A channel focus, however, is a more holistic approach to the subject, incorporating all parts that effect information flow into a single system. For example, studies with more specific foci, such as a user/receiver focus, ignore such
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the assistance of the residents and management of the Parks at Wynnewood and Dr. Stan Ingman, and the faculty of the UNT College of Community Services. This study is funded by a UNT Research Opportunity Grant 1996–1997. We also acknowledge the very helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers.
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