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Abstract
Previous research on the information-seeking behaviour of parents is extremely narrow in scope, focusing on parents whose children have medical or psychological concerns. This research hopes to share the information-seeking behaviours of a broader population, parents of adolescents (children between 10-19 years old). Using the Information Horizon Method (Sonnenwald 1999), this research project incorporates semi-structured interviews with three mothers who currently have two adolescent children each. The interviews contained neutral questions regarding information resources used by parents when determining general information regarding their children’s lives. The findings show that there is a great preference for interpersonal resources, with the most attended to and preferred ones being the resources inside the home, which include spouse, the child, or the child’s sibling. It is only if they are not satisfied with the information gathered from those resources that the parents would go outside the home, at which point the resources are chosen based on the situation. Certain resources that parents are attempting to have in their information horizon are social media and internet use. Parents use different techniques to access information on their children’s social media accounts or look at friends’ private profiles. They also incorporate techniques with computers in general, such as allowing them only in open spaces, where parents are able to quickly glance at screens. Lastly, all parents depicted an indescribable embodied knowledge that concerned the state of their children. This intuition was the starting point of all information-seeking processes depicted in this research project. They called this intuition maternal instinct.
Highlights
My research question involves the information behaviours of parents, focusing on parents of adolescents
The IHI is a framework that suggests that there is an information horizon in information seeking scenarios, and this horizon is deemed the area in which people act
Is in the inner circle, and the preferred choice of mothers
Summary
My research question involves the information behaviours of parents, focusing on parents of adolescents. It is stated that children within these age ranges experience various physical and psychological changes, including self-development (WHO, 2017). These changes lead adolescents to want to gain independence, and disconnect from their parents (WHO, 2017). The goal of this research project was to determine both information resources, as well as the information seeking behaviours of parents during this stage where their children may become more distant, creating an information need. I wanted to determine how the information seeking behaviour changes, depending on whether the situation involves social life and relationships, online identity and social media, or medical concerns
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