Why the web tells us what we already know

The Internet is not the font of all knowledge, despite the plethora of information available at your fingertips. Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found that while Internet searches do bring up a variety of useful materials, people pay more attention to information that matches their pre-existing beliefs.

“Even if people read the right material, they are stubborn to changing their views,” said one of the authors, UNSW Professor Enrico Coiera, the Director of the Centre for Health Informatics. “This means that providing people with the right information on its own may not be enough.”

The research considered how people use Internet search engines to answer health questions.

“We know that the web is increasingly being used by people to help them make healthcare decisions,” said Professor Coiera. “We know that there can be negative consequences if people find the wrong information, especially as people in some countries can now self-medicate by ordering drugs online. Australians can order complementary medicines online and these can interfere with other medications.

“Our research shows that, even if search engines do find the ‘right’ information, people may still draw the wrong conclusions – in other words, their conclusions are biased.”

What also matters is where the information appears in the search results and how much time a person spends looking at it, according to the research which has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

“The first or the last document the user sees has a much greater impact on their decisions,” said Professor Coiera.

Professor Coiera and Dr Annie Lau have designed an interface to help people make sense of the information which they are presented with and to break down these decision biases.

“The new search engine interface we have designed could be a part of any search engine and allows people to organise the information they find, and as a result organise their thoughts better,” said Professor Coiera.

While the research was conducted in the area of health, Professor Coiera said the results – and the technology – are applicable to other fields too.

Contact: Professor Enrico Coiera e.coiera@unsw.edu.au 61-437-044-180 University of New South Wales

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Freedom Calendar 02/02/08 - 02/09/08

February 2, 1856, After leaving Democratic Party because of its pro-slavery policies, U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Banks (R-MA) becomes first Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

February 3, 1870, After passing House with 98% Republican support and 97% Democrat opposition, Republicans’ 15th Amendment is ratified, granting vote to all Americans regardless of race.

February 4, 1959, President Eisenhower informs Republican leaders of his plan to introduce 1960 Civil Rights Act, despite staunch opposition from many Democrats.

February 5, 1866, U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA) introduces legislation, successfully opposed by Democrat President Andrew Johnson, to implement “40 acres and a mule” relief by distributing land to former slaves.

February 6, 1981 President Ronald Reagan designates 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons.

February 7, 1983, Republican Elizabeth Dole appointed by President Ronald Reagan as first woman to be U.S. Secretary of Transportation; she would later become first woman to represent North Carolina in U.S. Senate.

February 8, 1894, Democrat Congress and Democrat President Grover Cleveland join to repeal Republicans’ Enforcement Act, which had enabled African-Americans to vote.

February 9, 1864, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton deliver over 100,000 signatures to U.S. Senate supporting Republicans’ plans for constitutional amendment to ban slavery.

“The Republican Party, on the contrary [to the Democrats], holds that this government was instituted to secure the blessings of freedom, and that slavery is an unqualified evil… . [Republicans] will oppose in all its length and breadth the modern Democratic idea that slavery is as good as freedom.”

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Technorati Tags: President Bush and Freedom Calendar or Booker T. Washington and Republicans or African-Americans and Brown v. Board of Education or Ronald Reagan and Condoleezza Rice or Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass or 40 acres and a mule or Martin Luther King and Voting Rights Act of 1965 or Dred Scott or Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses John McCain VIDEO and Dred Scott and Researchers develop darkest manmade material or Harriet Tubman