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The influence of network structures and information seeking uncertainty on information seeking behavior

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TitleInfo
Title
The influence of network structures and information seeking uncertainty on information seeking behavior
Name (type = personal)
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Matni
NamePart (type = given)
Ziad Albert
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Ziad Albert Matni
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Shah
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Chirag Shah
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Belkin
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Nicholas
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Nicholas Belkin
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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Doerfel
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Marya
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Marya Doerfel
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Advisory Committee
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Winter
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Winter Mason
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Advisory Committee
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Rutgers University
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degree grantor
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School of Graduate Studies
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Text
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theses
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DateCreated (qualifier = exact)
2018
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2018-10
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2018
Place
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xx
Language
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eng
Abstract (type = abstract)
People utilize their social networks to get to resources, tangible or otherwise, that aid them in their everyday lives. Information scientists have shown that network characteristics of information structures can indeed influence human information searching and browsing behavior. However, we do not have enough detail on what particular network characteristics may influence information seeking behavior. There is an incomplete picture of the how network structures influence people’s information seeking interactions over time.

In this dissertation, I will look at some quantifiable behavioral dynamics of individuals who are seeking information using different social network structures over time. This research can shed light on our understanding of the interplay between human behavior and the environmental structures that people find themselves both being influenced by and influencing.

This study utilizes a custom-built Web-based tool that simulates an information-seeking scenario via various network structures and has participants utilize it to achieve a stated goal of collecting answers to questions from others in their network. The tool allows a finite amount of interactions, thus limiting the participants’ engagements to a defined set of allowable actions. As all participants go through the simulation, the system logs their actions over time and measurements are taken in timed intervals of certain information seeking behaviors of the participants and changes that they create in their network topologies. The participants run through two types of networks: one with a scale-free topology one node has a disproportionate high number of connections compared to the other nodes and another with two sub-networks connected to one another via two structural holes. Both networks differ significantly in structure, but are very similar in network density and in average node degree centrality.

This dissertation aims to contribute to the theories of information seeking in social network environments, as well as to social network theory as it pertains to human information behavior. From a practical standpoint, this dissertation aims at giving scholars another way to study human behavior through the lens of social networks by providing them with a sophisticated computer-mediated platform to collect log-based data of human behavior in simulated networked environments.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Communication, Information and Library Studies
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Information behavior
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Online social networks
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Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_9232
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electronic resource
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text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (159 pages) : illustrations
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Ziad Albert Matni
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Title
School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore10001600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/t3-yhp8-0h07
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights

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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
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Matni
GivenName
Ziad
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RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2018-09-24 15:02:36
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Ziad Matni
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Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
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Author Agreement License
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I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
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Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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2018-10-05T08:38:25
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