|
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 5.4 million women were stay-at-mothers (SAHMs) in 2003. With such a large number of women assuming full-time care for their children, it is remarkable that we know so little about the role information plays in their everyday lives. Despite the complex roles that SAHMs play as primary caregivers, educators, health care providers, finance managers, chauffeurs, maids, shoppers, entertainers and, of course, information givers, scant research has examined their needs for everyday information and how they go about seeking, not seeking and using information. Moreover, SAHMs are presumed to be information poor: while the varied roles as SAHMs should predictably generate a vast array of tasks which, in turn, should require information about a broad range of topics from an equally broad range of sources, their state of "jobless-ness" and isolation from mainstream contacts should impede their ability to seeking information effectively.
|
|
The current study, which is part of the larger Talking with You investigation, funded by the National Science Foundation on the nature of interpersonal information seeking, focused on the information worlds of SAHMs. Borrowing Leckie and Pettigrew’s (1997) role-theoretic approach to premise that SAHM’s information needs stem from roles and tasks, we are drawing upon several theoretical frameworks, notably Fisher’s (Fisher & Naumer, 2006) information grounds which addresses everyday information flow in social settings, Chatman’s (2000) theories of information poverty and normative behavior, along with Harris and Dewdney’s (1994) principles of everyday information behavior.
 |
The study was guided by the following research questions:
1) What are the everyday roles and tasks of SAHMs?
2) What needs for everyday information are generated by these roles?
3) How do SAHMs handle these needs?
4) Under what constrains do SAHMs need, seek, give, manage and use everyday information?
5) What roles do SAHMs play in giving information to others?
6) How do different social settings facilitate SAHM’s access to information?
7) What is the nature of interpersonal communication within the everyday information behavior of SAHMs?
|
Data were collected using a two-stage approach. Stage one involved unobtrusive and participant observation at mother-baby classes and a parent support group. An observation checklist was used to record incidents of information sharing, including how mothers reacted to exchanging information and whether another information sharing incident followed. Groups were observed from July 28-August 11, 2005.
In stage two, 20 stay-at-home mothers participated in three successive interviews. Interviews were conducted from July 21-November 10, 2005, lasted approximately 60 minutes and were scheduled 1-2 weeks apart. In addition to learning who SAHMs turned to for everyday information in relation to the roles they assume on any given day, we examined how information seeking was influenced by "place." SAHMs were asked about their information grounds (IG) or places that they go where people are present and information is shared. This step presented the opportunity to ascertain how SAHMs encountered information at their IGs, the types of information learned, and how useful the obtained information was for participants. SAHMs everyday information giving and seeking was further explored during the second and third interviews as participants were provided with diaries in which to record information incidents. Diaries permitted SAHMs to document what they needed to know and how they "felt" while seeking or sharing information.
|
From this study, we developed a general model of interpersonal information seeking in everyday contexts, in which we assert that most, if not all, information behavior, is primarily affectively based and that cognition and physicality enter the picture as factors afterwards.
|  |
Emergent Themes
- Affect is an integral part of the information process, and SAHMs' information behavior is driven by a wide range of emotions
- Interpersonal sources are preferred for their affective benefits as well as proximity and ease of communication
- SAHMs with infant children are more isolated than SAHMs with older children and thus much more likely like to experience information poverty
- SAHMs with older children have a wider array of information grounds, many of which are connected to their children’s activities, e.g., school, athletic games
- Use of the Internet has affected how SAHMs' personal information management practices
Presentations and Publications
Fisher, K. E., & Landry, C. F. (Under Review). Information and everyday life: The role of affect in the information behavior of stay-at-home mothers. In D. Nahl & D. Bilal (Eds.), Emotional design: The emergent affective paradigm in information seeking and use research. Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Landry, C. F., & Fisher, K. E. (Under Review). The missing piece: Affect and the information behavior of stay-at-home mothers. 2006 Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. Austin, TX.
Fisher, K. E. (Under Review). The fabulous poor-rich information worlds of mothers who stay-at-home. Panel entitled Channeling Chatman: Questioning the applicability of a research legacy to today’s small world realities, organized by C. Fulton. 2006 Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. Austin, TX.
Fisher, K. E. (2005). The emotional frontiers of tweens and stay-at-home moms. Panel organized by D. Nahl. 2005 Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. Charlotte, NC.
Fisher, K. E., & Turner, A. M. (2005). Stay-at-home mothers. Connecting Research and Practice: Special Populations. 5th Annual Research Symposium of the Special Interest Group on Information Needs, Seeking, and Use (SIG USE) of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. October 29, Charlotte, NC
|