Young People's Perspectives on `Information' — Revisited

Little research has investigated the ways in which young people understand the word, `information', despite the fact that what is learnt from such studies can have clear implications for practice. In order to extend the meagre knowledge base, the authors conducted a quantitative research project that collected, via an electronic questionnaire, data from 348 teenagers in an English high school. Respondents were asked to use a Likert scale to indicate their reactions to thirteen statements pertaining to the nature of `information'. There was much uncertainty or indifference among the pupils in relation to the issues and considerable variation in the balance of opinion between boys and girls. The relative prevalence of a particular response to a certain question also often varied appreciably from one year group to another. The uncertainty and lack of consensus on many matters highlights the problems of using the word, `information', with young people.

尽管从这类研究中获得的成果对实践有明显的启示，但很少有研究调查年轻人对“信息”一词的理解方式。为了扩充微薄的知识基础，作者开展了一个定量研究项目，通过电子问卷从一所英国高中的348名青少年那里收集数据。受访者被要求使用李克特量表来表明他们对13条与“信息”本质相关的陈述的反应。学生们对这些问题存在很多不确定性或冷漠态度，并且男孩和女孩之间的意见平衡存在相当大的差异。对某一问题的特定回答的相对普遍性在不同年级之间也常常有明显差异。在许多问题上的不确定性和缺乏共识凸显了在与年轻人交流时使用“信息”一词的问题。