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A S TUDY O F THE I N F ORMAT I ON S EARC� PROCE S S US E D B Y VETERI NARI ANS I N CLI N I CAL PRACT I CE
I N NEW Z EALAND
A th e s i s pre se nted
in p a rt i a l f u l f i l ment of the requ i remen t s f o r t h e d e g r e e o f
M a s t e r o f Veter i nary S c i en c e M a s s ey Un ivers i ty at
C h r i stopher James Bo l an d S eptemb e r 1 9 8 8
i i ABS TRACT
V e t e r i n a r i ans f a c e p rob l ems in dec i d i ng wh eth e r or not to adopt new t e chn i c a l innovat i o n s wh i ch b e c ome a v a i l ab l e to them f o r u s e in veter i nary p ractic e and in s o l v i ng probl ems they have not prev i ou s l y f a c e d . I n t h e s e " n ew s i tu a t i o n s '' wh i ch they f a c e f re qu e nt l y , t h ey mu s t draw on v a r i ous sources o f i n f o rma t i o n t o m a ke an i n f o rmed ev a l u at ion .
T h i s the s i s exam i n e s the proce s s by wh i ch p r a c t i s i n g v e t e r i n a r i a ns s e a rch f o r th i s i n f ormat i on , t h e s ourc e s t h e y u s e , and t h e p r ob l ems they face . By the n a tu r e o f the i n format i on b e i n g sought , i t w a s nec e s s a ry t o g a t h e r t h e data a ft e r t h e search f o r i n format i o n o n a p a r t i c u l a r top i c h a d been comp l eted . To m i n i m i s e the b i a s e s i nherent in reconstruct i on of p a s t event s , three d i f ferent re s e a rch approaches were used to p r ov i d e c omp l em e ntary i n s i ghts i nto the i n f o rmat i o n s e arch p r o c edu re .
I n f o rma t i on conc ern i n g the nature o f the emp l oyment a n d w o rk o f vet e r i n a r i a n s i s pres ented , w i th p a r t i c u l a r emph a s i s on th e 7 0 % o f the p r o f e s s i on who are emp l oy e d i n p r a c t i c e .
T h e v a l u e and l im i t a t i ons o f v a r i ous i n f o rmat i o n s ou r c e s were i nve s t i ga t ed , a n d v i ews s ought o n n e e d s n o t current l y met . The most imp o rtant fe ature o f t h e i n f o rma t i o n s ourc e s fr om t h e v i ewp o i n t o f r e s p ondent s wa s that they b e i n a form that i s e a s i l y s t o r e d , r e t r i eved and u s ed , s o that i n f o rma t i on wa s a t h a n d w h e n i t was n e eded . I n forma t i on supp l i e d a t a t ime remote from the n e e d was not v a l ued h i gh l y , c omp a r e d w i th ( p os s ib l y l ower qua l i ty ) i n forma t i on a v a i l ab l e e a s i l y wh en i t w a s n e eded . Requ e s t s for a d d i t i o n a l i n f o rm a t i o n s�rv i c e s concentrated h e av i l y o n tho s e wh i ch wou l d imp rove the mana gement o f i n f o rma t i o n w i t h i n the work e nv i ronment .
V e t e r i n a r i a n s s e e them s e l v e s a s act ive u s e r s o f i n f o rmat i o n , but w o rk i ng under s evere t ime c o n s t ra i n t s wh i ch l im i t the i r o p t i on s . There were n o marked d i f f e rences among v a r i ous catego r i e s o f v e t e r i n a r i a n s i n t h e i r s e a r ch appro ach es .
S i n c e requ e s t s t o them were i n frequent , the ma n a g e r s o f i n f o rmat i o n s ou r c e s s aw v e t e r i n a r i ans a s p a s s iv e i n t h e i r s e arch b ehav i ou r . I n fact , th i s was b e c au s e t ime p re s s ures f o rc e d v e t e r i n a r i a n s to use l o ca l l y ava i l ab l e i n f o rm a t i o n f o r m o s t s e arch e s , r e s o r t i n g t o r e c o g n i z ed i n f o rmat i o n supp l i e r s o n l y when l o c a l sourc e s f a i l ed them .
T h e r e was
v i ewp o i nts , c l e a r l y
a n d i n a m i smatch ing b etwe e n the s e two the l i ght of the s tudy a map o f
i i i i n f o rmat i on s ource u s a g e h a s been drawn up , s h ow i ng th e i n t e n s i ty o f u s e o f v a r i ous s ourc e s . T h e r e i s a n
" i n n e r c i r c l e " o f i n f o rma t i on s ources that a r e u s e d f o r mo s t p r ob l ems . Pre f e rred s ources are tho s e w i th wh i ch the v e t e r i n a r i ans can i n t e r a ct e a s i l y , e sp e c i a lly tho s e w i th wh i c h they a r e fam i l i a r . They p r e f e r tho s e wh i ch redu c e the t ime r e qu i re d to comp lete t h e s e a rch p r o c e s s .
The p at t e r n s o f in format i o n u s e ident i f i e d i n the s tudy a r e l i k e l y t o be app l i c a b l e to otbe r p r o f e ss i o n a l g roup s wh i c h have frequent n e e d f o r new i n f o rmat i on . E du c a t o r s w i l l a l s o f i nd th i s s tudy o f i n f o rma t i o n s e a r ch u s e ful f o r the i r pro f e s s i on a l tra in i n g c u r r i cu l um devel opment .
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S
The s tudy c ou l d not have b e e n comp l eted w i thout the g e n e r o u s c o ope rat i o n of v e t e r i n a ry pract it i o n e r s , the d e c i s i o n makers in tho s e o rgan i z a t i ons t h a t supp l y v e t e r i n a ry i n f o rmat i o n , a nd the f i na l y e a r v e t e r i n a ry s tudent s . The nature o f the top i c me a n t that the que s t i o nn a i r e was l on g and dema n d i ng f o r p ra c t i t i on e r s . De s p i t e the f a ct that p r a ct i t i o ners a r e wo r k i ng under c o n s i d e r ab l e t ime p r e s sure , a l l respond e n t s were he l p fu l a n d p a t i ent .
The f i n a n c i a l supp o r t o f the Laboratory S e rv i c e s o f the MAFQua l Group o f the M i n i stry o f Agr i cu l ture and F i she r i e s a nd the Foundat i o n for Vete r i n a ry C o n t i n u i n g E d u c a t i o n made it p o s s i b l e t o t ake the t ime t o comp l e te th i s s tudy . It i s hoped that they wi l l f i nd t h e r e su l t s a n a d e qu a t e reward f o r the i r i nve stment .
My s p e c i a l thanks a r e extended to Dr . Bev e r l ey Be l l o f t h e D e p a rtment o f Educat i o n f o r d i rect i n g m e t o the methodo l og i c a l t o o l s f o r qua l i t at iv e r e s e a rch , P r o f e s s o r Roger Mo r r i s f o r h i s adv i c e and d i s c ip l i n e a s my s u p e rv i s o r , J e a n n e B o l a n d f o r her e d i t o r i a l i nput a s w e l l a s h e r p e r s o n a l supp o r t , S a ra and Jenn i f e r B o l a n d f o r the i r supp o rt , Ms . Debb i e Lov e l o c k f o r h e r e x c e l l ent work i n p r o c e s s i ng t h e data from the p o s t a l qu e s t i o nn a i re , and the s t a f f o f the M i n i s t ry o f A g r i c u l ture and F i s he r i e s f o r the ma n a g ement a nd d i s t r ibut i o n o f the p o s t a l survey .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
A B S TRACT i i
A C KNOWLE DGEMENT iv
TABLE O F CONTENTS V
L I S T OF F I GURE S v i i i
L I S T O F TABLE S X
I NTRODU C T I O N 1
C HA PTER 1
T H E PROCE S S O F I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH I N
" NE W S I TUAT I O N S " · 4
I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH BEHAVI OUR 4
PRO BLEM S O LV I NG 1 3
INFORMAT I ON MANAGEMENT · 1 4
RES EARCH S TUD I E S :
I N F ORMAT I ON S EARCH BEHAV I OUR 1 4
Qu a l i t a t iv e versus Qu a nt i t a t ive R e s e a r ch Re s e a rch P a rad i gms
C HAPTER 2
VETERINARY I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH PROJECT PROJ E C T S TRATEGY
THES I S DO CUMENTAT I ON
CHAPTER 3
G ROUNDED THE ORY - COLLECTION AND ANALY S I S O F QUALI TAT IVE DATA I N T H E PRE LIMI NARY RE S EARCH
1 7 1 7 1 8
I NVE S T I GAT I ON 2 0
METHO DOLOGY 2 2
S AMPLE S E LE C T I ON AND INTERV I EW TECHNI QUE 2 2
CONTENT ANALY S I S 2 3
CONS TANT COMPARAT IVE METH O D 2 4
C omp a r i n g i n c i dents
I nt e g rat i n g c a t e
g
o r i e s a n d propert i e s D e l im i t i ng theoryWr i t i ng theory
S UMMAR I E S O F THE CONTENT ANALY S I S AND
C OMPARI S ON O F I N - DE PTH I NTERV I EWS 2 6
PRACT I S I NG VETERI NARIANS 2 6
F I NAL Y EAR VETER I NARY S TU DENTS 2 9
UNIVERS I TY VETERI NARIANS 3 1
C ONTENT ANALYS I S AND COMPAR I S ON OF H I S TORI CAL
DOCUMENTS CONCERN I N G INFORMAT I ON S EARCH 3 3
S UMMARY 3 5
CHA P T E R 4
QUANT I TAT IVE P O S TAL SURVEY OF VETERI NARY PRA CT I T I ONERS
PO STAL SURVE Y METHODOLOGY
Q u e s t i onna i re d i s t r ibut i on Q u e s t ionna i r e a n a l y s i s
_ S amp l e and return s t a t i s t i c s
3 7 3 7
P RE S E NTAT I ON O F FINDINGS 4 1
PRO F I LE O F RES PONDENTS 4 1
I NFORMAT I ON S EARCH BEHAVI OUR 4 5
PREFERE N C E S FOR S PE C I F I C IN FORMAT I ON FORMAT S 5 5
CHAPTER 5
VE T E R I NARY GROUP CHARACTER I S T I C S :
PRO F I LE O F THE VETERINARY PRO FE S S I ON 6 1 DEMOGRAPHY , E DUCAT I ON , AND EMPLOYMENT 6 2 WORKLOAD D I S TR I BUT I ON BY TYPE O F AN I MAL 6 4
D I S CUS S I ON 6 5
C ONCLU S I ON 6 9
CHAPTER 6
THE I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH PRO C E S S U S E D BY VETERINARY PRAC T I T I ONERS WHEN DEAL ING W I TH NEW S I TUAT I ONS
DEF I N I T I ON OF " N EW S I TUAT I ONS "
S OURC E S O F " NEW S I TUAT I ONS "
MOTIVAT I ONS/CONS I DERAT I ONS I N F LUEN C I NG THE S EARCH PRO C E S S
I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH S TRATEG I E S S TALL A S A S TRATEGY
ATTRI BUT E S OF AN INFORMAT I ON S OURCE PERC E PT I ON O F S EARCH SUCCE S S
SUMMARY
C HA PTER ·?
S OURCE S O F TECHN I CAL I N FORMAT I ON
70 70 71 73 74 76 76 77 8 2
U S E D BY NEW Z EALAN D VETERI NARY PRACT I T I ONERS 8 3
S C I E NT I F I C LITERATURE 8 4
Journ a l s T e xt books
Proceedings of c o n f e rences and cont i nu i ng educ a t i o n cour s e s
CONFERENCES AN D COURS E S 8 6
·OTHER S U PPORT MATERIAL 8 7
ANY OTHER I NFORMAT I ON S ERV I CE 8 8
D I S CUS S I ON 8 9
CON C LU S I ON 9 2
CHAPTER 8
ME E T I NG THE I N FORMAT I ON NEEDS O F VETER I NARY
PRACT I T I ONERS IN NEW Z EALAND 9 3
VETERINARY PRACT I T I ONER AND
I NFORMAT I ON S EARCH 9 4
I N FORMAT I ON S OURCES ' PERC E PT I ON 9 7
- M I S MATCH E D PERC E PTI ONS 9 8
I M P L I CAT I ONS lOO
CHAPTER 9
D I S CUS S I ON O F METHO DOLOGY AND CONCLUS I ON S 1 0 1
METHODOLOGY 1 0 1
C ONTENT ANALY S I S AN D CONSTANT COMPARI S ON 1 0 1 S amp l e S e l e ct i o n
Content a n a l y s i s o f h i s to r i c a l do cument s
QUANT I TATIVE PHASE ( POS TAL QUE S T I ONNA I RE ) 1 0 4
P O S TAL QUE S T I ONNAIRE RESULT S 1 0 6
H I S TORI CAL DOCUMENTS 1 0 7
CONCLUS I ONS 1 0 8
B I B L I OGRAPHY A P P E N D I X A
V i ewp o i nts
S ub g roup d i f f erences v occupa t i o n a l p r e s s u r e s
P a ra l l e l s i n i n f o rmat i o n management I n f o rmat i o n management s k i l l s
I n f o rma t i o n sources Long t e rm needs
C OVER I NG LETTER FOR P O S TAL SURVEY A P P E N D I X B
QUE S T I ONNA I RE : A S URVE Y O F I NFORMAT I ON USE B Y PRACT I C ING VETER I NARI ANS IN NEW Z EALAND A P P E N D I X C
REMI NDER LETT ER TO NON -RES PONDENTS A P P E N D I X D
1 1 2
N O RMAL S TAT I S T I CS FOR FREQUENCY AND RANKING QUE S T I ON S I N THE POSTAL S URVE Y
A P P E N D I X E
CATE G OR I E S AN D PRO PERT I E S FROM I N - DE PTH INTERVI EWS APPENDIX F
I N FO RMAT I ON S EARCH H Y POTHE S E S A P PE N D I X G
DEMOGRAPH I C PRO F I LE O F THE VETERI NARY PROFE S S I ON I N NEW Z EALAN D , 1 9 8 5
L I S T OF F I GURES
AFTER PAGE
F I GURE 1 .
BAS I C BEHAVI OURAL MO D E L IN WH I CH ONLY THE S T I MU LUS AN D RE S PON S E CAN BE MEASURE D
F I GURE 2 .
BAS I C ADO PT I ON O F I NNOVAT I ON MO D E L (RO GERS AN D S HOEMAKER)
F I GURE 3 .
C OM B I N E D ADOPT I ON AND C ONSUMER BEHAVI OUR MO D E L
F I GURE 4 .
I N F O RMAT I ON F I LTER AND PERS ONAL CONS TRU CT MO D E L
F I GURE 5 .
S AM P LE TRAN S CR I PT AND I N I T IAL ANALY S I S
F I GURE 6 .
S AMPLE CATEGORY CARD W I T H PRO PERT I E S F I GURE 7 .
5
5
6
6 , 9 4
2 3
2 3
S AM P LE S HEET W I TH RE S EARCHER ' S NOTES ; H Y POTHE S E S 2 3
F I GURE 8 .
I N FORMAT I ON F I LTER AN D PERS ONAL CONSTRUCT MO D E L
S PE C I F I C F O R T H E I N FORMAT I ON S EARCH PRO C E S S 3 5 , 9 4
F I GURE 9 .
D I S T R I BUT I ON O F RETURNS : 3 0 MARCH - 1 0 JUNE 4 0
FIGURE 1 0 .
D I S TR I BUT I ON O F VE T E R I NARIANS ACRO S S
P RA CT I CE MANAGEMENT CATE GORY 6 2
F I GURE 1 1 .
D I S TR I BUT I ON O F RE SPONDENTS
(NUMBE R OF VE T E R I NARIANS PER PRAC T I C E ) 6 2
F I GURE 1 2 .
D I S T R I BUT I O N ACRO S S POS I T I ON I N PRACT I CE
FOR-WHOLE S AM P LE 6 3
F I GURE 1 3 .
D I S T R I BU T I ON ACRO S S POS I T I ON FOR MEN AN D
WOME N : LE S S T HAN 1 0 Y EARS EXPERIENCE 6 3
F I GURE 1 4 .
VE T E R I NARY -HOURS PER YEAR AS TO T Y PE OF AN I MAL 6 5
F I GURE 1 5 .
VE T E R I NARY -HOURS PER Y EAR FOR MEN AND
WOMEN VE T E R I NARIANS 6 5
F I GURE 1 6 .
N E TWORK OF S OURCES OF " NEW S I TUAT I ONS " 71 , 9 5
F I GURE 17 .
VE T E R I NARY I NFORMAT I ON N E TWORK 74 , 9 5 F I GURE 1 8 .
F LOW D I AGRAM O F INFORMAT I ON S EARCH S TRAT E G I E S 74 , 9 5
L I S T O F TABLE S
TABLE 1 .
D I S TR I BUT I ON O F VE TERI NAR IANS ACRO S S PRACT I CE MANAGEMENT CATEGORI E S
TABLE 2 .
NUMBER AND PER CENT O F RES PONDENTS IN EACH PRACT I CE PO S I T I ON
TABLE 3 .
D I S TR I BUT I ON O F RES PONDENTS AS TO NUMBER O F VETERI NARIANS IN A PRACT I CE
TABLE 4 .
NUMBER O F VE TERINARI ANS I N EACH PERCENTAGE CAT E GORY OF CASE LOAD
TABLE 5 .
NUMBER O F MEN IN EACH PERCENTAGE CAT E GORY OF CAS E LOAD
TABLE 6 .
NUMBE R OF WOMEN I N EACH PERCENTAGE CAT E G ORY OF CAS E LOAD
TABLE 7 .
S PE C I F I C NEW S I TUAT I ON S VO LUNTEERED B Y RE S PON DENTS
TABLE 8 .
VE T E R I NARY -HOURS PER AN I MAL TYPE
AFTER PAGE
4 2
4 2
4 3
4 3
4 3
4 3
5 2
6 5
