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Towards a weighted average framework for evaluating the quality of web-located health information

Centre for International Corporate Governance Research & School of Information Systems, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, carmine.sellitto{at}vu.edu.au

Stephen Burgess

Centre for International Corporate Governance Research & School of Information Systems, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

This article proposes a framework for evaluating the quality of web-located health information. A set of affirmative response evaluation features are identified across four quality categories -currency/authority, accuracy, objectivity and privacy -and are used as the basis for determining the fundamental quality of web-located health information. Furthermore, the researchers add a value dimension to the framework by using a weighted average technique allowing information features to be scored proportionally -a feature that other assessment frameworks tend to overlook. The framework was used to access 56 health information documents published on the web, concluding that only four pages addressed all the core criteria proposed in the framework. The study also found that a relatively high number of commercial health sites intermixed health information with product promotion and advertising. The study was exploratory and because sampling was not probabilistic, it is difficult to claim generalizability at this stage. However, some notable results identified in this study may serve as the foundations for future research.

Key Words: web-located • health information • quality • accuracy • authority • disclosure • privacy • weighted average

Journal of Information Science, Vol. 31, No. 4, 260-272 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0165551505054168


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