This exploratory research is the first one among occupational information seeking behavior studies that focuses on information seeking behaviors of the crime scene investigators. The data used in this dissertation were gathered via a self-administrated survey instrument from 29 cities in Turkey. Findings obtained from the data analyses show that there is a strongly positive relationship between the experience of the crime scene investigators and the use of personal knowledge and experience as a primary information source (experience is operationalized with age, service years in policing, and service years in crime scene investigation units). The findings also suggest that increasing of the level of education is negatively related to relying on immediate colleagues as an information source among the crime scene investigators. These findings are consistent with related literature and theory. The data analysis shows that crime scene investigators work in cities with higher population rates have more complaint scores than those who work in cities with lower population rates across Turkey. The findings from the data analysis may suggest valuable implications to defeat the barriers between crime scene investigators and information sources. The researcher drew a proposed theoretical framework of an information behavior concept in the context of crime scene investigation that may help those who are interested in the phenomenon and its applications to other contexts.

Although dominant effects of tasks on individuals' information-seeking behavior is accepted by many scholars, a limited number of studies has been conducted to reveal the nature of the relationship between tasks and information-seeking behavior. In their studies, some earlier researchers categorized tasks according to their complexity while others did the same according to the specifications of tasks. Two of the groundbreaking researchers in this area are Katriina Byström and Kalervo Järvelin who contributed to the understanding of the relationship between task complexity and information-seeking behavior. However, their findings also need empirical support for theory growth. In response to this need, this study attempts to test Byström and Järvelin's findings through a research using different research methods and applied in a police work environment. Other than providing empirical support for theory growth, this research is also expected to contribute to the understudied area of police information-seeking behavior. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from the participants who came from traffic, homicide, and anti-terrorism divisions of Ankara, Eskisehir, and Kirikkale Police Departments in Turkey. The participants identified terrorism cases as the most complex cases to solve, followed by homicide and traffic accident cases. Differences in the information-seeking behavior of three groups of police officers were examined through qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Oneway ANOVA technique and post hoc comparisons were used to analyze the quantitative data. In addition to shedding light on information-seeking behavior of police officers investigating related cases in Turkey, the results provided support for Byström and Järvelin's findings. For instance, the officers investigating more complex tasks used significantly more information sources than the others, while the use of external information sources was significantly higher in more complex cases.