Doctor en Ciencias, Mención Computación / La Web es un gran espacio de información donde muchos recursos como documentos, imágenes u otros contenidos multimediales pueden ser accesados. En este contexto, varias tecnologías de la información han sido desarrolladas para ayudar a los usuarios a satisfacer sus necesidades de búsqueda en la Web, y las más usadas de estas son los motores de búsqueda. Los motores de búsqueda permiten a los usuarios encontrar recursos formulando consultas y revisando una lista de respuestas. Uno de los principales desafíos para la comunidad de la Web es diseñar motores de búsqueda que permitan a los usuarios encontrar recursos semánticamente conectados con sus consultas. El gran tamaño de la Web y la vaguedad de los términos más comúnmente usados en la formulación de consultas es un gran obstáculo para lograr este objetivo. En esta tesis proponemos explorar las selecciones de los usuarios registradas en los logs de los motores de búsqueda para aprender cómo los usuarios buscan y también para diseñar algoritmos que permitan mejorar la precisión de las respuestas recomendadas a los usuarios. Comenzaremos explorando las propiedades de estos datos. Esta exploración nos permitirá determinar la naturaleza dispersa de estos datos. Además presentaremos modelos que nos ayudarán a entender cómo los usuarios buscan en los motores de búsqueda. Luego, exploraremos las selecciones de los usuarios para encontrar asociaciones útiles entre consultas registradas en los logs. Concentraremos los esfuerzos en el diseño de técnicas que permitirán a los usuarios encontrar mejores consultas que la consulta original. Como una aplicación, diseñaremos métodos de reformulación de consultas que ayudarán a los usuarios a encontrar términos más útiles mejorando la representación de sus necesidades. Usando términos de documentos construiremos representaciones vectoriales para consultas. Aplicando técnicas de clustering podremos determinar grupos de consultas similares. Usando estos grupos de consultas, introduciremos métodos para recomendación de consultas y documentos que nos permitirán mejorar la precisión de las recomendaciones. Finalmente, diseñaremos técnicas de clasificación de consultas que nos permitirán encontrar conceptos semánticamente relacionados con la consulta original. Para lograr esto, clasificaremos las consultas de los usuarios en directorios Web. Como una aplicación, introduciremos métodos para la manutención automática de los directorios.

This qualitative descriptive case study investigates four Chinese international students’ use of online resources for academic writing in a western Canadian university. This study has direct implications for English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language writing instruction as well as international students’ use of university library. Methodological triangulation was used to collect data. This included a semi-structured interview, a computer-based writing task, and a think-aloud activity. Data was coded and analyzed within cases and re-analyzed across the four cases. The salient themes that emerged from this analysis include: indispensable role of online resources in academic writing; a solution to language problems; ability of evaluation; a solution to plagiarism; influences of search habits; concerns about graduate students; and the importance of professors. Four major findings of the study include: important uses of online resources for solving language problems; students’ search skills in online databases; students’ use of the UVic library; and the importance of professors’ instruction. These findings will be helpful for educators to consider as they work to integrate online resources for international students’ writing instruction; and for academic libraries to consider as they offer services to assist EFL/ESL learners. / Graduate / 2017-12-05 / 0727 / 0399 / 0515 / ketien0421@gmail.com

Title: Is trust in SEM an intergenerational trait? Date: 2018-05-22 Level: Bachelor Thesis in International Marketing Author: Jesper Fredlund 930427 & Timmy Biedron 961128 Supervisor: Henrietta Nilson Problem formulation: How do age correlate with trust and attitude towards SEM on Google in Sweden? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to see if the Swedish Digital Natives are more likely to be trusting search engine marketing, as opposed to the older generations of Digital Immigrants, and by doing this gaining a better understanding of the attitudes towards search engines and search enginemarketing in Sweden. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of this paper consists of theories about BannerBlindness, Text Blindness, EHS Theory, Search Engine Marketing, Sponsored Links, Organic Links,Generations. Methodology: This is a quantitative study with 429 respondents in an online survey. It contains Swedish users of search engines divided into groups of those born before 1980 and those born after. Empirical findings: Our study found out that Digital Natives are slightly more likely to favour Search Engine Marketing than Digital Immigrants are. Conclusion: No matter the target of your Search Engine Marketing campaign you should approach itcautiously, since both Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants have been shown to hold a negative bias against these campaigns over organic links. Keywords: SEM, SEA, Search Engines, Search Behaviour, Organic links, Sponsored links.

By using perceived risk theory to research consumers' feeling of safety in rapid transit, this study brings insight to the limited research area of consumer perceived risk of travelling by rapid transit in the context of unsafe and unpleasant incidents and its effect on consumer search behaviour. The existing models of risk induced information behaviour are mostly relevant for complex decisions. Hence when considering the service characteristics of rapid transit, the established literature is limited which makes it difficult when predicting search behaviour outcomes. From a practical essence, one identified barrier that limits the full potential usage of rapid transit is consumers perceived risk. Problem oriented policies have been implemented to address these issues. However, these initiatives need to be assessed in conjunction with understanding consumer behaviour and risk. Formed by the experiential nature of service, consumers want to reduce risk by processing information. Thus, the purpose of the research is to gain a better understanding of the perceived risk of rapid transit travel with regards to personal safety and exploring its effect on consumer information search behaviour. To address the purpose, the following research questions were stated and tested through hypothesis. RQ1 How do consumers view the perceived risk of rapid transit with regards to unsafe and unpleasant events? RQ2 How does the perceived risk of rapid transit with regards to personal safety, affect consumer search behaviours? By conducting extensive literature search, a theoretical framework could be concluded. Consisting of theories and models from the marketing literature with emphasis towards consumer behaviour and perceived risk. Empirical data was gathered and tested against the theoretical basis using a quantitative method of questionnaire survey and yielded 117 respondents. The empirical data was analysed using multivariate methods where the results were compared against the literature. The study can conclude that established theories and models can partially be used to understand perceived risk and information search behaviour in the context of rapid transit. The concluded results suggest safety as an important buying goal when selecting transportation mode. Although a perception of risk is present when travelling by rapid transit. The perceived risk can also be concluded to affect information search behaviour. Where increased perceived risk also increases information search. The information search can both be through active and passive information acquisition. Where passive search is deemed as the dominant search behaviour. This could partially be explained through rapid transits purchase characteristics of being habitual buying, with an iterative process of passive absorption. Lastly, natural dominant channels are considered most useful to acquire information and past experience the single most useful source. Moreover, the theoretical implications are significant in the view of understanding consumers' search behaviour when dealing with perceived risk of travelling by rapid transit. In a practical sense the implications are significant when considering the importance of understanding perceived risk in conjunction with consumer search behaviour when implementing strategies. Further research, however, is needed to understand perceived risks underlying relations to consumer search behaviour when dealing with habitual buying behaviour and unique service environments.

Proactive behaviour implies taking initiative and mastering unexpected situations, and hence, is desirable in different situations. The present thesis includes three empirical studies intended to understand the consequences of proactive behaviour, as well as the factors that contribute to proactive behaviour at work and when facing unemployment. More specifically, whether job design, as measured by objective work task analysis, provides conditions conducive to proactivity in the workplace and when facing unemployment. The results of proactive behaviour during unemployment were also of interest. Study I focused on the influence of job design on individuals’ personal initiative and confidence in their ability when facing unemployment. Participants were employees at a downsizing Swedish assembly plant. Confidence in one’s ability mediated the relationship between job design and personal initiative, and personal initiative affected job search behaviour when advised to be dismissed. Study II, a longitudinal exploration, focused on the predictors of re-employment in the same group as in Study I. Men were more than nine times as likely as women to obtain jobs within 15 months. Individuals without children were more than seven times as likely as those with children to find work within 15 months. The desire to change occupation and willingness to relocate also increased the probability of being re-employed, whereas anonymous-passive job-search behaviour and work-related self-efficacy actually decreased the probability of re-employment. The number of job applications did not impact later re-employment. Study III analysed job design as a predictor of group initiative and self-organisational activities in semiautonomous industrial work groups. An input-process-output model showed that group processes such as reflexivity mediated the impact of job design on proactivity in work groups. Taken together, these studies suggest that work task analysis a useful tool, since it provides access to information that cannot be obtained with self-report measures. Job design indirectly affected proactivity both in the face of unemployment, and in industrial work groups. Further, it is worthwhile to continue identifying the antecedents and consequences of proactivity, as this seems to be an important factor regarding work and unemployment.

The main research problem in this thesis is how unemployed individuals experience and handle the situation of unemployment and how their actions are related to their action possibilities. These are determined by factors like level of education, vocational training, age, citizenship, handicap and level of unemployment on the local labour market. A common assumption is that search behaviour of unemployed individuals strongly affects their possibility to find a job. A central question in this thesis is if individuals’ behaviour has been overemphasised at the expense of real employment opportunities. The empirical part of this thesis is based on longitudinal data collected during a period of high unemployment. The sample is a national random sample existing of 3 500 Swedes interviewed by telephone in the beginning of 1996 and in the end of 1997. The results show that the expectations of the unemployed to find a job as well as their actual search behaviour are shaped by the situation they are in. The unemployed have job expectations that co-vary with their action possibilities, but as many as 31.3 per cent overestimate their chances and 10.5 per cent underestimate them. This result is based on questions about expectations to obtain a job related to the actual employment situation nearly two years later. Unemployed individuals’ job expectations co-vary with their experiences of the unemployment situation. Those who believe that their job chances are bad have a low mental sense of well-being, while the opposite is found among those who believe that their job chances are good. The sense of having control over the situation is important for an individual’s mental sense of well-being. Both strategies of activity and adaptation occur among the unemployed. Strategies that are meant to change the situation in an objective are most common, only a minority of the unemployed seem to have adapted to the situation of unemployment.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:16:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6595.pdf: 10149349 bytes, checksum: eb1bd6d884e3d26dd18a4cecd6852ed4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-23 / The social changes that have been taking place in recent decades and the rapid advance of information and communication technologies are changing the role of education in contemporary society, transforming the way people learn. The need for competencies related to the search for and use of information is a constant requirement in this new scenario, and professionals linked to education, along with libraries and information systems, have a key role in the formation of the population. The present research aimed to verify the behaviour of search and use of information by students on the pedagogy degree course, in the distance-learning and on-campus modes, at the Federal University of Sao Carlos, focusing on the impact of new technologies on this behaviour. A review of the literature on information search behaviour was carried out for the theoretical basis of the research, in order to determine parameters for data collection among the students. From the methodological point of view, the research is a case study of a descriptiveexploratory nature. The collection instrument used was a questionnaire applied in person in both surveyed groups. From the completed questionnaires, a statistical analysis was performed by descriptive variables; the intersection of these variables; and inferential analysis by the classification tree method. With the results of this survey, it was possible to obtain a diagnosis of search behaviour of these students, demonstrating that in both modalities, information and communication technologies influence this behavior and put the student in a position of greater autonomy in relation to traditional library collections. / As mudanças sociais que vem ocorrendo nas ultimas décadas e o rápido avanço das tecnologias de comunicação e informação vem modificando o papel da educação na sociedade contemporânea, transformando o modo de aprender das pessoas. A necessidade de competências ligadas a busca e uso da informação e exigência constante nesse novo cenário, e os profissionais ligados a educação, juntamente com as bibliotecas e sistemas de informação, tem um papel fundamental na formação da população. A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo geral verificar o comportamento de busca e uso da informação dos alunos do curso de licenciatura em pedagogia, nas modalidades a distancia e presencial, da Universidade Federal de São Carlos, enfocando o impacto das novas tecnologias sobre este comportamento. Como embasamento teórico, realizou-se uma revisão da literatura especifica sobre comportamento de busca, objetivando determinar parâmetros para a coleta de dados junto aos alunos pesquisados. Do ponto de vista metodológico, trata-se de um estudo de caráter descritivo-exploratório, a partir de um estudo de caso. O instrumento de coleta usado foi o questionário, aplicado presencialmente em ambos os grupos pesquisados. A partir dos questionários respondidos, foi realizada uma analise estatistica descritiva, por variáveis; o cruzamento dessas variáveis; e uma analise inferencial através do método de Classificação por Arvore. Com os resultados desta pesquisa, foi possivel obter um diagnostico do comportamento de busca desses alunos, evidenciando que, em ambas as modalidades, as tecnologias de informação e comunicação influenciam este comportamento e colocam o aluno em uma posição de maior autonomia em relação aos acervos tradicionais das bibliotecas.

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine information search behaviour of a group of Library and Information Science students in the cultural heritage digital collection cross search service DigitaltMuseum and an evaluation of the cross-search service search functionalities’ usability for the end-user. The study aims in understanding the user search behaviour to let the designers of cultural heritage digital collections websites improve the search tools so that the design matches the real needs of the users. After doing simulated search tasks the informants answered several questions about the chosen search strategies and preferable search functionalities. Quantitative analysis shows that simple search and free keywords are the most preferable search methods, however it is not clear why. On one hand it is observed that the users prefer google-like searching, on the other, discussion on the DigitaltMuseum search functionalities shows lack of use of Knowledge Organisation System of any kind which makes the advanced search tool insufficient.