Web search strategies and approaches to studying

This paper reports results from a project, which sought to investigate the relationship between study approaches and Web-based information seeking. Factor analyses were applied to data from over 500 queries submitting in response to three different search tasks to identify clusters of variables associated with three Web-based search strategies: Boolean, best-match, and combined. A consistent pattern emerged across the nine analyses in relation to a number of study approach variables. Boolean searching was consistently associated with a reproductive (as opposed to meaning-oriented) approach, anxiety (in the form of fear of failure), and high levels of active interest. Best-match was associated with the converse of all these measures. Combined searching was differentiated from both Boolean and best-match by being associated with poor time management. There was also some evidence of changes in strategy in relation to task complexity. A model is introduced which seeks to explain these results. This project was exploratory in nature, and the pattern of findings are proposed as prima facie evidence to support the notion that study approaches can influence choice of search strategies. The results are considered essentially as hypotheses for further systematic study, for which suggestions are made.