Health Information Seals of Approval: What do they Signify?
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| Title: | Health Information Seals of Approval: What do they Signify? |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Burkell, Jacquelyn1 jburkell@uwo.ca |
| Source: | Information, Communication & Society. Dec2004, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p491-509. 19p. |
| Subjects: | Medical informatics, Consumer protection, Internet in medicine, Quality assurance, Health education, Online information services |
| Abstract: | Much of the health information available to consumers on the Internet is incomplete, out of date and even inaccurate. Seals of approval or trustmarks have been suggested as a strategy to assist consumers in identifying high-quality information. Little is known, however, about how consumers interpret such seals. This study addresses this issue by examining assumptions about the quality criteria that are reflected by a seal of approval. This question is of particular importance because a wide variety of quality criteria have been suggested for online health information, including: core aspects of quality such as accuracy, currency and completeness; proxy indicators of quality such as the disclosure of commercial interests; and indicators that reflect the quality of the site or the interaction it affords, such as the availability of a search mechanism. The results of this study suggest that seals of approval are assumed to certify information quality primarily with respect to core quality indicators, aspects that subjects both consider to be important and feel relatively less able to evaluate for themselves (compared with their ability to rate proxy indicators of information or indicators of site or interaction quality). This assumption is largely inconsistent with practice: most seals of approval involve assessment of proxy indicators of information quality, rather than direct assessment of content. These results identify a problem that certification or accreditation bodies must address since, unless and until consumer expectations are congruent with evaluation practice, seals of approval will seem to promise more than they deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Information, Communication & Society is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 15645037 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Health Information Seals of Approval: What do they Signify? – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burkell%2C+Jacquelyn%22">Burkell, Jacquelyn</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> jburkell@uwo.ca</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Information%2C+Communication+%26+Society%22">Information, Communication & Society</searchLink>. Dec2004, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p491-509. 19p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+informatics%22">Medical informatics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consumer+protection%22">Consumer protection</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internet+in+medicine%22">Internet in medicine</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Quality+assurance%22">Quality assurance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Health+education%22">Health education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Online+information+services%22">Online information services</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Much of the health information available to consumers on the Internet is incomplete, out of date and even inaccurate. Seals of approval or trustmarks have been suggested as a strategy to assist consumers in identifying high-quality information. Little is known, however, about how consumers interpret such seals. This study addresses this issue by examining assumptions about the quality criteria that are reflected by a seal of approval. This question is of particular importance because a wide variety of quality criteria have been suggested for online health information, including: core aspects of quality such as accuracy, currency and completeness; proxy indicators of quality such as the disclosure of commercial interests; and indicators that reflect the quality of the site or the interaction it affords, such as the availability of a search mechanism. The results of this study suggest that seals of approval are assumed to certify information quality primarily with respect to core quality indicators, aspects that subjects both consider to be important and feel relatively less able to evaluate for themselves (compared with their ability to rate proxy indicators of information or indicators of site or interaction quality). This assumption is largely inconsistent with practice: most seals of approval involve assessment of proxy indicators of information quality, rather than direct assessment of content. These results identify a problem that certification or accreditation bodies must address since, unless and until consumer expectations are congruent with evaluation practice, seals of approval will seem to promise more than they deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Information, Communication & Society is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/1369118042000305610 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 19 StartPage: 491 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Medical informatics Type: general – SubjectFull: Consumer protection Type: general – SubjectFull: Internet in medicine Type: general – SubjectFull: Quality assurance Type: general – SubjectFull: Health education Type: general – SubjectFull: Online information services Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Health Information Seals of Approval: What do they Signify? Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Burkell, Jacquelyn IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 12 Text: Dec2004 Type: published Y: 2004 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1369118X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 7 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Information, Communication & Society Type: main |
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