A Guide to Finding and Evaluating Best Practices Health Care Information on the Internet: The Truth Is Out There?

Kibbe, David C.; Smith, Polly; LaVallee, R L; Bailey, Donna; Bard, Mark

doi:10.1016/s1070-3241(16)30349-2

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…When we regard conspiracy theories as a continuum of identity-shaping potential, the phenomenon is demystified. This will be an important step toward the appreciation “to what extent conspiracy theories reflect everyday cognitions” (Swami and Coles, 2010, p. 563).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirty shades of truth: conspiracy theories as stories of individuation, not of pathological delusion

Raab¹,

Ortlieb²,

Auer³

et al. 2013

Front. Psychol.

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Recent studies on conspiracy theories employ standardized questionnaires, thus neglecting their narrative qualities by reducing them to mere statements. Recipients are considered as consumers only. Two empirical studies—a conventional survey (n = 63) and a study using the method of narrative construction (n = 30)—which were recently conducted by the authors of this paper—suggest that the truth about conspiracy theories is more complex. Given a set of statements about a dramatic historic event (in our case 9/11) that includes official testimonies, allegations to a conspiracy and extremely conspiratorial statements, the majority of participants created a narrative of 9/11 they deemed plausible that might be considered a conspiracy theory. The resulting 30 idiosyncratic stories imply that no clear distinction between official story and conspiratorial narrative is possible any more when the common approach of questionnaires is abandoned. Based on these findings, we present a new theoretical and methodological approach which acknowledges conspiracy theories as a means of constructing and communicating a set of personal values. While broadening the view upon such theories, we stay compatible with other approaches that have focused on extreme theory types. In our view, accepting conspiracy theories as a common, regulative and possibly benign phenomenon, we will be better able to understand why some people cling to immunized, racist and off-wall stories—and others do not.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirty shades of truth: conspiracy theories as stories of individuation, not of pathological delusion

Raab¹,

Ortlieb²,

Auer³

et al. 2013

Front. Psychol.

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show abstract

“…educational backgrounds, board certifications, and affiliations with organizations) of their own and cited authors (Kibbe et al, 1997;Silberg et al, 1997;Adelhard and Obst, 1999;Lamp and Howard, 1999). d Attribution.…”

Section: Quality Of Health Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…d Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by the site's sponsors. Conflicts of interest may be based on financial dependence, theoretical preference, or intellectual investment (Rippen, 1999), and may indicate bias (Kibbe et al, 1997;Silberg et al, 1997;Wyatt, 1997;Adelhard and Obst, 1999). Information embedded in advertisements needs to be labeled as such (Ambre et al, 1997).…”

Section: Quality Of Health Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

Cline

Haynes²

2001

Health Education Research

1,402

1,046

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Increasingly, consumers engage in health information seeking via the Internet. Taking a communication perspective, this review argues why public health professionals should be concerned about the topic, considers potential benefits, synthesizes quality concerns, identifies criteria for evaluating online health information and critiques the literature. More than 70 000 websites disseminate health information; in excess of 50 million people seek health information online, with likely consequences for the health care system. The Internet offers widespread access to health information, and the advantages of interactivity, information tailoring and anonymity. However, access is inequitable and use is hindered further by navigational challenges due to numerous design features (e.g. disorganization, technical language and lack of permanence). Increasingly, critics question the quality of online health information; limited research indicates that much is inaccurate. Meager information-evaluation skills add to consumers' vulnerability, and reinforce the need for quality standards and widespread criteria for evaluating health information. Extant literature can be characterized as speculative, comprised of basic 'how to' presentations, with little empirical research.

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“…Lewandowsky et al (2013b) indicate that belief in one conspiracy theory is correlated with the belief of other theories. Swami and Coles (2010) provide a comprehensive overview of research on this subject. The pro-active and constructive aspect of creating a (conspiracy) theory, however, has not been regarded in an experimental design so far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sarrazin effect: the presence of absurd statements in conspiracy theories makes canonical information less plausible

Raab¹,

Auer²,

Ortlieb³

et al. 2013

Front. Psychol.

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Reptile prime ministers and flying Nazi saucers—extreme and sometimes off-wall conclusion are typical ingredients of conspiracy theories. While individual differences are a common research topic concerning conspiracy theories, the role of extreme statements in the process of acquiring and passing on conspiratorial stories has not been regarded in an experimental design so far. We identified six morphological components of conspiracy theories empirically. On the basis of these content categories a set of narrative elements for a 9/11 story was compiled. These elements varied systematically in terms of conspiratorial allegation, i.e., they contained official statements concerning the events of 9/11, statements alleging to a conspiracy limited in time and space as well as extreme statements indicating an all-encompassing cover-up. Using the method of narrative construction, 30 people were given a set of cards with these statements and asked to construct the course of events of 9/11 they deem most plausible. When extreme statements were present in the set, the resulting stories were more conspiratorial; the number of official statements included in the narrative dropped significantly, whereas the self-assessment of the story's plausibility did not differ between conditions. This indicates that blatant statements in a pool of information foster the synthesis of conspiracy theories on an individual level. By relating these findings to one of Germany's most successful (and controversial) non-fiction books, we refer to the real-world dangers of this effect.

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A Guide to Finding and Evaluating Best Practices Health Care Information on the Internet: The Truth Is Out There?

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Thirty shades of truth: conspiracy theories as stories of individuation, not of pathological delusion

Thirty shades of truth: conspiracy theories as stories of individuation, not of pathological delusion

Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art

The Sarrazin effect: the presence of absurd statements in conspiracy theories makes canonical information less plausible

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