Asking for help in community question-answering

Abstract

Communityquestion-answering (CQA) enables both information retrieval and social interactions. CQA questions are viewed as goal-expressions from the askers' perspectives. Most prior studies mainly focused on the goals expressed in the questions, but not on how responders' expectations and responses are influenced by the goal-expressions. To fill the gap, this research proposes the use of framing theory to understand how different expressions of goals influence responses. Cues of questions were used to identify goal-frames in CQA questions. Social network analysis was used to construct response networks whose nodes represent postings and connections represent responses. Our results reveal that goal-frames with high complexity, high specificity, and rewards tend to increase the centrality of questions. In contrast, low complexity and low specificity tend to generate extensive conversations. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed in the final section.

Understanding user‐generated questions in social Q&A: A goal‐framing approach

“…First, goal‐frames attract attention to different goals (Lindenberg, 2018). Past studies revealed that question cues such as specialized details and complexity attract attention to cognitive demands for problem‐solving (Te'eni, 1990; Wu et al, 2022). Hence, question cues might construct goal‐frames for responders.…”

“…First, complexity refers to the difficulty to solve a problem (Byström & Järvelin, 1995). For responders, it indicates the cognitive effort required for problem‐solving (Te'eni, 1990; Wu et al, 2022). Second, specificity examines the richness of details to clarify the problem (Banerjee, 2017).…”

“…As the starting point of knowledge co‐creation, user‐generated questions determine the scope of responses (i.e., answers and comments) (Wu et al, 2020a; Zhang et al, 2019). Earlier research has reported that questions spur knowledge exchange, initiate interactions, and encourage innovations (Bighash et al, 2018; Brooks & John, 2018; Wu et al, 2022). Here, questions can be viewed as goal expressions indicating the desired states an individual attempts to attain (Lindenberg, 2002; Matook, 2013).…”

“…Put differently, “questions serve as a pool of goals” for responders to choose and shape their knowledge contribution (Zhang et al, 2019, p. 75). Accordingly, there are two goals expressed by questions (1) askers' goals for seeking knowledge and conversations, and (2) responders' goals for social interactions and knowledge co‐creation, namely, the collective activity to share and integrate knowledge (Jeng et al, 2017; Wu et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2019).…”

“…Indeed, the interpretation of goal expressions influences the responses (Rouet, 2003). Responders may not select a question if the asker's goals are ambiguously expressed or the goals cannot meet their expectations (e.g., gaining reputation, learning knowledge, and helping others) (Oh, 2012; Shah et al, 2012; Wu et al, 2022). In other words, the voluntary nature of social Q&A calls for a better understanding of how questions set goals for responses.…”