Sjukt sökt : en studie om hälsoinformation på internet
(2024) ABMM54 20241Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- This thesis is about health information on the internet. Most people in Sweden today search for health information on Google, but research is lacking on the way health information is displayed on Google. Research is also lacking on how health information is produced for the web. The thesis examines, through analysis of searches on Google, how health information is formed in the search engine based on two common health problems – stomach pain and sleeping difficulties. Furthermore, it explores how Google's "more questions you can ask" feature shapes health information and thus the image of symptoms and diseases. The thesis also includes qualitative interviews with producers of health information on 1177, the online national health... (More)
- This thesis is about health information on the internet. Most people in Sweden today search for health information on Google, but research is lacking on the way health information is displayed on Google. Research is also lacking on how health information is produced for the web. The thesis examines, through analysis of searches on Google, how health information is formed in the search engine based on two common health problems – stomach pain and sleeping difficulties. Furthermore, it explores how Google's "more questions you can ask" feature shapes health information and thus the image of symptoms and diseases. The thesis also includes qualitative interviews with producers of health information on 1177, the online national health information portal provided by the Swedish national health care system. With framing theory as a basis, tendencies in how health information is shaped by Google, content providers and users are made visible. As the framing theory is based on a traditional communication model where sender and receiver are seen as distinct entities, socio-material concepts are also applied to shed light on the co-creation of health information between Google and users. The results show that most health information on Google is of commercial origin. The information from commercial sources also differs from that from public sources, for example, it is shorter and focuses less on self-care. Searches on the symptoms stomach pain and sleeping difficulties show that most health information sources portray the symptoms as harmless and common, but Google also displays information about serious diseases at the top of the search results. This information is mainly made visible through Google's "more questions you can ask" feature. The interviews with 1177 show that they are satisfied with the way Google ranks health information, but they also identify several risks with the way health information is distributed by Google.
Keywords
Health information, Google, 1177, health information production, framing theory, sociomateriality (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9156753
- author
- Spjuth, Ebba LU
- supervisor
-
- Olof Sundin LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Symptoms of Search : A study of the Co-construction of Health Information on Google
- course
- ABMM54 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Health information, Google, 1177, health information production, framing theory, sociomateriality
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9156753
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-19 09:09:35
- date last changed
- 2024-06-19 09:09:35
@misc{9156753,
abstract = {{This thesis is about health information on the internet. Most people in Sweden today search for health information on Google, but research is lacking on the way health information is displayed on Google. Research is also lacking on how health information is produced for the web. The thesis examines, through analysis of searches on Google, how health information is formed in the search engine based on two common health problems – stomach pain and sleeping difficulties. Furthermore, it explores how Google's "more questions you can ask" feature shapes health information and thus the image of symptoms and diseases. The thesis also includes qualitative interviews with producers of health information on 1177, the online national health information portal provided by the Swedish national health care system. With framing theory as a basis, tendencies in how health information is shaped by Google, content providers and users are made visible. As the framing theory is based on a traditional communication model where sender and receiver are seen as distinct entities, socio-material concepts are also applied to shed light on the co-creation of health information between Google and users. The results show that most health information on Google is of commercial origin. The information from commercial sources also differs from that from public sources, for example, it is shorter and focuses less on self-care. Searches on the symptoms stomach pain and sleeping difficulties show that most health information sources portray the symptoms as harmless and common, but Google also displays information about serious diseases at the top of the search results. This information is mainly made visible through Google's "more questions you can ask" feature. The interviews with 1177 show that they are satisfied with the way Google ranks health information, but they also identify several risks with the way health information is distributed by Google.
Keywords
Health information, Google, 1177, health information production, framing theory, sociomateriality}},
author = {{Spjuth, Ebba}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sjukt sökt : en studie om hälsoinformation på internet}},
year = {{2024}},
}