Correlation hope theory on precision of information retrieval from databases of medical science

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine correlation hope theory on precision of user’s information retrieval from databases of medical science. Research method was quasi experimental, and the population consisted of 45 final year medical student at medical Universities in Tehran. The data gathering instrument was the Schneider (1991) hope questionnaire that has 12 questions. Schneider questionnaire measures two compounds of hope (agency and pathway) in 8 degrees Likert scale. Cronbach’s alpha for two compounds of hope theory includes agency and pathway was 92% and 82%. Two pages of the retrieved results (40 records) were examined by the users in terms of relevance to their information needs. Results showed a significant correlation between the mean values of the hope of the users and the precision of the retrieved results. The users hope with the mean value of 54/11 was at the high level. There was significant relation between demographic characteristics of gender, age and employment status with hope of the users and precision of the retrieved results. Overall findings indicate that users hope, increases the precision of the retrieved results from medical databases.

Keywords

• Theory of hope
• Precision
• Relevance judgment
• Information retrieval
• Information database of medical science.