CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Harpring, J. E. (1994). Information-seeking by pregnant, drug-addicted women: An application of the Sense-Making approach. Doctoral dissertation, Florida State University. Advisor, C. Edward Wotring
© Jayme Elizabeth Harpring (1994).
You may be able to order a full copy of this dissertation through the author, or through ProQuest Dissertation Express.

ADVISOR:
C. Edward Wotring

ABSTRACT:
Largely anecdotal evidence suggests that pregnancy is a time when drug-addicted women often display an increased receptivity to public information, drug treatment, and other supportive interventions. Yet little research has examined systematically the process of information-seeking among pregnant, drug-addicted women, despite its relevance to efforts to prevent the use of drugs during pregnancy. This study uses Dervin’s Sense-Making theory and method to investigate information-seeking among pregnant, drug-addicted women from an alternative perspective than that characterizing traditional thinking about public health information and audiences. In particular, the study explores critical views of the goals of public communication campaigns, the nature of information, and the relationship between institutions and their publics. Through in-depth Sense-Making interviews focusing on moments during their pregnancies when respondents felt concern for themselves or their fetuses, specific aspects of the information-seeking process are explored, including: the situations in which respondents sought information, the types of questions respondents asked in these situations, and the ways in which respondents used the answers they constructed. The potential benefits of the Sense-Making approach for research and the development of helping and information systems are discussed.

OTHER MATERIALS BY THIS AUTHOR ON THIS WEBSITE:
See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistharpring.html