Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies
<br><b>Introduction.</b> The strategies that people use to browse Websites are difficult to analyse and understand: quantitative data can lack information about what a user actually intends to do, while qualitative data tends to be localised and is impractical to gather for large...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Borås
2006-01-01
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| Series: | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://informationr.net/ir/11-2/paper249.html |
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| _version_ | 1832572228745560064 |
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| author | Lillian Clark I-Hsien Ting Chris Kimble Peter Wright Daniel Kudenko |
| author_facet | Lillian Clark I-Hsien Ting Chris Kimble Peter Wright Daniel Kudenko |
| author_sort | Lillian Clark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <br><b>Introduction.</b> The strategies that people use to browse Websites are difficult to analyse and understand: quantitative data can lack information about what a user actually intends to do, while qualitative data tends to be localised and is impractical to gather for large samples. <br><b>Method.</b> This paper describes a novel approach that combines data from direct observation, user surveys and server logs to analyse users' browsing behaviour. It is based on a longitudinal study of university students' use of a Website related to one of their courses. <br><b>Analysis.</b> The data were analysed by using Footstep graphs to categorise browsing behaviour into pre-defined strategies and comparing these with data from questionnaires and direct observation of the students' actual use of the site. <br><b>Results.</b> Initial results indicated that in certain cases the patterns from server logs matched the observed browsing strategies as described in the literature. In addition, by cross-referencing the quantitative and qualitative data, a number of insights were gained into potential problems. <br><b>Conclusion.</b> This study shows how combining quantitative and qualitative approaches can provide an insight into changes in user browsing behaviour over time. It also identifies some potential methodological problems in studies of browsing behaviour and indicates some directions for future research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-af9702d97d954a578a4caa887812d888 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1368-1613 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2006-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Borås |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-af9702d97d954a578a4caa887812d8882025-02-02T11:24:07ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132006-01-01112249Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategiesLillian ClarkI-Hsien TingChris KimblePeter WrightDaniel Kudenko<br><b>Introduction.</b> The strategies that people use to browse Websites are difficult to analyse and understand: quantitative data can lack information about what a user actually intends to do, while qualitative data tends to be localised and is impractical to gather for large samples. <br><b>Method.</b> This paper describes a novel approach that combines data from direct observation, user surveys and server logs to analyse users' browsing behaviour. It is based on a longitudinal study of university students' use of a Website related to one of their courses. <br><b>Analysis.</b> The data were analysed by using Footstep graphs to categorise browsing behaviour into pre-defined strategies and comparing these with data from questionnaires and direct observation of the students' actual use of the site. <br><b>Results.</b> Initial results indicated that in certain cases the patterns from server logs matched the observed browsing strategies as described in the literature. In addition, by cross-referencing the quantitative and qualitative data, a number of insights were gained into potential problems. <br><b>Conclusion.</b> This study shows how combining quantitative and qualitative approaches can provide an insight into changes in user browsing behaviour over time. It also identifies some potential methodological problems in studies of browsing behaviour and indicates some directions for future research.http://informationr.net/ir/11-2/paper249.htmlWeb browsing strategies |
| spellingShingle | Lillian Clark I-Hsien Ting Chris Kimble Peter Wright Daniel Kudenko Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies Information Research: An International Electronic Journal Web browsing strategies |
| title | Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| title_full | Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| title_fullStr | Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| title_short | Combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| title_sort | combining ethnographic and clickstream data to identify user browsing strategies |
| topic | Web browsing strategies |
| url | http://informationr.net/ir/11-2/paper249.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lillianclark combiningethnographicandclickstreamdatatoidentifyuserbrowsingstrategies AT ihsienting combiningethnographicandclickstreamdatatoidentifyuserbrowsingstrategies AT chriskimble combiningethnographicandclickstreamdatatoidentifyuserbrowsingstrategies AT peterwright combiningethnographicandclickstreamdatatoidentifyuserbrowsingstrategies AT danielkudenko combiningethnographicandclickstreamdatatoidentifyuserbrowsingstrategies |