“Stay Tuned!”: Validating a Questionnaire on Perceptions of University Students in Staying Informed with Current Events

Abstract

Information behaviour has been widely discussed in the literature, given the interest in how and why human beings seek and use information coming from librarians, policy-makers and social scientists. Understanding information consumers’ needs also provides the chance for practical applications to computer scientists and cognitive psychologists. In this study, information behaviour – related to current political news and events – is shaped within the framework of the theory of reasoned action, highlighting whether behavioural beliefs and norma- tive beliefs influence behavioural intentions, which influence behaviour itself. The aim is, thus, to evaluate the internal consistency and factorial validity of an ad-hoc questionnaire administered to university students on information behaviour. The internal consistency is checked using the Cronbach’s alphas of the three dimensions involved, while the factorial validity is assessed using a structural equation model. The results consist of a short questionnaire that could be employed to understand the information behaviour of university students to offer experts of information creators and disseminators an instrument to study their public’s needs.