The impact of users’ socio-cognitive features on music information-seeking patterns

Sergej LugovicPolytechnic of Zagreb

slugovic@tvz.hr

Problem

Ultra Large Systems• We can collect data from system interactions, particularly

patterns of people’s behavior. • As such systems decentralize, they need to have a mechanism

implemented in them so they can adapt to changes. • People are not just users of the system but elements of it. • Collective behavior is of interest for system design and

analysis, as behavior is a factor in how users use, view, and accept the system.

• Social interactions are functions of how participants use technology and technology support their needs

(Northrop at al., 2006, p.18)

Wide Working Hypothesis

user socio-cognitive features condition information-seeking patterns

Information-seeking patterns are observable by machine and by knowing which patterns correspond to particular user socio-cognitive characteristics, an information system can automatically adapt according to user characteristics

Music information-seeking behavior

• The keywords used in the search include the user’s subjective and contextual interests.

• The user’s emotional state, how he’s educated, and what his cultural background is, the context in which his need for information appeared, and his affinity toward particular music styles (Lee, 2010)

Socio-Cognitive Approach

people operate in social systems, shaping them at the same time as being shaped by them and that the interplay of cognitive and social factors together shape behavior

(Pálsdóttir, 2013, p. 123).

Information behavior patterns & information behavior

• Information behavior patterns are quantitative outcomes of the information behavior (which is qualitative).

• If a machine conducts this process of studying (analyzing) user behavior and information need, we reduce the time needed to gain insights about the user

• At the same time, we can see those insights as a source of messaging that can transmit through the system.

• Such a mechanism incorporated in a socio-technical system can result in more adaptation, less verticality, and more use to the society properties.

By observing music information-searching behavior, this research explores how information need, music-listening habits, music social (online and offline) behavior, social preferences to music consumption, and amount of money spent on the music correlate with music information-searching patterns.

Research Methodology

• Users have four tasks to find music and music-related information.

• two tasks to find the actual music (one for the purpose of a house party and another for the purpose of finding music for a ten-year-old cousin’s house party).

• two additional tasks to find information related to the music (one to find the ticket for a concert in their home towns and another to find a ticket for a music concert in London).

Assumptions

• participants have socio-cognitive characteristics and an information need and that they will affect this information-searching behavior, making it unique

• different participant’s behavior will produce different patterns representing behavior.

Hypothesis to test

By observing music information-searching behavior, this research explores how information need, music-listening habits, music social (online and offline) behavior, social preferences to music consumption, and amount of money spent on the music correlate with music information-searching patterns.

• This research is a laboratory experiment, and for the purpose of the experiment, each PC in the class has software installed for capturing logs while participants perform the searches.

• participants’ will answer a questionnaire to collect data about their socio-cognitive characteristics and information needs

• This questionnaire is developed on the basis of the study of “music reception” in Austria from the empirical music sociology perspective (Huber, 2009), and it’s adapted to different perspectives within the information needs of users (Nicholas, 2003)

Variables

Independent variables are information-searching tasks, Dependent variables are patterns of information searching. Intervening variables are the participants’ socio-cognitive characteristics (captured by the questionnaire)

When we collect two datasets (users’ characteristics through the questionnaire and machine-observed patterns), we will analyze those to discover statistical correlations in available datasets.

Different approaches

• rich set of variables and intrusive artifacts such as eye movement monitoring (Cole at al., 2015)

• minimal set of variables (two distinct temporal patterns of activity) based on implicit user feedback (Mestyán at al., 2013).

Test Experiment • small sample of twelve participants to test log-capturing

software (Net Support School) and at the same time to provide insight into the quality of the data collected.

• some of the tasks did not result in collecting rich pattern data, especially, the task to find music for the ten-year-old cousin.

• Most of the participants just went to YouTube and searched for ten-year-old kids’ music.

• Another task, one by which we asked participants to find information about where to buy a ticket for the concert in London, showed a very diverse dataset for each participant.

Real life vs Experiment• thirteen out of twenty-five clickstreams analyzed were

incorrect (Keil at al., 2015)• experiment in which we bought clicks using Facebook ads. We

used Google Analytics along with our own database log capturing script (reporting on every action on the database).

• Different sources (Facebook, Google, and our database log data) showed substantial differences.

• this research look for causalities between user socio-cognitive characteristics and patterns of user information searching behavior

• experiment in a controlled environment will provide us with data we can use to gain insights into that relationship

Conclusion

If we could recognize patterns of how users search and what message those search patterns convey, then we could recognize the meaning in those messages and act upon them.