Information Credibility On User Demand

With information boom and the commercialization of media, concerns over information credibility arise among the public. When Information agents provide the special topics to users, there is some soft information due to subjective judgments. Then the mechanism and method of filter and selection should be constructed to reflect the reality more objectively. In other words, given the current situation, how to judge the credibility of the information and how to improve the objectivity and integrity of the information? There are four research questions.RQ₁: What factors might affect information and information service credibility?RQ₂: What are the indicators and their weighs to judge the credibility of single information?RQ₃: What are the indicators to judge the credibility of information sets? How to implement them?RQ₄: What are the remedial measures when credibility is inadequate or it is difficult to judge?This dissertation focuses on the above questions. On one hand, information credibility is a kind of subjective judgment on part of the information users - to what extent the information can be accepted as credible; when we qualify information as media information or news information, the credibility has been the orientation and main content of study for the past half century in west world. On the other hand, it means the objective characteristics if information itself, such as how much truth and reliability the materials and sources of the information contain, and how close the information is to reality. This research will give analysis in two perspectives simultaneously, which includes influential factors, indicators for judgment, methods for testing, and supplementary measures. The dissertation includes seven chapters:In 1st chapter, through reviewing both the domestic and abroad literatures on reliability, especially on themes, methods, orientation, important outcomes and comparing the research models in home and abroad, the research questions and scope are brought forward: the agents provide clients soft information on decision-making, give boundary of the core definitions such as soft information, reliability, information service, etc.