Information Quality on Yahoo! Answers

Fichman, Pnina . Information Quality on Yahoo! Answers., 2013 In: Approaches and Processes for Managing the Economics of Information Systems. Idea Group Publishing. (In Press) [Book chapter]

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English abstract

Along with the proliferation of the social web, question and answer (QA) sites attract millions of users around the globe. On these sites, users ask questions while others provide answers. These QA sites vary by their scope, size, and quality of answers; the most popular QA site is Yahoo! Answers. This chapter aims to examine the quality of information produced by the crowd on Yahoo! Answers, assuming that given enough eyeballs all questions can get good answers. Findings illustrate a process of answer quality improvement through crowd-sourcing questions. Improvement is achieved by having multiple answers to any given question instead of a singe answer, and through a mechanism of answer evaluation, by which users rank the best answer to any given question. Both processes contribute significantly to the quality of answers one can expect to find on Yahoo! Answers.

Item type: Book chapter
Keywords: CQA, Yahoo!Answers, social reference, collaborative question answer site, answer quality, information quality
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information
B. Information use and sociology of information > BA. Use and impact of information.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BI. User interfaces, usability.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HZ. None of these, but in this section.
L. Information technology and library technology > LZ. None of these, but in this section.
Depositing user: Amanda Ferrara
Date deposited: 07 Oct 2013 15:32
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:28
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/20246

References

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