Att söka i tystnaden : en informationsvetenskaplig studie om universitetsstudenters erhållande av information om hiv

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to discuss the hiv-related information behavior of University students. Since the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's there has been a shift in the general discourse surrounding HIV, where panic has changed to silence. The general public's lack of knowledge and correct and current information on the topic has however remained a problem, and even though the general attitudes towards people living with HIV has changed, the virus is still surrounded by stigma. Because of this shift in discourses it is relevant to study the information behavior of a generation who has mainly experienced the silence. The case of university students is also interesting because it is known that education level is one of the most important factors in how people search for health-related information. An important part of understanding why the lack of knowledge around HIV remains to this day, is to understand how people search and acquire information on the topic. For this study a questionnaire was made and handed out to students of Lund university, which resulted in 34 answers. This material was studied through a perspective of information behavior, where the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking was central. The term "information horizon" was also used to explain how different sources are valued differently. In the analysis it is clear that the respondents value web-based sources related to the public health care system highly and that social media is the most common information source regarding HIV, even though it is not valued highly among the respondents. The most important factors regarding how the information sources are chosen are demographic factors and the characteristics of the information sources. Personal experience, salience and personal beliefs play a bigger part in whether the respondents have a higher likelihood of actively searching for information about HIV, which can be considered low in this case.