Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
and obtrusive methods is sometimes blurred. For example, conducting a survey to
gauge the reaction of users to information systems is an obtrusive method. However,
using the posted results from the survey is an unobtrusive method.
The use of logs for the evaluation of sponsored-search efforts falls conceptually
within the confines of the behaviorism paradigm of research and analysis. Therefore,
the behaviorism approach is the conceptual basis for the SSA approach.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is an analysis approach that emphasizes the outward behavioral aspects
of thought. Strictly speaking, behaviorism dismisses the inward experiential and pro-
cedural aspects [
16
,
17
]. It has come under critical fire for this narrow viewpoint.
However, for SSA, we will take a more accepting view of behaviorism. In this
more open viewpoint, behaviorism emphasizes the observed behaviors without dis-
counting the inner aspects that may accompany these outward behaviors. This more
accommodating outlook of behaviorism supports the viewpoint that one can gain
much from studying expressions (i.e., behaviors) of users when interacting with
advertising campaigns. These expressed behaviors may reflect either aspects of the
searcher's inner cognitive factors or contextual aspects of the environment in which
the behavior occurs, or both.
The underlying proposition of behaviorism is that all things that people do are
behaviors. These behaviors include actions, thoughts, and feelings. With this under-
lying proposition, the behaviorism position is that all theories and models concerning
people have observational correlations. The behaviors and any proposed theoretical
constructs must be mutually complementary. Strict behaviorism would further state
that there are no differences between the publicly observable behavioral processes (i.e.,
actions) and privately observable behavioral processes (i.e., thinking and feeling).
For SSA, we also take the position that due to contextual, situational, or environ-
mental factors, there may be times when there is disconnection between the cognitive
and affective behaviors. Therefore, there are sources of behavior that are both inter-
nal (i.e., cognitive, affective, expertise) and external (i.e., environmental and situa-
tional). Regardless, behaviorism focuses primarily on only what an observer can see
or manipulate, and it is behaviors that we are primarily interested in for SSA.
We see the effects of behaviorism in many studies, especially in SSA. Behaviorism
is where the observable evidence is critical to the research questions or methods in
an analysis. Within such a perspective, there is no knowable difference between two
states unless there is a demonstrable difference in the behavior associated with each
state. This is especially true in any experimental research where the manipulation of
variables is required. A behaviorism approach at its core seeks to understand events
in terms of behavioral criteria [
18
, p. 22]. The behaviorist study demands behavioral
evidence.
Analysis grounded in behaviorism always involves
somebody
doing
something
in a
situation
. Therefore, all derived research questions focus on
who
(actors),
what
(behaviors),
when
(temporal),
where
(contexts), and
why
(cognitive). The actors in
a behaviorism paradigm are people whose behavior is studied at a certain level of
