STRATEGIES AND MECHANISMS FOR THE DIFFUSION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

                         FRANCA, ZENETE MARIA PEIXOTO DA SILVA; PHD

                         UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, 1983
 
                         INFORMATION SCIENCE (0723)
 

                         Statement of the Problem. The problem was to identify and compare existing strategies and mechanisms
                         for the diffusion of scientific and technical information through an analysis of selected doctoral
                         dissertation. Research Procedures. A search of the Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) computer
                         database for relevant dissertations produced 64 studies. Review of these for topical relevance and
                         comparability reduced the number of suitable studies to 32. Using a Data Collection Form designed for
                         the study, information on the dissertations' methods, theoretical basis, sample, and conclusions were
                         collected. Six research questions were answered on the basis of this data, and a model representing the
                         entirety of the diffusion process as it occurs between developed nations and end-users and the less
                         developed countries was constructed. The major results of the study were as follows: (1) On the basis of
                         Lewin's three-phase paradigm for planned change, seven types of information strategy were identified:
                         Delivery, Information Network, Adoption-Diffusion, Decision-making, Direct Foreign Investment,
                         Research, Development and Diffusion, and Social Behavioral. These were subsequently classified into
                         four clusters by pairing Delivery with Information Network, Adoption-Diffusion with Decision-making, and
                         Direct Foreign Investment with Research, Development, and Diffusion. (2) A wide variety of mechanisms
                         were noted. Mechanisms as defined in this study are the sources and/or channels which carry the
                         message within the information diffusion process. (3) Chi-square testing showed that personal
                         mechanisms were significantly (p < .05) more effective than other types of mechanism. (4) Direct Foreign
                         Investment tended to be used with personal channels, while the Delivery and Network cluster tended to
                         study impersonal channels. (5) No significant relationship was found between mechanisms and the user
                         group with which they were employed. (6) A non-significant trend (p = .06) was seen for Delivery and
                         Research, Development and Diffusion cluster strategies to be used with the most informed users. (7) A
                         model was constructed which reflected the variation in communication sources and channels as well as
                         the role of social cultural pressures and decision-making functions at all three levels of information
                         dissemination. This model is applied to the communication process between developed nations to
                         end-users in less developed countries.

 


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