Questioning behavior on a consumer health electronic list

Relatively little is known about questioning behavior generally and about q uestioning in electronic environments specifically. Using a thorough analyt ical framework, this study characterizes the questioning behavior on a cons umer health-related electronic list focused on colon cancer. Data consist o f 365 questions included in 1,000 randomly selected messages from Fall 1996 . The analysis looks at the dedication of the list to questioning; the patt ern of question asking within a message, specifically the density of questi ons per message and the dedication of the message to questioning; the type of question (using Arthur Graesser's typology of questions); the length of answer anticipated; the subject of the question (based on Debra Roter's typ ology of content); the combination of type of question and subject; and the manner of establishing context within the list environment. The variables and methodological approach for characterizing questioning behavior draw ge nerally on standard schema from linguistics and psychology. They can be app lied with only slight modifications to studies of questioning in other sett ings and with other types of users, and they establish the basis for compar ative studies in questioning behavior.