Information-seeking behavior of the everyday life of Kermanshah Kurds in social networks: an exploratory approach

Growing number social network  users for communicating between   groups   has made them a major  segment of peoplechr('39')s social life. So, the purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the use of social networks and information-seeking behavior in daily life of the Kurds in virtual networks and effect of ethnic identity on the behavior of information-seeking in their daily life.

Research is an applied and quantitatively exploratory in terms of data analysis.  Questionnaire  was used which its validity was obtained by Delphi method and its reliability based on the weights test model, was significant in all weights of the combined external model with 99% confidence. Population consisted of 70,696 people from different social classes of the Kurds of Kermanshah. The sample size based on Cochranchr('39')s formula was 480 users who were members of one of the online public and specialized social  networks. Systematic stratified random sampling was used in terms of percentage of jobs. Bartlett test, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyze the data.

Findings show that all identified factors have the ability to predict the   behavior of Kurds’ in information seeking in cyberspace: Leisure with standard coefficient of 0.82, cultural information with coefficient of 0.68, scientific information with coefficient of 0.56, economic information with coefficient of 0.75, social information with The coefficient of 0.74 and the consumption pattern with a coefficient of 0.52. Also, language with a coefficient of 0.30 and customs with a standard coefficient of 0.76 can predict the ethnic identity. In addition, virtual networks and ethnic identities with a coefficient of 0.54 are able to predict changes in the informational behavior of Kurds’ everyday life.

Leisure, cultural information, scientific information, economic information, social information, and consumption pattern were discovered and identified as factors influencing information seeking behavior in daily life, as well as language and customs were confirmed as factors of ethnic identity affecting the information-seeking behavior of the Kurds of Kermanshah.