15 May 2008 – Publication of Working Paper 47: Opportunity Age Information Indicators Feasibility Study

Research published today reports on a methodological study of measurement of older people’s ability to access information.

The project looked to test the feasibility of designing a block of questions, to be used in a repeat survey, which would measure the changes over time in older people’s awareness of, access to, and satisfaction with information about government services.

The feasibility study found that the breadth of the topic area – any or all government services – and the wide variety of ways in which older people go about gathering the information they need, meant that this particular research method was not suitable. For this reason, the project did not proceed to design a set of indicator questions.

The research provides evidence of the range and variation of older people’s information needs. In doing so, it reinforces the importance of interventions such as LinkAge Plus, which look to connect older people into wider networks – both social and professional – to provide information based on their individual circumstances.

Findings

The concept of an information indicator is based around a linear model of information acquisition – whereby a problem arises, people search for information, and base their decisions on this information – which was not borne out in the research. Instead, what respondents usually sought was not ‘information’ but ways of meeting their needs and solving problems. People did not tend to think in terms of collecting ‘raw facts’, but utilised a range of sources, collated consciously and subconsciously, to deal with issues at hand. This makes the measurement of people’s capacity to access the information they need very difficult. 

Designing a measure was also found to be problematic methodologically. The heterogeneity of older people’s situations and their resultant information needs meant it was not possible to find common topics on which to base questions; and a hypothetical or scenario-based approach is not reliable.

Practically, the research showed that age is an important factor in information use, and achieving a sample of older people within an omnibus survey which is large enough to be disaggregated by age, and able to detect small differences over time would be problematic and costly.

Notes to Editors

1. This research is published on 15 May 2008 as part of the DWP Working Papers Series as Working Paper 47: Opportunity Age Information Indicators Feasibility Study.
   It is available at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/wp-index.asp
2. The authors are Wendy Sykes and Alan Hedges of Independent Social Research.
3. The study involved a review of the literature and a small number of in-depth interviews with people between the ages of 50 and 90.

 

Media enquiries: Ben Lloyd 020 3267 5136, Lynn Eccles 020 3267 5141, John McNally 020 3267 5191.
Press office: 020 3267 5144
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Textphone: 020 3267 5145
Prepared by: DWP Pensions Analysis and Incomes Division