Ecological content validation of the Information Assessment Method for parents (IAM-parent): A mixed methods study

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Science
• Parenting Research

Background:

• Parents increasingly rely on online resources for parenting information.
• Assessing the quality and relevance of online parenting information is challenging.
• Existing methods may not adequately capture user needs or information quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To content validate the Information Assessment Method for parents (IAM-parent).
• To systematically rate and comment on the usability and relevance of online parenting information.
• To refine the IAM-parent tool based on quantitative and qualitative user feedback.

Main Methods:

• Mixed methods approach combining quantitative ratings and qualitative interviews.
• Collected 22,407 ratings and conducted interviews with 20 diverse IAM users.
• Utilized descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis to assess item relevance and wording.

Main Results:

• 10 of the initial 32 IAM-parent items were identified as having low relevance.
• Qualitative analysis revealed issues with item wording and assessed representativeness.
• Integration of quantitative and qualitative data resulted in a refined, shorter, and clearer IAM-parent tool.

Conclusions:

• The validated IAM-parent tool provides a systematic method for evaluating online parenting information.
• Refinements based on user data enhance the tool's clarity, relevance, and overall usability.
• The improved IAM-parent supports parents in critically assessing digital health information effectively.