What Are the Perceptions of Bruneians Towards Village Websites?
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WHAT ARE THE PERCEPTIONS OF BRUNEIANS TOWARDS VILLAGE WEBSITES? A study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in Information Systems At THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD By HAJAH NURULHUDA BINTI HAJI MOHAMAD September 2012 Abstract Background- Village websites are, in essence an information service provided by the village. In Brunei, not much emphasis however has been placed on village websites as an information resource despite their existence. This leads to questions on how aware are Bruneians of these websites, and how do Bruneians normally search for any village- related information. Aims - The study aims to explore the situation of village websites in Brunei and of perceptions towards the websites. Methods- A two-phased sequential mixed methods research strategy was used. The first phase involved a paper-based survey distributed to a number of Bruneians to explore aspects of awareness towards village websites, information behaviour when seeking village-related information and perceptions towards village websites. The second phase involved an interview via Google Docs to explore some emerging questions from the survey findings. Priority was placed on the findings from the survey. Results- Awareness toward village websites was generally low. Respondents used a mixture of sources when searching for village-related information e.g. mass media, friends, family and acquaintances. Village-related information sought included local history, information about the Head of Village, village products, activities, population and places of interests in the village. Respondents were also likely to consult people over using online sources or other reference materials when seeking village-related information, although ‘people’ varied between social interaction with friends, family or acquaintances and interaction with appointed roles such as Head of Village. Respondents generally thought positively of Bruneian villages having their own websites and some had used the websites to find information about village products, current village news and activities. Conclusion- The study showed that exchange of village-related information was more of a synchronous, social behaviour in Brunei. Providing information on village websites seems to contradict the aforementioned nature of exchanging village-related information. It is suggested that emphasis could perhaps be placed on promoting the variety of available sources relating to village information to users, be it of the people- variety or mass media such as village websites. ii Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ ii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. vi 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. On village websites .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research Context: Villages and Village Websites in Brunei Darussalam .................................... 5 1.2.1. Concerning Villages in Brunei Darussalam .......................................................................... 5 1.2.2. Concerning Village websites in Brunei Darussalam ............................................................. 6 2. Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.1. Information behaviour in a village setting ................................................................................. 9 2.2. Content of village website........................................................................................................ 10 2.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 12 3. Research Methodology ................................................................................................................... 13 3.1. Research Aim and Objectives ................................................................................................... 13 3.2. Literature search ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Research Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 13 3.3.1. First phase - Survey ........................................................................................................... 14 3.3.2. Second phase -Email interview ......................................................................................... 17 3.4. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 19 3.5. Ethics ........................................................................................................................................ 20 3.6. Limitations of results arising from the research methods used ............................................... 21 4. Findings and Discussion .................................................................................................................. 23 4.1. First Phase- Survey findings ..................................................................................................... 23 4.1.1. Demographic information: Gender, Age and Employment Status of respondents ........... 23 4.1.2. Awareness towards village websites ................................................................................. 25 . Are respondents aware of village websites of their own village? ........................................ 25 . Are respondents aware of village websites in Brunei in general? If not, what are the reasons for not knowing? .................................................................................................................... 25 . Are respondents aware of village websites belonging to villages with ‘One Village, One Product’? ................................................................................................................................ 27 4.1.3. Information behaviour pertaining to village-related information ..................................... 29 . What are the sources of information for village-based local places of interest? ................. 29 . What are the sources of information for ‘One Village One Product’? ................................. 30 iii . What kind of village-related information was sought in the past, and the sources?........... 32 . Who or where do respondents ask if they needed assistance in looking for any village- related information? .............................................................................................................. 34 4.1.4. Perceptions towards village websites ............................................................................... 35 . What were the main purposes of visiting Bruneian village websites? ................................. 35 . Do respondents think it is necessary for villages in Brunei to have their own websites? ..... 36 . What topics should be covered in a village website? .......................................................... 38 4.1.5. Other comments ............................................................................................................... 41 4.2. Discussion of survey findings ................................................................................................... 42 4.3. Second Phase- Email interview findings ................................................................................... 45 4.3.1. On Village Websites .......................................................................................................... 45 4.3.2. The role and responsibility of the Village Head as a conveyer and source of village information ................................................................................................................................. 47 4.4. Discussion of findings ............................................................................................................... 48 5. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 50 5.1. Review of dissertation aim and objectives ............................................................................... 50 5.2. Implications of study and suggestions for future work ............................................................ 51 References ........................................................................................................................................ 53 Appendix 1- Structure of the dissertation ........................................................................................... 58 Appendix 2 – Village names supplied and their website status .......................................................... 59 Appendix 3- Project Information sheet ............................................................................................... 62 Appendix 4 - Survey Questions