Effect of Time on Information Utilization

Abstract

Information is one of the factors contributing to decision making, along with political, socioeconomic, organizational, and temporal factors. Given the multiple variables and the interaction among them, there is no one outcome that exclusively qualifies as “use” and no one time that defines when the information must be “used.” There is little doubt that different outcomes are apparent at different points. The present research studied information utilization in 39 local mental health agencies over an eight-month period. Patterns of information use and nonuse over time were investigated. Results indicate that many organizations still were in the process of making information use decisions eight months following presentation of the information. Furthermore, high rates of information use were likely to be associated with information that was relatively easy to implement. By contrast, reports of low information use generally involved information of greater scope and ideas that were more difficult to implement.