Information Grounds of Students in Payame Noor University of Kermanshah, Iran

To meet their informationa needs, people use different tools and technologies which are called the individuals’ information grounds. However, the literature on information grounds is limited to the United States; and there is no research comparing the information grounds of students in Iran so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the information grounds of students in Payame Noor University of Kermanshah. The total population of full-time students in Kermanshah Payame Noor University at the time of this study was about 6000. Using stratified random sampling technique, 361 students were selected to participate in this survey. A questionnaire survey was used to carry out the study. Findings revealed that the most common information grounds used were as follows: house of friends and relatives, university campus, and bus service. Also, the main reasons for using these information grounds are: presence of expert individuals, relaxed grounds, ease of communication with people in the ground, and enhancing the scope of personal knowledge and experience by exchanging information in that ground. The results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the socioeconomic status of students and type of information grounds. Moreover, it was found that there was a significant difference in male and female students’ views regarding the reasons for using such grounds.