Search Studies

At the Search Studies research group, we focus on understanding user interaction with commercial search engines and how it affects knowledge acquisition in society.

Our research is mainly empirical, applying methods from information science, data science and the social sciences.

Our empirical research projects rest on two pillars:

• Search engine data analysis, collecting and analysing data from commercial search engines (data science, applied machine learning).
• Understanding information-seeking behaviour through conducting user studies in different settings (information science), ranging from large, representative online surveys to behavioural studies in the lab.

The results from our research provide a deeper understanding of how commercial search engines influence what results users will consider in their information searches and, in consequence, which information they consider when searching for societal relevant topics. Our research informs information literacy interventions and regulation of search engines as information gatekeepers.

In addition to doing research, we develop research software to collect and analyze search engine results, most prominently, the Result Assessment Tool (RAT).