The Role of Narrative Framings and Latent Meaning Structures in Online Information Processing of Young Professionals–Potentials for an Innovative Mixed Methods Approach

Online sources are often framed by narrative features like metaphors and latent meaning structures that students may not recognize. These framings can influence students’ search behavior and critical processing of online information, e.g., selecting certain sources and content while discarding others resulting in cognitive biases like authority bias. In this study, we analyze the extent to which students and graduates of economics education and medicine are aware of narrative frames and latent meaning structures in the online sources they use to solve digital performance tasks with unrestricted Internet access. Based on qualitative reconstructive and narrative analyses of both students’ written task responses and the sources and content they used to solve these tasks, we investigate students’ skills in recognizing and dealing with narrative framing and latent meaning structures inherent in online sources. Our results indicate that as the information landscape becomes increasingly complex, students may experience difficulties in distinguishing between informational and promotional websites, and may be prone to ‘authority bias’ in particular if `expert' opinions are enhanced through narrative devices. Our findings also have implications for practical training of students’ critical online reasoning skills in higher education.