CNI: Compelled Nonuse of Information

Purpose The study reported in this paper reviewed the literatures of information science, psychology, sociology, political science, education, and communication science to analyze Compelled Nonuse of Information (CNI). This study of a behavior defined by its absence (i.e., the not using of information) involved the development of a methodology consisting of an iterative performance of a nine-step heuristic leading to a retroductive recognition of absence, here termed RRA. Principal results The study concluded with a hierarchical taxonomy of the mechanisms that compel a person not to use information. The six primary mechanisms are: 1. Intrinsic somatic (bodily) conditions 2. Socio-environmental barriers 3. Authoritarian controls 4. Threshold knowledge shortfall 5. Attention shortfall 6. Information filtering. Major conclusions The resultant taxonomy of CNI appears here as a comprehensive checklist with which information workers such as the teacher, librarian, advertiser, politician, or health care professional can respond efficiently and effectively to situations of nonuse of information. For example, a teacher might ask: “Why are students not responding to what I present?” Further, the social implications of any compelled behavior touch the very basis of the social contract, and this paper presents a first step toward understanding the compelled aspects of CNI.