Abstract

We used the folk theory perspective to investigate Internet users’ understanding of algorithms during their Internet use. Empirically, we conducted a mixed-method study. First, we carried out semi-structured in-person interviews with 30 German Internet users. Our analysis of these interviews enabled us to identity five folk theories – economic orientation theory, personal interaction theory, popularity theory, categorization theory, and algorithmic thinking theory. In a second step, we created a standardized survey questionnaire with 19 illustrative statements for these five folk theories, relying on participants’ explanations in the interviews to develop statements that reflected lay users’ ideas as much as possible. Participants (N = 331) were recruited through a commercial online access panel using quota criteria for age, gender, and education level to have a sample representative of the German population. Our survey findings indicate the prevalence of such folk theories among a broader population of Internet users, except for the algorithmic thinking theory, which is likely due to it being based on inaccurate assumptions about algorithms’ capabilities.

摘要

我们使用民间理论的视角来调查互联网用户在互联网使用过程中对算法的理解。根据经验，我们进行了一项混合方法研究。首先，我们对 30 位德国互联网用户进行了半结构化的面对面访谈。我们对这些访谈的分析使我们能够确定五种民间理论——经济取向理论、个人互动理论、流行理论、分类理论和算法思维理论。第二步，我们针对这五种民间理论制作了包含19个说明性陈述的标准化调查问卷，依靠受访者在访谈中的解释来制定尽可能反映外行用户想法的陈述。参与者（N = 331）是通过商业在线访问小组使用年龄、性别、和教育水平有一个代表德国人口的样本。我们的调查结果表明，这种民间理论在更广泛的互联网用户中普遍存在，算法思维理论除外，这可能是因为它基于对算法能力的不准确假设。