Information Seeking Behavior of Grass Root Level Extension Workers of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh

This study assessed the information seeking behavior of grass root level extension workers, known as Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs) of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of Bangladesh who work in the lowest administrative unit of a upazila called block and responsible for carrying out extension service to the rural clienteles. Attempts were also made to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the grass root level extension workers and their extent of information seeking behavior. Chawgacha, Jhikargacha and Jessore Sadar upazila under Jessore district of Bangladesh were selected as the study area. Seventy (70) SAAOs were working in the selected three upazilas and all of them were interviewed for the purpose of the study. The findings reveal that 64.30% of the respondents were frequently seeking information for updating their knowledge and skills. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Co-efficient (r) reveals that job satisfaction and aspiration for training had positive significant relationship while age, experience of extension work, annual expenditure, motivation for searching job related information, organizational problem confrontation and technical knowledge had no significant relationship with SAAOs’ information seeking behavior.