Projects

Navigating the e-Society:Dynamics of participation and exclusion

Aims

Following a representation cross-section of 100 households as they navigate the shifting opportunities presented by established and emerging digital communication and information technologies.
By focussing in detail on everyday supports, incentives and barriers to access and use it aims to develop a fuller account of the factors sustaining `digital divides´ and to contribute new data and analysis to debates around ways of overcoming exclusion and encouraging more comprehensive and innovative uses of available digital technologies.

Methodology

The research uses a multi-method approach, combing individual depth interviews with household members with usage diaries and computer logs, to map patterns of digital participation and exclusion and to explore how these patterns are shaped by differential access to economic, social and cultural resources.

The research will be carried out over two years. The results will be of interest not only to researchers concerned with the dynamics of digital innovation but to policy makers and practitioners with the practical consequences of those dynamics

Keywords

Exclusion, Participation, Digital Divide

Publications

Book proposal Digital Citizenship: Rethinking exclusion and participation in the e-society. Under consideration by Polity Press.

Published Research Report

A full report of the research findings will be published in the Research Series produced by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP), Loughborough University and made publicly available in both hard copy and electronic form. Participating households will also have access to the published report.

Journal Articles

‘Imaging Innovation: Interpreting Children’s drawings of novel machines’ to be submitted to Childhood and Society.

‘Representing the Self: Young People’s identity and technology ownership and use’ to be submitted to the British Journal of Social Psychology.

‘Field Notes: Issues of Method in New Media Research to be submitted to New Media and Society.

Journal article drawing out the gendered dimensions and gender Inequalities from this research, to be submitted to European Journal of Women’s Studies.

Nominated outputs

Two conference presentations based on preliminary analysis of the research data have been posted on the project website – see http://www.newtechnologyandyou.net

Activities

Research results and conceptual arguments originating from the project have been presented at the following conferences;

Dynamics of Participation and Exclusion in Young People’s Mobile Phone Use. Digital Generations: Children, Young People and New Media Conference, 26-29th July 2004, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

Live Wires: Negotiating Internet Participation and Exclusion. The Association of Internet Researchers Conference: Ubiquity? 19-22nd September 2004, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

New Approaches to Research on The Social Implications of Emerging Technologies. An invitation only seminar organised jointly by MIT and the Oxford Internet Institute, Mansfield College Oxford, 15-16th April 2005.

Papers on the theoretical grounding for the project were presented at the IAMCR conference in Taipai, 26-28 June 2005, and are to be presented at an invitation only seminar at the European University Institute, Florence, October 28-29th 2005.

Outputs

Dynamics of Participation and Exclusion in Young People’s Mobile Phone Use. Digital Generations: Children, Young People and New Media Conference, 26-29th July 2004, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

Live Wires: Negotiating Internet Participation and Exclusion. The Association of Internet Researchers Conference: Ubiquity? 19-22nd September 2004, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.