Vesna Dolničar

Methodological Challenges of Digital Divide Measurements

The term “digital divide” has been used for almost a decade and typically relates to sociodemographic differences in the use of information and communication technology. However, the corresponding measurement is still relatively imprecise. Very often it is simply reduced to comparisons of Internet penetration rates. This article extends the measurements above the usual bivariate comparisons. Within this context, three essential approaches are presented and critically evaluated. First, loglinear modeling is used to address the interactions among the factors affecting the digital divide. Second, compound measures (i.e., the Digital Divide Index) that integrate a number of variables into a single indicator are discussed. Third, time-distance methodology is applied to analyze changes in the digital divide. The article argues that these approaches often yield entirely different conclusions compared to simple bivariate analysis. The examples are presented as a general warning against an oversimplified methodological approach to digital divide studies.

Mobile phone communication in social support networks of older adults in Slovenia

Mobile phone communication in social support networks of older adults is examined.Mobile phones are important for mediating emotional support and social companionship.The composition of social support networks scarcely predicts mobile phone communication.Age and socioeconomic status are negative predictors only in emotional support networks.Living alone positively affects mobile phone contacts in social support networks. Mobile phones have gained an important role in the personal communication of older adults with the members of their social support networks. Research shows that older adults increasingly use the mobile phone for maintenance and development of social interactions with their family members, peers, and caregivers as providers of emotional support and social companionship. Therefore, this study explores how retired older adults in Slovenia use mobile phones as personal devices for supportive communication as well as how the characteristics of their social support networks are related to the frequency of mobile phone communication with their network members. Using ego-centered social support network data, collected on a nationwide representative sample of retired older adults in Slovenia, this study found that the composition of emotional support and of social companionship networks scarcely predicts the frequency of mobile phone communication of older adults with their network members. Conversely, according to the results, it seems that more frequent in-person and landline phone communication with network members are positively associated with mobile phone communication, suggesting that older adults extend their communication sphere with a mobile phone in their support networks. Finally, the results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics of older adults, such as age, social-economic status, and living alone, significantly determine the frequency of mobile communication with their network members, even though their magnitude varies depending on the type of social support network.

Sense of Community and the Importance of Values: Comparison of Two Neighborhoods in Slovenia

ABSTRACT: Sense of community is analyzed in two very different types of neighborhoods in Ljubljana, Slovenia: a large housing estate and a middle-class neighborhood of individual houses. The main research question posed is which individual characteristics are associated with sense of community in the two neighborhoods. A specific addition to current knowledge involves the inclusion of values as important characteristics associated with sense of community. The analysis was made on a quota sample of 337 individuals. Sense of community was shown to be comprised of three factors: (1) contact with neighbors; (2) social control; and (3) attachment. We observed this separately in the two neighborhoods. The analysis showed that values significantly increase the model’s explanatory power and that the two neighborhoods differ significantly in terms of which variables are important for sense of community, therefore indicating that this could be highly context-dependent. In addition, qualitative data are used to illustrate the sense of community in the two neighborhoods.

The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective

Abstract Digital inequalities research has documented a set of practices related to people’s Internet use that questions the binary division between Internet users and non-users. In particular, among older adults, a considerably large group of individuals has been identified as not using the Internet by themselves; rather, they ask members of their personal networks to do things online for them—they “use” the Internet by proxy. Since previous research shows that children and grandchildren are important sources of help when it comes to Internet use, the current paper indicates that the notion of intergenerational solidarity is a sound conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between social support networks and proxy Internet use among Internet non-users. Notably, the concept of functional solidarity as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity is advanced, as this relates to the frequency of the intergenerational exchange of resources and services encompassing various types of assistance and support offered between two generations. Empirically, this paper investigates how the two types of social support networks and their characteristics are associated with proxy Internet use. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that when comparing emotional support and socializing networks, only the latter is associated with proxy Internet use: Internet non-users who have (grand-)children in their socializing support network are more likely to engage in proxy Internet use. The results also indicate that non-users who are younger, more educated, have children, and live in urban areas are more inclined to engage in proxy Internet use, regardless of the type of social support. The findings indicate the importance of empirical investigation related to different aspects of functional solidarity, as the effects on proxy Internet use depend on the type of social support.

Measuring the Dynamics of Information Societies: Empowering Stakeholders Amid the Digital Divide

Accurate insight into the emergence of information societies is essential not only for understanding the social effects of information and communication technologies, but also for empowering stakeholders to promptly and appropriately respond to the challenges they encounter. One much-discussed challenge that is particularly in need of analytical clarity is the digital divide, which is difficult to empirically elaborate, given its complicated nature. It is prone to superficial interpretations that suit particular agendas. To address this problem, this article proposes a methodology that integrates and upgrades the analysis of absolute change, relative change, and time distance into a general multidimensional approach. With this methodology, target audiences have an intuitively persuasive and methodologically sound instrument that could reinforce trust in digital divide studies. The approach is applied in evaluating the Internet penetration gap between Slovenia and Denmark, which often serves as a benchmark for policymaking in Solvenia.

Ambient Assisted Living Systems in Real-Life Situations: Experiences from the SOPRANO Project

The challenge of an aging population requires innovative approaches to meet the needs of increasing numbers of older people within society (Sixsmith & Sixsmith, 2008). In particular, there is a need to move from a health and social agenda that emphasizes dependency to one that promotes active aging and creates supportive environments to enable healthy aging in the settings where older people live (Sixsmith et al., 2010). Emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as pervasive computing and ubiquitous computing, have considerable potential for enhancing the lives of many older people throughout the world and helping them to age in place (Sixsmith & Sixsmith, 2008). Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) refers to ICT systems, products, and services that integrate sensors, actuators, smart interfaces, artificial intelligence, and communications networks to provide more supportive environments for frail and disabled older people (Mokhtari, Khalil, Bauchet, Zhang, & Nugent, 2009; van den Broek, Cavallo, & Wehrmann, 2010). AAL has been an important emerging area of research over recent years involving collaboration between domain experts (health sciences, rehabilitation, gerontology, and social sciences) and technical experts (engineering, computing science, robotics). Research and development within AAL has aimed to develop applications and systems to facilitate independence (van den Broek et al., 2010), such as activity monitoring to detect potential emergencies, reminder devices for supporting and encouraging mobility and activities of daily living, monitoring activity patterns as indicators of change in cognitive and physical status, and smart interfaces to help people control their everyday environment. The European research project SOPRANO (Service-oriented Programmable Smart Environments for Older Europeans) developed supportive environments for older people based on the concept of AAL.

Design of Mobile Phones for Older Adults: An Empirical Analysis of Design Guidelines and Checklists for Feature Phones and Smartphones

ABSTRACT Design guidelines and checklists are suggested as a useful tool in the development and evaluation of interface design of mobile phones for older adults. Given the intense evolution of mobile phone design, understanding how the design guidelines and checklists have taken into account the advances in mobile phone usability for older adults is important for their correct application and future development. Thus, this study explores the usability dimensions of mobile phone design for older adults and the related changes in terms of time and the type of device (feature phones vs. smartphones) based on an expert coding of the eight mobile phone design guidelines and checklists for older adults published between 2006 and 2014. The results of the expert coding show that design guidelines and checklists most frequently deal with visual and haptic issues (e.g., high contrast, button type, and button size), whilst they hardly ever address various elements of textual interface (e.g., ease of text entry, a button’s feedback, and font type). Over time, the design guidelines and checklists have become more complex in terms of the average number of included usability categories and dimensions. For smartphones, the guidelines, on average, put more emphasis on the screen, touchscreen, text, and exterior related issues, whereas the design guidelines for feature phones stress the usability of the keypad and menus. Besides revealing potential usability dimensions that could be further expanded in the guidelines, this study also highlights the need for research that would empirically validate the design guidelines and checklists in the future.

Benchmarking digital divide: definitions used and methods applied

Paper first discusses some specifics regarding terminology and concepts of the first, second, dual and third digital divide. Paper also extends the measurement of the digital divide phenomena above the simple comparison of percentage related to the information technology penetration across different countries and socio-demographic segments. Two examples of advanced methodological measurements are presented: a composed measure - the digital divide index (DIDIX) and the time distance methodology, which offers a significant improvement at both conceptual and application levels

The Ten Shades of Silver: Segmentation of Older Adults in the Mobile Phone Market

ABSTRACT With the closing of the age-related gap in mobile phone uptake and the aging of the population, older adults have increasingly become a desirable target group for mobile phone providers. Although there is abundant literature describing the use of mobile phones among older adults, segmentation studies on this group of consumers remain scant and inconclusive. Drawing on the benefit and behavioral segmentation, this study presents a segmentation model of older adults in the mobile phone market that incorporates a wide variety of consumer behavior, attitudinal, and acceptance variables relevant for the understanding of mobile phone (non-)usage patterns among users of feature phones and smartphones, as well as among mobile phone nonusers. The model is based on a hybrid approach with a two-step cluster analysis using data collected by a telephone survey from a representative sample (n = 1,581) of adults aged 55 or older in Slovenia in 2015. The analysis yielded two uniquely profiled clusters within each of the five a priori-determined segments, summing to a total of 10 clusters. The results show that older adults still prefer feature phones. Nevertheless, the mobile phone market has become highly heterogeneous, with clusters of older adults having distinguishable feature phone- and smartphone-use patterns as well as socio-demographic and life-course profiles. Since many of these profiles undermine the notion of older adults as “basic” mobile phone users, our findings represent a solid foundation for scholars and marketers to further investigate their specific needs in relation to more advanced smartphone and mobile internet usage.

Understanding Acceptance Factors for Using e-care Systems and Devices: Insights from a Mixed-Method Intervention Study in Slovenia

An increasing number of scholars have been recently exploring the role of factors that foster the adoption of different types of assistive technologies among older adults. Our study contributes to this field with a mixed-methods intervention study that combines a baseline and follow-up telephone survey with semi-structured interviews to evaluate the user experience and potentially identifies additional acceptance factors of e-care systems and relations among them. Different assistive technologies were tested and evaluated by three groups of participants: (1) older adults testing mobile and wearable devices and (2) informal carers who remotely monitored events recorded by e-care systems installed in the homes of (3) care receivers. The findings indicate heterogeneous needs and expectations these three groups have towards the use of e-care systems. Moreover, the results also unveil the fear of not getting help quickly in case of an emergency, and perception of safety and peace of mind as important predictors of the use of e-care systems among informal carers and care receivers. Indirectly, the results also reveal the importance of intervention and mixed methods design studies as a means of a more comprehensive understanding of acceptance factors of assistive technologies.