Lower rates of computer adoption and usage in rural areas has
been called a "digital divide." This work explores the current state of
connectivity within a rural town of the Pacific Northwest with a
quantitative and qualitative overview of computer usage and access
within civic and activity clubs, ranging from town's Rotarians to its
bowling leagues. An Anthropological Rapid Appraisal Process (RAP)
leverages focus groups, mini-surveys and ethnographic methods within
the clubs to explore the topography of the digital divide. Civic clubs with
younger, higher-income, better-educated members have higher rates of
e-mail penetration (93%-56%) while activity clubs fare far worse on
average (28%). Research establishes a link between club demographics
and e-mail penetration rates, by showing that older clubs report less e-mail
usage.
This work explores the conditions that exacerbate the digital divide
as well as highlighting those which may mitigate it. Variables include the
presence or absence of technological leadership and the nature of ties to
corporate and/or national organizations. Additionally, research shows
that rural settings limit and structure the opportunities for computer skill acquisition. Civic clubs are increasingly reliant on computer-mediated
communication (CMC) and computer-mediated information (CMI)
sources and correspondingly, also upon the computer proficient members
who can manage websites, or create and distribute electronic bulletins.
"New media" is challenging traditional club norms and favors the
contributions of more technological literate members, while handicapping
the participation of non-computer using members. Beyond the hyped-up
prospects of increased efficiency and communication amongst
geographically dispersed members of such clubs, the technology is also
creating new forms of exclusion. Recommendations include: 1) a
technology decision-making process that ensures consensus among club
members by including non-users; 2) creative capacity-building to support
computer usage; and 3) by-laws which ensure that members are not
marginalized because of a current or chronic lack of computer usage.
This work grounds expectations of new technology, by providing a factual
account of computer usage within clubs and exploring how clubs are
using computers to facilitate their activities. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28448 |
| Date | 29 July 2002 |
| Creators | Cassell, Christopher J. |
| Contributors | Rosenberger, Nancy |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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