How access gaps interact and shape digital divide: a cognitive investigation

Shahla Ghobadi and Zahra Ghobadi

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2015, vol. 34, issue 4, 330-340

Abstract: Inequalities in the access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) have become an important area of concern for over a decade. Yet, theoretical attempts to understand the dynamics behind shaping these inequalities are scarce. This study draws upon the extent literature on digital divide and explains how the four different access gaps (motivational, material, skills, and usage) interact and contribute to digital divide. Revealed causal mapping (RCM) is utilised to analyse the data collected from eight same-gender focus groups in four primary schools located in Iran. The revealed causal map demonstrates the interaction and linkages between different access gaps. The findings provide a theoretical account of the dynamics behind shaping digital divide and generate insights into extending the concepts of access gaps. We establish a theoretical model that places an emphasis on the centrality of motivational-related factors such as ‘lack of interest in IT-related things’ and ‘lack of motivation to learn recent technology’ as well as skills-related factors such as ‘operating skills’, ‘anti-filtering skills’, and ‘lack of IT background’.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0144929X.2013.833650 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tbitxx:v:34:y:2015:i:4:p:330-340

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tbit20

DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2013.833650

Access Statistics for this article

Behaviour and Information Technology is currently edited by Dr Panos P Markopoulos

More articles in Behaviour and Information Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().