Communication Technology and Policy 2001 Abstracts
Communication Technology and Policy Division
Bring in the Outs: Toward Inclusivity in Democracy • Debashis “Deb” Akat • no abstract.
Visual Disabilities & Web Access • Julie Bellamy, Tina Ejtemai-Chapa, Aneta Genova, Bita Kianimanesh, Suria Santana, Ioana Suciu and Wendy Wirth, The American University • Until the late 1980s, computers were almost as easy for disabled people to use as for the nondisabled. The advent of the mouse made computer use more difficult for the blind because they could not see the icons necessary to operate point and click software. This paper examines the laws regulating Web accessibility for the visually-impaired, assesses the accessibility of eighteen federal agency Web sites, and evaluates several software programs designed to improve accessibility.
Breaking Up News•An Investment in the Future? Correlations among hypertext comfort, user satisfaction and perceived credibility • Stephanie Berger, University of Florida • no abstract
The Profiling of Cable Modem Broadband Subscribers: Characteristics, Perceptions, and Satisfaction Korean College Students’ Internet Use and Dependency • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Jack C.C. Li, University of Florida • no abstract
Investigating Korean College StudentsÕ Internet Use Patterns and Motivations, and Exploring Vulnerability of Internet Dependency • Yong Jun Choi, University of Southern Mississippi, Mary G. “Jorji” Jarzabrk, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, Jong-Gil Song, Korean Broadcasting Institute, and Do-Sam La, Seoul Development Institute • This in-depth study examines the patterns of and motivations for Internet use by Korean college students. The research focus is to determine tendencies toward and pattern indicators of Internet dependence. Data reveal that college students’ motivations for using the Internet may lead to dependence on this medium for social interaction. Students may be at risk for spending too much time ‘logging on” to the web. Excessive use is cited as a precursor to Internet addiction.
CYBERNEWSERS, DESERTERS AND INCLUDERS: An Analysis of Internet News Users and the Effect on Traditional News Media Use • Mike Conway, University of Texas-Austin • no abstract
PREDICTING ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR • Michael G. Elasmar, Kumiko Aoki and Kathryn Bennett, Boston University • This article explores the demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral factors that affect an Internet user’s decision to make an online purchase. Years of Internet experience, influence of friends on shopping behavior, comfort with the security of online transactions, the perception that online shopping is less expensive than traditional shopping, and the perception that shopping online would be enjoyable positively affected their intention to shop online in the future.
The Pros and Cons of Using a Media Web Site to Publish Subpoenaed Information • Anthony Fargo, University of Rhode Island • no abstract
Enhanced Television Viewing with Digital Video Recorders (DVRs): Audience Satisfaction in an Asynchronous Television Environment • Douglas Ferguson, College of Charleston and Elizabeth M. Perse, University of Delaware • This paper explores how early adopters of DVRs are using them as functional. replacements for VCRs and as tools for enhanced viewing of live television. A national sample of 121 users completed an online survey that measured TV uses and gratifications, viewing satisfaction, and attitudes toward DVR functions. DVR owners reported watching television, live and recorded, with more enjoyment and greater control. All but one of the DVR functions was linked to a measure of viewing satisfaction.
Improving Student Writing Using A Web-Based Targeted Approach to Grammar System (TAGS) • Bruce Henderson, University of Colorado-Boulder • A Targeted Approach to Grammar System (TAGS) that highlights only the 20 most common grammar problems may be more effective than bulky, integrated word processor grammar checkers for improving student writing. The author creates initial pieces of such a Web-based computer program and compares student newspaper writing with and without the use of the program. Using TAGS, errors for the targeted grammar problems declined instantly and, in two full editions of the student newspaper, were eliminated.
Power of Perception: The Effect of Course Evaluations Perceptions on Traditional and Non-Traditional Student’s Performance in a Distance Education Course • Traci Irani, Christi Scherler, Michael Harrington, and Ricky Telg • University of Florida • Distance education has made great strides toward enfranchising non-traditional learners These non-traditional students are innately different, in terms of experiences, background and life circumstances, than traditional-aged students, yet many distance classes increasingly include both on- and off-campus students. Few studies have looked at how these differences affect course perceptions and performance. Results of a study of a videoconferencing course indicated that student perceptions of the level of social interaction, as well as of the instructional techniques used, differed between on- and off-campus students, and that these perceptions significantly affected their performance.
Beyond the “digital divide”: Internet Connectedness and Inequality • Joo-Young Jung, Jack Linchuan Qiu and Yong-Chan Kim • University of Southern California • This manuscript presents the Internet Connectedness Index (ICI), a measure for monitoring long4erm inequalities in the quality of Internet connections among users, especially in terms of whether Internet connections will enhance the chances of people’s upward mobility. This index is preferable to more established digital divide measures (e.g., gadgetry ownership or time online) for research on how the Internet is being incorporated into a world of structural inequalities. The ICI utilizes conventional time, history, and context measures, but goes beyond them to capture the scope and centrality of Internet incorporation into the everyday lives of diverse social groups. The validity and robustness of ICI vis-a-vis conventional ownership and time online measures are demonstrated in this manuscript. In. addition, we discuss theoretical, methodological and policy implications based on our results. The analytical data are drawn from the Communication Technology and Community Program’s “Metamorphosis” Project, an inquiry into the communication infrastructures of seven ethnically-marked residential areas in Los Angeles.
Technology or Tradition: Exploring Relative Persuasive Appeals of Animation, Endorser Credibility, and Argument Strength in Web Advertising • Sriram Kalyanaraman and Mary Beth Oliver, Penn State University • Recent developments indicate that with the novelty effect of the Web wearing off, user-interfaces need to incorporate traditional message elements along with technological variables. This paper explores the relative persuasive appeals of animation, endorser credibility, and argument strength in online advertisements by employing a completely balanced, mixed-design experiment. Findings suggest that technological elements must be presented in conjunction with more traditional variables. The results are discussed within the framework of the Heuristic Systematic Model.
A White World of the Information Economy: A Content Analysis of Dot.com Magazine Advertising • Tomoko Kanayama, Ohio University • This study examines the representation of people in dot-com magazine advertising A content analysis of 671 dot-corn advertisements shows that minorities are considerably underrepresented in the dot-corn advertisements. The study found that the digital divide is far larger in dot-corn advertisements than in the actual U.S. economy. The results of the study imply that the marketing strategy of dot-coms is reinforcing a popular view of who is an information economy user, worker; and customer.
Applications of the Theory of Planned Behavior • Jae-Won Kang, University of Florida • no abstract
The Factors and Barriers of Global Internet Diffusion • Hocheon Kwon, State University of New York-Buffalo • no abstract
Communication in Virtual Community • Jae-Shin Lee, Cornell University • Although research has been conducted on the characteristics of virtual communities, empirical studies examining actual building process of virtual communities are rare. This paper examines theoretical requirements of virtual communities and applies them to an existing online service. Social network analysis was conducted using messages posted to electronic bulletin boards. This paper concludes that a small topic-based CMC group in a BBS service could be classified as a virtual community.
Internet Use and Political Efficacy • Kwan Min Lee, Stanford University • This study examines the relationship between three types of Internet use (information, entertainment, and interactive contacts) and two types of political efficacy (external and internal) among college students. Information related Internet use and interactive contacts with public sector agencies predict college students’ internal political efficacy. An unexpected finding was that visiting public agency sites negatively influenced college students’ external political efficacy. This implies that the quality of current public sites (e.g., government sites) is below the expectation of college students and that respondents who visited those sites might develop political cynicism or perceive government non-responsiveness to their needs. Finally, this study reveals that online news sites are the primary news source for college students.
Can Police Track Your Wireless Calls? Call Location Information and Privacy Law • Laurie Thomas Lee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • By October 1, 2001, cellular service providers in the U.S. must begin providing location-based information that can pinpoint the location of a wireless phone making a 911 emergency call. Call location information will certainly prove invaluable to law enforcement, not only in assisting citizens calling 911, but also in tracking drug dealers and locating stolen vehicles and escaped felons. But just as Americans have come to enjoy the freedom of movement associated with cell phones, they may find their own phones have effectively become ankle bracelets. While location tracking capabilities offer considerable public safety protections, the information available also presents greater opportunities for unsupervised government monitoring and misuse. As law enforcement agencies take advantage of this efficient investigative opportunity, Americans will realize less personal privacy, tilting the delicate constitutional balance between liberty and law enforcement. To what extent is call location privacy protected? Is there a constitutional right to location privacy? Do existing statutory laws limit government access and protect callers from unrestrained law enforcement monitoring? This paper discusses the technology associated with call location information and the FCC’s e91 1 requirements for location disclosures. It then examines the state of the existing law by first exploring call location privacy rights under the U.S. Constitution. Existing statutory law is then scrutinized for its applicability to call location privacy interests and the extent to which law enforcement may monitor and seize location call data. Finally, legislative solutions are offered, clarifying and bolstering call location privacy rights.
Interactive Cable Television Services and their Adopters: Examining the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Interactive Cable Television Services in Taiwan • Shu-Chu Sarrina Li, National Chiao Tung University • The main purpose of the study was to examine the factors that influence the adoption of interactive cable television services in Taiwan. The literature review identified five factors, innovation attributes, technology ownership, innovativeness, demographic composition, and mass media use, as having significant effects on the adoption of interactive cable television services. A telephone survey with 1012 valid interviews was used to collect data for this study. Data analysis shows that age, relative advantages, technology ownership, and newspaper reading were significantly related with the adoption of interactive cable television services. More detailed findings were discussed in the paper.
CONVERGENCE: ITS MEANING AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION • Sanghyun Moon, Ohio State University,• The popular view of convergence that underscores its technological elements and subsequent market adjustment tends to decontextualize convergence as a political, economic, and social phenomenon. Moreover, this view tends implicitly to serve the interests of the powerful groups by suggesting a particular course of technological, market, and policy development. This paper argues that convergence needs to be understood in a broader context wherein various political, economic, social, and technological factors overdetermine a course of policy development at a particular time.
Old Radio/New Radio: Convergence and Missed Opportunities: In the Wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Randy Nichols and Alan G. Stavitsky, University of Oregon • Shifts in regulatory policy brought by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have drastically altered the U.S radio industry. This paper examines structural changes in the industry in the wake of the 1996 act, as well as the industry’s adoption • and failure to adopt, in many cases •new digital technologies Prospects for audio streaming over the Internet and satellite broadcasting direct to home or car are considered.
INVESTIGATING DIALOGIC COMMUNICATION: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF TOP CHINESE CORPORATE WEB PAGES • Shu Peng, University of Louisiana-Lafayette • no abstract
Untangling the Ties that Bind: Non-Recursive Models of Internet Use and Engagement in Public Life • Dhavan Shah, Michael Schmierbach, Joshua Hawkins, Rodolfo Espino, Janet Donovan, and Soo-Wan Chung, University of Wisconsin-Madison • There has been more speculation than research on the implications of Internet use for social interaction and civic engagement. Although some have extended arguments about television to suggest that Internet use may erode involvement in social civic life, a growing body of literature indicates that informational uses of the Internet, the most common Internet behaviors (Nie & Erbring, 2000), may actually foster social and civic participation. To examine this possibility, we test a series of non-recursive models using the 1999 Life Style Study, a national survey of nearly 3400 respondents conducted by DDB-Chicago. We use this data to examine the effect of frequency of Internet use (i.e., hours per day) on three sets of social behaviors: informal social interaction, attendance at public events, and participation in civic volunteerism (i.e., annual frequency). Specifically, two stage least square regressions were performed to simultaneously test the reciprocal relationship between Internet-use and public engagement variables. Using these approach, we are able to ascertain the strength and direction of the ties between Internet use and social interaction absent the biases endemic to extant research on this topic. Results indicate that frequency of Internet use has a positive relationship with both public attendance and civic volunteerism.
Role of Teacher Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Computers in the Implementation of an Educational Innovation in Trinidad and Tobago • Prahalad Sooknanan, University of New York-Potsdam, Srinivas R. Melkote and Ewart C. Skinner, Bowling Green State University • Communication technologies have been lauded for their development potentials. New communication technologies, such as computers, are particularly beneficial to several development initiatives including education. In an attempt to ascertain the feasibility of successfully implementing computers in the classroom in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), this study examined the relationship between the independent variables of teachers’ attitudes toward computers and perceived innovation characteristics and the dependent variables of teacher satisfaction and utilization. Based on previous research, 10 hypotheses were formulated to examine the relationship between the variables. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 142 elementary school teachers. The results underscored the importance of attitudinal and perceptual factors to the successful implementation of computers in the classroom. Specifically, the findings have policy-making implications regarding the government’s campaign to implement educational computing throughout the educational system in T&T.
Diffusion of Courses with World Wide Web Features: Perceptions of Journalism and Mass Communications Program Administrators • Patrick J. Sutherland, Ohio University • no abstract
Communicating about Mass Communication: A National Study of the Content, Functionality and Value of University Mass Communication Program World Web Sites • Douglas J. Swanson, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse • The study was undertaken to assess college and university mass communication program World Wide Web site content, functionality, and value, and to gauge faculty members’ opinions related to Web site creation and maintenance. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and t-tests were used to address three hypotheses relating to Web site use by academic programs and related perceptions of social order by faculty. Most programs had an operational Web site. Site enhancements varied widely while most faculty members’ opinions were thematically consistent.
Interactivity as a Cognitive Process • Mark Tremayne and Sharon Dunwoody, University of Wisconsin • no abstract
The Effects of Interactivity on Web Campaigning in Taiwan’s 2000 Presidential Election •Tai-Li Wang, Shih-Hsin University • Taiwan’s 2000 presidential election is a milestone for the Internet to be a campaign medium in a nation-wide election. By conducting field experiments during the campaign period, this study intended to find out the effects of web interactivity on campaign communication. It is assumed that, by adding human-to-online media or human-to-human interaction, the more interactive campaign websites will generate more campaigning effects. Results showed that the interactive level of a candidate website might not linearly contribute to positive web campaigning effects. In some cases, moderate interactivity may produce better effects than higher interactivity. In other cases, it may be voters’ political interest in election campaigns that predominantly determine online campaigning effects.
The Policy Debate over Exclusive Cable Television Franchising in Light of Citizen and Consumer Welfare: Compare Monopolistic with Competitive Cable Television Markets in Taipei, Taiwan • Ting-Yu Tiffany Wang, Yuan-Ze University • Whether arguing for municipal exclusive franchise or multiple franchises, prior research either limited its attention to economic efficiency or assumed the fulfillment of social values coming in the wake of consumer welfare. To overcome this “analytic asymmetry”, our research is a modest first attempt to examine both citizen and consumer welfare effects of exclusive versus multiple systems. We conducted a cross-sectional random-digit-dialing telephone survey of subscribers in Baytow (one operator) and Chungsan (three operators) cable communities in Taipei, Taiwan during the last two weeks of December, 1999. Consistent with previous research findings, greater consumer welfare in terms of service quality was found to be perceived by subscribers in the triopoly cable television community than those in the monopoly community. Significant perceived differences in several dimensions of media content quality were found between monopoly and triopoly. That is, greater diversity of channel types and lower prices were perceived by subscribers in the competitive market. In addition to availability of programming options and services based on cable systems data, the ratios – the prices in comparison with consumer perception of and satisfaction at content and service quality after exposure – can serve as empirical foundation for cable rate regulation. As expected, no significant difference in citizen welfare was found between monopoly and triopoly. The policy implications were explored.
DIGITAL DIFFERENCES: ATTITUDES AMONG MAJOR CAMPUS TAKEHOLDERS ON TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY • Hilary Warren, Denison University and Nerissa Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point • Incorporating communication technology in higher education has fostered increased investment and training in addition to debate over appropriate curricular use. This debate over the use and implementation has occurred not only in the field of mass communication, but across disciplines. This study looks at four campus stakeholders: students, faculty, administrators and the information technology staff at a regional midwestern campus. The results suggest that a key challenge is a long-running debate over the role of higher education in a diverse economy and society.
Heuristics in Guessing and Remembering URLs: Implications for Effective URL Design • Jeffrey S. Wilkinson and Vivian Sheer, Hong Kong Baptist University • It is important for companies to understand how people find Web sites. Advertising, search engines, and guessing (mental heuristics) are the most common means. This exploratory study focused on identifying common guessing strategies that people use to find Web sites. A survey questionnaire was distributed to adult professionals in Hong Kong. Results confirmed some generalizations about this common behavior. Actual company Web sites are discussed within the context of existing policies regarding URL registration and selection.
The Third-Person Effect and Internet Censorship: A Comparative Study in Singapore and the United States • Wei Wu, National University of Singapore; Shuhua Shou, University of Alabama and Jancie Koo, Singapore Telecommunicaitons Limited • no abstract.
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