Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0007
S. Strover
Given the prominence of rural communities in early 21st-century broadband initiatives, especially in telemedicine, this chapter considers issues for program evaluation in both the geographic and health policy contexts. Rural broadband and health needs are important challenges for public policy, as less populated regions lag in both infrastructure and health services. Some Federal Communications Commission projects have linked broadband capabilities and health services infrastructure. Electronic health records also are relevant to a discussion of the role of broadband networks. This chapter briefly reviews the language and intent of broadband-related health services regulations and federal agency programs and then presents detail on rural broadband availability and adoption. Finally, measurement and evaluation issues in this field are addressed, including the need to understand constraints in the rural context, meaningful use for target populations, issues for privacy and security, and the need for randomized trials rather than the anecdotal evidence that currently dominates in this area.
{"title":"Broadband for Telemedicine and Health Services","authors":"S. Strover","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Given the prominence of rural communities in early 21st-century broadband initiatives, especially in telemedicine, this chapter considers issues for program evaluation in both the geographic and health policy contexts. Rural broadband and health needs are important challenges for public policy, as less populated regions lag in both infrastructure and health services. Some Federal Communications Commission projects have linked broadband capabilities and health services infrastructure. Electronic health records also are relevant to a discussion of the role of broadband networks. This chapter briefly reviews the language and intent of broadband-related health services regulations and federal agency programs and then presents detail on rural broadband availability and adoption. Finally, measurement and evaluation issues in this field are addressed, including the need to understand constraints in the rural context, meaningful use for target populations, issues for privacy and security, and the need for randomized trials rather than the anecdotal evidence that currently dominates in this area.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130210526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0005
J. Crowell
Digital inequality scholarship has shifted toward an interest in the “tangible outcomes” of broadband adoption and the role individual attitudes may play in shaping digital engagement. However, much of this emerging research remains quantitative in nature and has not offered an extensive sociocultural explanation of why poor attitudes toward digital technology may endure in marginalized communities, or why broadband outcomes remain stratified by class and race. Ethnographic research is especially well-suited to fill this research gap. Critical ethnography offers a useful analytical toolbox: (a) providing a particularized portrait of everyday life; (b) rooting analysis within a social justice perspective; and (c) emphasizing building trust and “rapport” with marginalized communities, thus uncovering hidden practices or behaviors. In offering greater context to our understanding of digital attitudes and outcomes, ethnographic research can help digital inequality scholars further refine research questions, generate new categories of measurement, and better map complex sociotechnical relationships.
{"title":"Broadband Adoption and Ethnographic Approaches","authors":"J. Crowell","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"Digital inequality scholarship has shifted toward an interest in the “tangible outcomes” of broadband adoption and the role individual attitudes may play in shaping digital engagement. However, much of this emerging research remains quantitative in nature and has not offered an extensive sociocultural explanation of why poor attitudes toward digital technology may endure in marginalized communities, or why broadband outcomes remain stratified by class and race. Ethnographic research is especially well-suited to fill this research gap. Critical ethnography offers a useful analytical toolbox: (a) providing a particularized portrait of everyday life; (b) rooting analysis within a social justice perspective; and (c) emphasizing building trust and “rapport” with marginalized communities, thus uncovering hidden practices or behaviors. In offering greater context to our understanding of digital attitudes and outcomes, ethnographic research can help digital inequality scholars further refine research questions, generate new categories of measurement, and better map complex sociotechnical relationships.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"60 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123813489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0002
W. Lehr
Broadband Internet access is now widely recognized as basic infrastructure, like roads, water, and electricity. Identifying and reaching consensus on what constitutes an appropriate level of broadband service requires ongoing research to evaluate the social and economic impacts of broadband and broadband policies. As broadband has evolved, so too must the research focus. While availability and adoption of ever more advanced broadband will remain a concern, more of the focus should be on understanding how broadband is used and its effects on things like improved healthcare outcomes, educational performance, green/energy efficiency, and improving the quality of life for all society. We need more sector-specific and micro-studies of usage, and we need to tap into the different perspectives of the multiple academic disciplines. This will require multidisciplinary engagement among social scientists, network researchers, and policymakers. The research will require novel and more dynamic and heterogeneous data sets, metrics, and analytics tools.
{"title":"The Changing Context for Broadband Evaluation","authors":"W. Lehr","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Broadband Internet access is now widely recognized as basic infrastructure, like roads, water, and electricity. Identifying and reaching consensus on what constitutes an appropriate level of broadband service requires ongoing research to evaluate the social and economic impacts of broadband and broadband policies. As broadband has evolved, so too must the research focus. While availability and adoption of ever more advanced broadband will remain a concern, more of the focus should be on understanding how broadband is used and its effects on things like improved healthcare outcomes, educational performance, green/energy efficiency, and improving the quality of life for all society. We need more sector-specific and micro-studies of usage, and we need to tap into the different perspectives of the multiple academic disciplines. This will require multidisciplinary engagement among social scientists, network researchers, and policymakers. The research will require novel and more dynamic and heterogeneous data sets, metrics, and analytics tools.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125080627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0003
J. Horrigan
One of the core methods used in many evaluation studies is survey research. This chapter discusses the challenges of measuring behavioral change and the impacts of broadband use through surveys and addresses how evaluators can get the most from repeated surveys (pre- and post-studies and panel studies). This chapter draws on lessons from a national panel study of participants that included nearly two thousand Internet Essentials users and was uniquely positioned to examine the experience of individuals and families who moved from being non-adopters to broadband adopters, assessing their adoption and engagement pathways. Such research provides policy-relevant evidence and recommendations for practice. The chapter also discusses how evaluators can work with diverse stakeholders (policymakers, local officials, funders, and others) to encourage evaluation and to assist them in using research findings. What is it that such stakeholders expect or want to know about technology and its impacts on individuals and society?
{"title":"Measuring Broadband and Its Impacts","authors":"J. Horrigan","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"One of the core methods used in many evaluation studies is survey research. This chapter discusses the challenges of measuring behavioral change and the impacts of broadband use through surveys and addresses how evaluators can get the most from repeated surveys (pre- and post-studies and panel studies). This chapter draws on lessons from a national panel study of participants that included nearly two thousand Internet Essentials users and was uniquely positioned to examine the experience of individuals and families who moved from being non-adopters to broadband adopters, assessing their adoption and engagement pathways. Such research provides policy-relevant evidence and recommendations for practice. The chapter also discusses how evaluators can work with diverse stakeholders (policymakers, local officials, funders, and others) to encourage evaluation and to assist them in using research findings. What is it that such stakeholders expect or want to know about technology and its impacts on individuals and society?","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"16 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128438777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0004
R. Fairlie
This chapter examines empirical approaches to studying the question of whether computers, the Internet, and other computer-related technologies improve educational outcomes. Most studies in the literature examine the question using multivariate regression analysis controlling for detailed school, teacher, student, family, and/or parental characteristics. Because of concerns regarding selection bias a relatively new literature uses randomized field experiments to examine the educational impacts of computer-related technology. Additionally, studies use quasi-experimental approaches such as natural experiments and regression discontinuity designs to estimate educational impacts. This chapter reviews the literature using these approaches and discusses each of the methodologies along with their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding the impacts of technology on education is important, because it sheds light on whether technology is an important input in the educational production process and whether disparities in access to technology translate into educational inequality.
{"title":"Using Random Experiments to Measure the Impact of Computers, the Internet, and Other Forms of Technology on Educational Outcomes","authors":"R. Fairlie","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines empirical approaches to studying the question of whether computers, the Internet, and other computer-related technologies improve educational outcomes. Most studies in the literature examine the question using multivariate regression analysis controlling for detailed school, teacher, student, family, and/or parental characteristics. Because of concerns regarding selection bias a relatively new literature uses randomized field experiments to examine the educational impacts of computer-related technology. Additionally, studies use quasi-experimental approaches such as natural experiments and regression discontinuity designs to estimate educational impacts. This chapter reviews the literature using these approaches and discusses each of the methodologies along with their strengths and weaknesses. Understanding the impacts of technology on education is important, because it sheds light on whether technology is an important input in the educational production process and whether disparities in access to technology translate into educational inequality.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129921801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0006
Caroline J. Tolbert, K. Mossberger, Natasha Gaydos, Mattia Caldarulo
This chapter considers the significance of place for broadband policy evaluation and examines long-term data on Chicago neighborhoods as an example of quasi-experimental design. Interventions are often targeted to low-income urban neighborhoods or rural communities, with goals for increased local employment, economic development, or community health. Measuring outcomes by place provides a way to aggregate impacts for individual residents and to suggest potential spillover benefits for communities. Evaluating broadband use (i.e., subscriptions) over time in communities can address issues of causation as well as long-term outcomes of use. Chicago’s Smart Communities program illustrates the benefits of conducting long-term evaluation, taking advantage of new American Community Survey data that allows tracking of broadband subscriptions in smaller or less-populated geographies such as neighborhoods or rural communities. Finally, the chapter discusses strategies for expanding community-level research through other quasi-experimental designs and the creation and utilization of community-level data on broadband adoption and use.
{"title":"Addressing Spatial Inequality in Broadband Use and Community-Level Outcomes","authors":"Caroline J. Tolbert, K. Mossberger, Natasha Gaydos, Mattia Caldarulo","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter considers the significance of place for broadband policy evaluation and examines long-term data on Chicago neighborhoods as an example of quasi-experimental design. Interventions are often targeted to low-income urban neighborhoods or rural communities, with goals for increased local employment, economic development, or community health. Measuring outcomes by place provides a way to aggregate impacts for individual residents and to suggest potential spillover benefits for communities. Evaluating broadband use (i.e., subscriptions) over time in communities can address issues of causation as well as long-term outcomes of use. Chicago’s Smart Communities program illustrates the benefits of conducting long-term evaluation, taking advantage of new American Community Survey data that allows tracking of broadband subscriptions in smaller or less-populated geographies such as neighborhoods or rural communities. Finally, the chapter discusses strategies for expanding community-level research through other quasi-experimental designs and the creation and utilization of community-level data on broadband adoption and use.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116059411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0008
A. Ho
This chapter re-examines the potential impact of information technology on public services and suggest a framework that evaluates the “knowns” and the “unknowns” of the impacts of broadband-enabled e-government. It also suggests a stakeholder-logic model to evaluate the implications of this development for elected officials, public employees, service users, and the community-at-large and its potential risks and challenges. Even though many local governments have already begun to implement new e-government tools under the broadband environment, there are still some known broken promises, such as recurring challenges of digital divide and e-democracy, and some unknowns about its impacts, such as the uncertain impacts on policy agenda setting and on the shifting power among different economic classes and demographic groups. The chapter discusses these and then concludes by suggesting questions that require more future research and policy attention.
{"title":"Opportunities and Challenges in Advancing Broadband-Enabled Government Services","authors":"A. Ho","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter re-examines the potential impact of information technology on public services and suggest a framework that evaluates the “knowns” and the “unknowns” of the impacts of broadband-enabled e-government. It also suggests a stakeholder-logic model to evaluate the implications of this development for elected officials, public employees, service users, and the community-at-large and its potential risks and challenges. Even though many local governments have already begun to implement new e-government tools under the broadband environment, there are still some known broken promises, such as recurring challenges of digital divide and e-democracy, and some unknowns about its impacts, such as the uncertain impacts on policy agenda setting and on the shifting power among different economic classes and demographic groups. The chapter discusses these and then concludes by suggesting questions that require more future research and policy attention.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"7 4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132927936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0009
Michael A. Xenos
Like those before them, contemporary youth are in the process of forming habits and orientations toward civic life that can establish patterns of political engagement that follow them through their lifetimes. Unlike earlier generations, however, early 21st-century “born digital” youth face a dramatically different communications environment than that experienced by their parents and grandparents. This chapter charts a path toward effective evaluation research for broadband within the specific domain of political and civic engagement among young people. After introducing core dimensions and constructs relevant to such a research program, it reviews key theoretical models as well as particularly fruitful strands of scholarship that can make important contributions to a program of broadband evaluation research focused on youth engagement. The chapter concludes with a discussion of challenges and opportunities for future research, both in terms of key substantive questions and particularly useful methodological approaches.
{"title":"Digital Media’s Impact on Civic Engagement","authors":"Michael A. Xenos","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"Like those before them, contemporary youth are in the process of forming habits and orientations toward civic life that can establish patterns of political engagement that follow them through their lifetimes. Unlike earlier generations, however, early 21st-century “born digital” youth face a dramatically different communications environment than that experienced by their parents and grandparents. This chapter charts a path toward effective evaluation research for broadband within the specific domain of political and civic engagement among young people. After introducing core dimensions and constructs relevant to such a research program, it reviews key theoretical models as well as particularly fruitful strands of scholarship that can make important contributions to a program of broadband evaluation research focused on youth engagement. The chapter concludes with a discussion of challenges and opportunities for future research, both in terms of key substantive questions and particularly useful methodological approaches.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127321174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-12-31DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0010
E. Welch
To better understand the effects of broadband use, there must first be a commitment from policymakers to support evaluation. This volume has made an argument about why policymakers should undertake this investment and has outlined needs and strategies for advancing this knowledge. It has also examined the profession of broadband evaluation itself. The complexity of broadband use demands an evaluation approach that values generalizability and applies multiple research methods. But it also requires a further development of common concepts, improved collection of and access to data, and comparison across policy areas, programs, scales, and time. To do all of this, we need not only more and better evaluation methods but also a research community around broadband evaluation that shares knowledge and effectively communicates evidence for policy. The future impact of broadband technology on effective and equitable use depends on concerted attention by both the research community and policymakers.
{"title":"Conclusion","authors":"E. Welch","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190082871.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"To better understand the effects of broadband use, there must first be a commitment from policymakers to support evaluation. This volume has made an argument about why policymakers should undertake this investment and has outlined needs and strategies for advancing this knowledge. It has also examined the profession of broadband evaluation itself. The complexity of broadband use demands an evaluation approach that values generalizability and applies multiple research methods. But it also requires a further development of common concepts, improved collection of and access to data, and comparison across policy areas, programs, scales, and time. To do all of this, we need not only more and better evaluation methods but also a research community around broadband evaluation that shares knowledge and effectively communicates evidence for policy. The future impact of broadband technology on effective and equitable use depends on concerted attention by both the research community and policymakers.","PeriodicalId":268321,"journal":{"name":"Transforming Everything?","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127324487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：