Digital technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, are increasingly integrated into people’s everyday lives. Social scientists have also started to use these technologies for data collection, such as through apps and sensors embedded in smartphones and wearable devices. Despite the increasing device penetration in the general population, inequalities in the access to and use of digital technologies persist, reflecting existing social inequalities. Digital exclusion additionally becomes a methodological issue if the digitally disadvantaged population subgroups are not well represented in social studies.
The proposed project investigates digital inequalities in Europe and the United States by focussing on three aims: 1) studying the correlates and mechanisms of digital technology acceptance, 2) improving the measurement of digital skills and technology use, and 3) identifying effective interventions to reduce inequalities in digital technology use.
The project’s scope has been refined to focus on the development of novel measurement instruments of smartphone skills and use based on survey and digital behavioural data. The project proposal is currently being revised for resubmission. Pilot work for the project has been presented at international conferences and workshops. An article about the measurement of smartphone use based on survey and digital behavioural data has been published in Social Science Computer Review.
