Graduate Student, Oxford Internet Institute
DPhil Candidate
Keble College
Thesis Title: Social Exclusion by Non-Use of the Internet - A Cross-National Comparison of Northern Europe
Prof. William H. Dutton
Dr. Ellen J. Helsper
About
My research addresses two main topics: 1. Social exclusion and social inequalities, 2. the information society and its social structures. Using data from the World Internet Project, I want to find out in how far non-use of the Internet affects (young) people's lifechances in their participation in highly developed information societies across Northern Europe, where Internet penetration is very high. My focus lies on Great Britain, Germany and Sweden, which are not only information societies with user rates between 65% and 80%, but they also represent different types of welfare states with highly diverse educational systems. Analysing various macro and micro factors of social exclusion, I want to find out if Internet-usage plays as a decisive role in exclusion from the information society as many social and communication scientists think.
The question at stake is: Is there a new form of social exclusion - a digital divide - in Northern European countries, and if so, in how far does it affect other forms of social exclusion?
Contact Information
Oxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
1 St Giles
Oxford OX1 3JS
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1865 287210
