David Harris
Telephone and Computer access in 1995
Falling Through the Net
Blog Post #3
FALLING THROUGH THE NET: A Survey
of the "Have Nots" in Rural and Urban America was released by the
United States Department of Commerce in 1995. The reports goal was to inform
and educate Americans on the importance of access to the telephone and computer
in the home and what could be some variable factors that play a significant
determination of the results. The variables that the survey focused on were
race, income, age, education and region. For region the designations were split
up into rural, urban, and central city. Rural is defined as “places of less
than 2500” persons. Urban on the other hand is “areas comprised of all
territory, population, and housing units of 2500 or more persons”. Prior with
the Current Population Survey, geographical identifier was not taken into
consideration. Also subscribership data typically collected was limited to
telephone services. With this new survey conducted by the Commerce Department
two changes were made: there were questions on computers in the home,
cross-tabulation of variables (described above).
The
statistics give valuable insight of the effects of race, geographical location,
age, and education on access to telephones and computers. With this newly
garnered research, social outreach programs will have more information to now
tailor their programs to those most in need. It was sighted multiple times in
the article that those who are most enthusiastic about online services for
“economic uplift and empowerment” are at the most disadvantage to access to
telephones and computers. These access points can have the greatest effect on
their lives; now social programs can with greater evidence create their
strategies for reaching out.
This
was the first report created with variables of race, age, education, and
geographical location being key components. I do wonder, how much has this
changed in 20 years? I assume that many of the same inequalities of
distribution are still present in 2015. I think the greatest strength of this
information is that it gives all that read it a bird’s eye view on the social
issues that cohabitate with phone and computer access. Your race, age,
education, or geographical location can have an enormous effect on whether you
do have access to these life altering devices. While much of this comes with
little surprise, it does change my thinking as access to these devices is the
next social issue. Access to these educational devices is limited. I have
always thought that education is the great promoter of class and social
movement. Now I see that the telephone and computer can also facilitate class
and social upward mobility. I have always heard this issue spoken of in general
or vague. Seeing the evidence itself certainly changes my view on the subject
of access and variables such as race, age, education, and geographical
location. By seeing all of the statistics, you also gain a holistic view of the
situation. Usually when statistics are given about social issues there is
little background information given to compare it to. Having all the research
allows you to see the entire picture and be able to understand the relativity
of the statistics.
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