A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net

<br><b>Introduction.</b> The aim of this article is to look at how attitudes towards the Internet technology differ between boys and girls, and how this affects their critical approach when seeking information. <br><b>Method.</b> The approach is ethnographic, an...

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Main Author: AnnBritt Enochsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2005-01-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://informationr.net/ir/10-4/paper237.html
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author AnnBritt Enochsson
author_facet AnnBritt Enochsson
author_sort AnnBritt Enochsson
collection DOAJ
description <br><b>Introduction.</b> The aim of this article is to look at how attitudes towards the Internet technology differ between boys and girls, and how this affects their critical approach when seeking information. <br><b>Method.</b> The approach is ethnographic, and the material was collected by means of observations, conversations, questionnaires, interviews, computer logs and reading documents. Analyses. The analyses were made with the help of software for qualitative analyses, where all sentences both from interviews and field notes were coded. Some analyses were strictly quantitative and compared data from coded qualitative material with questionnaires and computer logs in a database sheet. Others were of qualitative nature and based on selected material from the coded texts. Result. It cannot be seen that boys and girls have different interest in the Internet technology in practice. But boys talk about their knowledge to a greater extent, and this interplays with their reflections about the Internets reliability. <br><b>Conclusion.</b> Since a more developed cognitive model of the Internet seems to lead to more developed critical thinking about information on the Internet, it is important to help especially girls to develop models of the Internet, or else there is a risk that traditional gender roles will be preserved.
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spelling doaj-art-f76eb328820d4a24808f13fe7840d2342025-02-02T21:08:44ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132005-01-01104237A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the netAnnBritt Enochsson<br><b>Introduction.</b> The aim of this article is to look at how attitudes towards the Internet technology differ between boys and girls, and how this affects their critical approach when seeking information. <br><b>Method.</b> The approach is ethnographic, and the material was collected by means of observations, conversations, questionnaires, interviews, computer logs and reading documents. Analyses. The analyses were made with the help of software for qualitative analyses, where all sentences both from interviews and field notes were coded. Some analyses were strictly quantitative and compared data from coded qualitative material with questionnaires and computer logs in a database sheet. Others were of qualitative nature and based on selected material from the coded texts. Result. It cannot be seen that boys and girls have different interest in the Internet technology in practice. But boys talk about their knowledge to a greater extent, and this interplays with their reflections about the Internets reliability. <br><b>Conclusion.</b> Since a more developed cognitive model of the Internet seems to lead to more developed critical thinking about information on the Internet, it is important to help especially girls to develop models of the Internet, or else there is a risk that traditional gender roles will be preserved.http://informationr.net/ir/10-4/paper237.htmlDifferences in Internet information seeking by children of different sex
spellingShingle AnnBritt Enochsson
A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Differences in Internet information seeking by children of different sex
title A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
title_full A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
title_fullStr A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
title_full_unstemmed A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
title_short A gender perspective on Internet use: consequences for information seeking on the net
title_sort gender perspective on internet use consequences for information seeking on the net
topic Differences in Internet information seeking by children of different sex
url http://informationr.net/ir/10-4/paper237.html
work_keys_str_mv AT annbrittenochsson agenderperspectiveoninternetuseconsequencesforinformationseekingonthenet
AT annbrittenochsson genderperspectiveoninternetuseconsequencesforinformationseekingonthenet