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OxIS is a research project of the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
In this post we explore some basic demographic characteristics of non-users and ex-users of the Internet. The first graph shows that the proportions of non- and ex-users among men and women are almost identical. The proportion of non- and ex-users is only 3 percentage points bigger among female population. This difference is within the margin of error and suggests that gender is not a significant factor of the Internet adoption.
This is a guest post by OII Research Fellow Rebecca Eynon and Anne Geniets. They discuss the topical issue of the UK's digital inclusion strategy, discussed at last week's OII workshop on low and discontinued Internet use by young people in Britain. Published: 13 April 2012.
On 23 March 2012, the Oxford Internet Institute saw stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds, attending our workshop ‘On the Periphery? Low and Discontinued Internet use by Young People in Britain: Drivers, Impacts and Policies’. One of the key themes that emerged over the course of the day was that digital inclusion cannot be addressed without tackling social exclusion, for many of those who are currently not online are also socially excluded.
Published by Grant Blank on 16 March 2012
This blog post is the first of a series on people who have never used the Internet before (non-users) and people who have had used the Internet in the past but do not use it now (ex-users). As the Internet plays increasingly significant role in our everyday lives – with major parts of the society operating online – it is very important to understand the characteristics of the people excluded from the online worlds. Nowadays staying offline may have severe implications for an individual in terms of limiting access to services, information, debates and activities that may be more accessible online or are sometimes available only online.
Published by Grant Blank on 2 March 2012
The Oxford Internet Survey was featured in the current issue of the Stata News. Stata News goes out to around 100,000 users of the statistical software package Stata. Stata was particularly interested in the fact that all the graphics in the 2011 Report were produced using Stata.
Published by Grant Blank on 15 February 2012
Results from the 2011 wave of Oxford Internet Surveys show several notable trends. Mobile phones have become virtually universal and nearly half (49%) of users used them to access the Internet. In addition to mobile phones, almost one-third of Internet users had a reader or a tablet, and 59% had access to the Internet via one or more of these devices other than a personal computer. Households with three or more computers have increased from 3% in 2003 to 18% in 2011.
Published by Grant Blank on 3 February 2012
It’s been a while since the OxIS 2011 Report has been published. But hey, it’s never too late to show you some pictures from the Launch! We want to take you back to October 2011. It was a cloudy Monday afternoon when the group of OII-ers led by Professor Bill Dutton and Dr Grant Blank headed down to London to present the latest insight on the Internet use in Britain. The launch was held in the stunning House of Commons in Westminster. Our arrival was marked by heavy suitcases of freshly-printed reports:
Published by Grant Blank on 20 December 2011
Survey research, which is at the core of the OxIS project, presents several measurement challenges. Establishing reliability is especially difficult when measuring concepts where observational data might yield better results, such as usage of different online services. Therefore, the way in which respondents are asked about online activities can have a major impact on the quality of self-reported data. Sometimes a different question wording or different structure of possible answers can yield different results.
Published by Grant Blank on 12 December 2011
Regardless of whether internet gambling is illegal (in the US) or legal (Europe), it requires trust. In bricks-and-mortar casinos the long-run odds favour the house, so there is a built-in probability of losing. Online there is no way to see physical playing cards or dice or any physical roulette wheel. So how does any gambler know that the house is playing fair? Online gamblers could be setting themselves up for an even greater likelihood of losing. Consider, also, the incentives for the online gambling sites: even a small shift in the odds would make a considerable difference in the casino’s income. Since there are almost no marginal costs it would lead directly to a congenial, happy increase in profit. These issues suggest that more trust is required for online gambling than for face-to-face gambling.
Published by Grant Blank on 30 November 2011
Here at the Oxford Internet Institute we have been exploring the effect of attitudes towards technology on Internet adoption. Positive attitudes toward technology may make people more interested in adopting new technology, more willing to learn new technologies, and more willing to cope with the problems of technology. The latest OxIS report shows that Internet use is strongly related to age. More concretely, 80% or more of people younger than 55 years are Internet users, while the proportion of elderly Internet users is much lower, reaching as low as 18% for those age 75+ (see the green line in the graph below).
Published by Grant Blank on 20 October 2011
On Monday we launched the 2011 OxIS report: "Next Generation Users: The Internet in Britain" (PDF, 3.1MB) at an event at the House of Commons. The report and top findings were outlined by Professor William Dutton and myself, accompanied by comments by our host Alun Michael MP, and three representatives from sponsoring organisations - Annika Small (Chief Executive, Nominet Trust), Adrian Arthur (Web Programme Manager, British Library) and James Thickett (Director of Research and Market Intelligence, Ofcom). OII Director Professor Helen Margetts concluded the presentations.
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