TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring social "Informatization"
T2 - A factor analytic approach
AU - Kim, Sangmoon
AU - Nolan, Patrick D.
PY - 2006/5
Y1 - 2006/5
N2 - Some scholars have argued that we are witnessing a new social revolution - social "informatization" - that is comparable in scope and impact to that of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. Others have argued that it is a much more modest phase in the ongoing development of communication and information-processing technology. While there are a number of reasons for disagreement about what exactly "informatization" is, and what its impact will be, two are paramount: (1) conceptual imprecision, and (2) issues of measurement. Using factor analysis, this study aims to clarify its conceptualization, and, then, rather than focusing on a single dimension (e.g., technological or economic), it will develop a comprehensive multiple-indicator measure that captures the economic, technological, and size (stock) dimensions of social informatization. We find that this measure of social informatization strongly correlates with the general level of socioeconomic development. This result implies that social informatization may be a more continuous and cumulative process than a disjunctive or discontinuous "revolution."
AB - Some scholars have argued that we are witnessing a new social revolution - social "informatization" - that is comparable in scope and impact to that of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century. Others have argued that it is a much more modest phase in the ongoing development of communication and information-processing technology. While there are a number of reasons for disagreement about what exactly "informatization" is, and what its impact will be, two are paramount: (1) conceptual imprecision, and (2) issues of measurement. Using factor analysis, this study aims to clarify its conceptualization, and, then, rather than focusing on a single dimension (e.g., technological or economic), it will develop a comprehensive multiple-indicator measure that captures the economic, technological, and size (stock) dimensions of social informatization. We find that this measure of social informatization strongly correlates with the general level of socioeconomic development. This result implies that social informatization may be a more continuous and cumulative process than a disjunctive or discontinuous "revolution."
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645285036&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2006.00151.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2006.00151.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33645285036
SN - 0038-0245
VL - 76
SP - 188
EP - 209
JO - Sociological Inquiry
JF - Sociological Inquiry
IS - 2
ER -