Outline of a multilevel approach of the network society

Social and media networks, the Internet in particular, increasingly link interpersonal, organizational and mass communication. It is argued that this gives a cause for an interdisciplinary and multilevel approach of the network society. This will have to link traditional micro- and meso-level research of social and communication ties (Rogers, Granovetter a.o.) to the macro-level research of the network society at large (Castells a.o.).\ud Systems theory linked to a theory of communicative action establishes a potential basis for a multilevel theory. The systems theory described uses elements of a biologically inspired analysis of networks as complex adaptive systems and the mathematically inspired theory of random and scale-free networks recently elaborated by Barabási, Strogatz and Watts. The outline of the multilevel theory is summarized in ten statements about changing relationships in the network society: an information society with structures and modes of organization primarily shaped by social and media networks. \ud In the last section an inventory is made of the theoretical and methodological changes communication science will have to make to develop a general theory of the information and the network society in the perspective of communication

Governmental Service Channel Positioning: History and Strategies for the Future

Governmental agencies have various service channels at their disposal for the service interactions with their citizens. The rise of the Internet as a service channel led many to believe the Internet would make all other service channels obsolete. Until now this expectation remains unfulfilled, as research discussed in this paper makes clear. All other channels still exist and the Internet in many cases did not lead to a decrease in the usage of other channels. Across the globe organizations are re-shaping their service channel mix, to find the optimal mix of service channels. This article reviews various historical phases in service channel positioning and discusses the strategies in use during the phases. The paper concludes with presenting a new multi-channel channel positioning strategy that combines private organization

Channel Choice Determinants; an exploration of the factors that determine the choice of a service channel in citizen initiated contacts

Citizens have various service channels at their disposal to interact with governmental agencies. In this paper we explore citizens’ motives to choose a certain channel in a certain situation. We conducted a qualitative study to accumulate the most important behavioral determinants. Six groups of determinants were found; habit, channel characteristics, task characteristics, situational constraints, experiences and personal characteristics. People appear to generally follow two lines of decision making when choosing channels, the first is based on habits. When task complexity and ambiguity increase, people start reasoning and follow the second line; channel choice based on a thorough elaboration between task and channel characteristics

Internet skills performance tests: are people ready for eHealth?

Background:\ud Despite the amount of online health information, there are several barriers that limit the Internet’s adoption as a source of health information. One of these barriers is highlighted in conceptualizations of the digital divide which include the differential possession of Internet skills, or “eHealth literacy”. Most measures of Internet skills among populations at large use self-assessments. The research discussed here applies a multifaceted definition of Internet skills and uses actual performance tests.\ud \ud Objective:\ud The purpose of this study was to assess how ready a sample of the general population is for eHealth. More specifically, four types of Internet skills were measured in a performance test in which subjects had to complete health-related assignments on the Internet.\ud \ud Methods:\ud From November 1, 2009, through February 28, 2010, 88 subjects participated in the study. Subjects were randomly selected from a telephone directory. A selective quota sample was used divided over equal subsamples of gender, age, and education. Each subject had to accomplish assignments on the Internet. The Internet skills accounted for were categorized as operational (basic skills to use the Internet), formal (navigation and orientation), information (finding information), and strategic (using the information for personal benefits). The tests took approximately 1.5 hours and were conducted in a University office, making the setting equally new for all. Successful completion and time spent on the assignments—the two main outcomes—were directly measured by the test leader.\ud \ud Results:\ud The subjects successfully completed an average of 73% (5.8/8) of the operational Internet skill tasks and an average of 73% (2.9/4) of the formal Internet skill tasks. Of the information Internet skills tasks, an average of 50% (1.5/3) was completed successfully and, of the strategic Internet skills tasks, 35% (0.7/2). Only 28% (25/88) of the subjects were able to successfully complete all operational skills tasks, 39% (34/88) all formal skills tasks, 13% (11/88) all information skills tasks, and 20% (18/88) both the strategic skill tasks. The time spent on the assignments varied substantially. Age and education were the most important contributors to the operational and formal Internet skills. Regarding the formal Internet skills, years of Internet experience also had some influence. Educational level of attainment was the most important contributor to the information and strategic Internet skills.\ud \ud Conclusions:\ud Although the amount of online health-related information and services is consistently growing, it appears that the general population lacks the skills to keep up. Most problematic appear to be the lack of information and strategic Internet skills, which, in the context of health, are very important. The lack of these skills is also problematic for members of younger generations, who are often considered skilled Internet users. This primarily seems to account for the operational and formal Internet skills. The results of the study strongly call for policies to increase the level of Internet skills

Interactive television or enhanced televisiion? : the Dutch users interest in applications of ITV via set-top boxes

This paper is both an analysis of the phenomenon of interactive television with background concepts of interactivity and television and a report of an empirical investigation among Dutch users of set-top-box ITV. In the analytic part a distinction is made between levels of interactivity in the applications of ITV. Activities labelled as selection, customisation, transaction and reaction reveal low levels of interactivity. They may be called ‘enhanced television’. They are extensions of existing television programmes that keep their linear character. Activities called production and conversation have the potential of higher interactivity. They may lead to ‘real’ interactive television as the user input makes a difference to programmes. It is suggested that so-called hybrid ITV– TV combined with telephone and email reply channels- and (broadband) Internet ITV offer better opportunities for high interactivity than set-top-box ITV. \ud The empirical investigation shows that the demand of subscribers to set-top-box ITV in the Netherlands matches supply. They favour the less interactive applications of selection and reaction. Other striking results are that young subscribers appreciate interactive applications more than the older ones and that those with a low level of education prefer these applications more than high educated subscribers. No significant gender differences were found

¿Una nueva sociedad de victimología?

[ES] La Sociedad Mundial de Victimología ha cobrado un renovado impulso con la incorporación de nuevos participantes, tal y como se ha podido observar durante el Simposio que tuvo lugar en Amsterdam en agosto de 1997. Durante el transcurso de esa reunión internacional, además de reaparecer algunas de las cuestiones clásicas de la Victimología, se ha promovido la realización de determinadas actividades, a través de comités, como la investigación en este campo, mostrando los resultados positivos de los trabajos realizados.[EU] Biktimologiaren Munduko Elkarteak indar berriak jaso ditu partaide berriak bertaratu direnean eta hori argi ikusi da 1997ko abuztuan Amsterdam-en egin den simposiumean. Nazioarte mailako bilera honetan, Biktimologiaren alorreko arazo klasikoak azaleratu ezezik, zenbait jarduera burutzea sustatu da, hala nola, batzordeak eratu eta alorrean ikerketak egitea, gero egin diren lan horien emaitza positiboak hedatzeko.[FR] La Société Mondiale de Victimologie a reçu un renoué élan à travers l’incorporation de noveaux participants, tel que l’on a constaté au symposium d’Amsterdam en août 1997. Au cour de cette réunion internationale certaines questions classiques de Victimologie sont réapparues et l’on y a promu la réalisation de certaines activités à travers de differents comités, tel que la recherche dans ce terrain, en montrant les résultats possitifs des travaux réalisés.[EN] Such as it was possible to observe during the Symposium located in Amsterdam in august of 1997, the Worldwide Society of Victimology has reached a renovated impulse with the incorporation of new participants. During the passage of that international meeting, besides the classical questions of victimology, it has been promoted the realization of particular activities, through committees, such as the investigation in this field, showing the positives results of the accomplished works

Dijk, J.J.M. van (2015), Estimating human trafficking worldwide: a multi-mode strategy.

In this article, the author presents the results of an in-depth analysis of the production of statistics by Eurostat on formally identified victims of trafficking in human beings in Europe. He concludes that the concept of an identified victim of trafficking in human beings has different meanings in different European Union member States and that the identification process is organized differently as well. On the basis of those regional results, he argues that statistics on the number of recorded victims of human trafficking cannot be used as a reliable measurement of the extent of trafficking in human beings in a country, neither in the European Union nor elsewhere. As follow-up to this critical assessment, the author argues in favour of a worldwide programme for the collection of survey-based estimates of human trafficking and, to that end, presents a methodological strategy combining various modes of data collection. Keynotes: identification of victims of trafficking in human beings, Eurostat, cross-country differences, dark number studies, multi-mode strategies

The hedgehog and the fox; the history of victimisation surveys from a Trans-Atlantic perspective

In his PhD thesis defended at the University of Versailles on November 12,2014, Matthieu de Castelbajac traces back the early history of victimisationsurveys in the USA and Europe with a focus on the National Crime VictimsSurveys in the USA (starting in 1973), the Dutch Victimisation Survey(1973), the British Crime Survey (1982) and The International Crime VictimsSurvey (1988) (Castelbajac 2014). The present chapter is largely based onthis study, supplemented by additions considerations regarding the Dutch surveyand the ICVS. Firstly, we will try to understand why the American studiesin the early 1970s developed into the first ever full-fledged survey, whereasearlier, similar attempts in Scandinavia did not get off the ground. What explainsthis change of fortune of crime surveys? Next we will analyse in somedetail the original ideas behind the American survey and how these haveshaped the National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS) ever since. In the thirdparagraph we will discuss the different trajectory of the first victimisation surveysin Europe and how these have meandered into many different directionsover the years. Finally, we will reflect on the foiled plans of the EuropeanCommission for an EU wide comparative survey.

The criminal victimization of children and women in international perspective

Abstract In this article we will present an overview of the results of the nationaland international crime victims surveys regarding the distribution of victimizationaccording to age and gender with a focus on violent crime. The results show aconsistent inversed relationship between age and criminal victimization by all typesof crime. Children are by far the most at risk to be victimized by criminal violenceof all age groups. The violence is in large part committed by parents orother caretakers. The relationship between gender and victimization is less straightforward.Men are more exposed to various types of non-sexual violence bystrangers, including homicide. Women are more exposed to sexual violence. Exposureto non-sexual violence by intimates is less strongly gendered thansexual violence by intimates according to the results of dedicated surveys ondomestic violence among males and females. Cross-national analyses suggest thatviolence by intimates against females is most prevalent in countries where genderequality is low. However, self-reported victimization rates of violence againstwomen by intimates are also relatively high in countries where gender equality isthe highest, such as Scandinavian countries. This paradoxical result seems due toincreased sensitivity to acts of less serious violence among female respondents inthe latter countries. The various findings concerning the distribution of victimizationrisks across age and gender are interpreted with lifestyle-exposure theoryand feminist perspectives on violence