Abstract - The Information Society 22(5)

Exploring Social Theory as a Framework for Social and Cultural Measurements of the Information Society

Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt

Using Layder’s domain theory (1997) as an analytical framework, this paper shows how the information society can be measured through various levels of society. Layder’s notions of psychobiography, situated activity, social setting, and contextual resources help identify cultural and social indicators for understanding changes in the information society. With the help of empirical indicators for each domain, this paper uses the case of Estonia to show that there is often more to the information society than what is captured by traditional measures. This paper calls for a context-sensitive approach, which takes into consideration social and cultural indicators. Measurements from all four domains are necessary for understanding the complexity of information society related issues.

 

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