Methodological dificulties in research on digital skills, literacy and usage of older adults
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The rise of interest in societal connections between technology and ageing has given rise to a number of new empirical studies that use a variety of empirical tools, claiming both quantitative and qualitative research traditions. In our paper, we want to discuss the issue of how, with what tools, approaches and antecedents, we investigate older adults’ use of technology. As part of Project Effects of Digitalisation in (post) COVID-19 Era on Quality of Life and Social Inclusion of Older Adults (DIGOLD), we immersed into available international surveys and conducted our own qualitative study (in-depth interviews with older adults in the Czech Republic and Slovenia). The overall aim of the project is to describe the dynamic situation of experiences with technology before, during and after the COVID pandemic and the acceleration of interest in digitalisation and technology use that it has the potential to bring about. However, by focusing on a broad spectrum of heterogeneous older adult groups, we encountered unexpected methodological obstacles. Getting information about how and for what they use the internet or their smartphone seemed trivial to experienced users. On the contrary, non-users find it difficult to imagine their possible use. The fragmented knowledge of the majority then considerably calls into question the suitability of quantitative questionnaire surveys. For example, the ability to send a photo via WhatsApp or search the theatre programme on the Internet is not necessarily linked to knowledge of the related terms necessary for completing the questionnaire. In our paper, we aim to open up a broader debate about methodologies for researching technology as a matter of everyday life, influenced not only by the fluid nature of both subject and object of inquiry but also by our own expectations brought to research on older adults and technology. |
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