Use of Internet in the two different social contexts the India and the Iran: A Comparative Description of Internet Use as a Main Element

of Information and Communication Technology

Hossein Dehghan1

President of Iranian Association for Sociology of Education and Faculty member of Azad University, North Branch of Tehran, Iran

Abstract. Nowadays two billion people approximately use the Internet. Such worldwide social-technological phenomenon with variety of influences on human beings solely is important enough to be considering as a research subject for social researcher. Therefore, the research behind of this article was conducted on the 600 female secondary school students from Tehran the capital city of Iran and the center of the Panjab territory Chandigarh. The sample composes female secondary school students from Chandigarh and Tehran studying in classes 11 and 12 that are selected from private and government schools. The aim of this article which derives from the above mentioned research is giving a comparative picture of internet usage in two different social contexts: Iran and India. Findings illustrate that Iranian students have more access to computer and Internet. A glance at the access rates to computer and Internet at school and home showed that Indian officials work more for providing computer and Internet access for their students, while in Iran parents have provided more computer and Internet accesses to their children. Though the results show that the rate of Internet use among Iranian students is higher, but the difference in Internet use is not as high as the difference in access rate. Also it became clear that in comparison with Indian parents, a greater number of Iranian parents use Internet, although the difference is not outstanding. Moreover, the amount of Internet by either of the parents in both the countries is affected by his or her spouse’s Internet use in different rates.

Key words: Internet, Information and communication Technologh, Comparative, Youth, Parents, India, Iran

1. Introduction We live in a world of information technology and share plenty of information by watching, speaking,

writing and various other methods. Online communication is growing everyday and without it we would be isolated and unable to make an appropriate social relationship. Our civilization has changed due to the development of a wide range of communication means. The cyber space governs our lives, and we learn a lot by reading the daily news from the Internet. Chatting, emailing, and talking are all examples of interaction with others via Internet. The people we meet online, and the knowledge we share in cyber space enable us to interact globally.

Today, we are at the initial stage of social change by Internet, since approximately two billion people use the Internet [1] to do business, communicate with friends and family, keep up with current events or simply entertain themselves by playing games or watching videos [2]. Interactive and online communication networks are no longer restricted to PC, they are increasingly available through multiple devices. Access to fixed-line and wireless broadband is providing always-on multimedia connectivity. Therefore, like other tools of information and communication technology, the Internet has started going through everyday life from Asia to America. 1 - President of Iranian Association for Sociology of Education presidentiase@iase.asia and Faculty member of Azad University, North Branch of Tehran, Iran. Tel: +989124790426. hosseindehghan@yahoo.com

25

2012 2nd International Conference on Social Science and Humanity

IPEDR vol.31 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore

It is useful to define some elements to describe information and communication technology, Internet is

the main source of them; it is both technological and communicational concept which includes integrated softwares, hardware infrastructures and communicational facilities such as emails, news groups, teleconference, chat room and World Wide Web. The full interactional relationship between users as a unique capacity of internet is its major difference with other media such as television, newspaper and radio [3].

If cyberspace can be analyzed as a part of a complex environment of communication tools that enable social interactivity; the Internet is a tool for maintaining social relations, information exchange, and even increasing face-to-face interaction. Haythornthwaite [4] clarifies that stronger ties are characterized by broader media usage and ICT may play a significant role in developing and sustaining social ties. There has been an increasing trend towards considering Internet as a part of existing social interaction rather than separate, purely online virtual communities of interest [5].

Altheide discusses how new devices that have created innovative forms of communications have also altered the rules of communication in social life: “Contemporary social life is increasingly conducted and evaluated on the basis of organizational and technological criteria that have contributed to the development of new communication formats which modify existing activities and even shapes new activities” [6].

Within the concept of “ecology”, Altheide [7] develops two important concepts: information technology and format to describe how the elements of communication provide a structure, logic, and competence for social interaction. He visualizes that information and communication technology (IT) refers to external devices and procedures that are used to create, organize, transmit, store and retrieve information. The way technology operates brings another dimension to any activity and can often reshape activities since IT follows a logic that involves principles and assumptions that differentiate technology from other means of storing and distributing information. Format is "the selection, organization, and presentation of experience and information," that shapes the nature of the activity and implicitly is an instance of social change within itself. Formats or applications provide the basic meaning to an activity that will always outnumber the types of IT. Dutton [8] provides a similar perspective in his analysis of the elements of IT. Thus, in consequence, the "ecology of communication" is a concept that helps to understand how social activities are connected with information technology and provided a perspective for restructuring how communication frameworks can enlighten social participation. Altheide noted that the three dimensions of the "ecology of communication" includes: information technology, a communication format, and a social activity [9].

Internet as a main part of information and communication technology impacts on the various aspects of communities in which we live. One of the important outcomes of Internet is social effect. The Internet social effects on everyday life have become a dominant research question in Internet social studies. For instance, in Haythornthwaite words “We cannot consider 16 or more hours in our weekly routine, without changing some patterns of our behaviour” [10]. Haythornthwaite illustrates how the Internet competes with and complements everyday life, especially in the industrial countries, where the majority of related studies come from; it is hard to find a researcher whose analysis suggests that the Internet does not exert any kind of social effect. There is, however, disagreement on the different effects of Internet on different dimensions of human life—personal and social life.

In fact, the growth of Internet has been one of the most notable phenomena during the last decade, especially within the urban area. Therefore, the study the social aspect worldwide is an important phenomena. Contemporary thinkers have adopted either a utopian view—seeing such technologies as the basis for the improvement of community and human beings, or a dystopian perspective—viewing Internet as leading to an

26

even more fragmented society with illustrating the wide verity of differentiations between cultures and lifestyles [11]. Thus, this paper attempts to illustrate a descriptive image of Internet use between the young students and their parents in the two different Asian contexts—the India and the Iran. The above mentioned descriptive image explains the similarities and differentiations of penetrate of Internet among youth and their families as a central globalization indicator.

2. Methodology In order to measure the use of Internet in this research, the Structured Interview and questionnaire have

been used. The instruments such as Structured Interview questions and questionnaire for the others based on the operational definitions of the variables, specifically measurable and objective indicators have been designed.

The sample of the research consists of 600 female secondary school students from Tehran, the capital city of Iran, and the center of the Panjab state of India, Chandigarh. The sample composes female secondary school students from Chandigarh and Tehran studying in grade 11 and 12. The samples are selected from both private and government schools concurrently.

To achieve a better representation of the total population in this study, the multistage systematic random sampling procedure is adopted. Multistage random is referred to the use of a form of random sampling in which there are two or more stages.

3. Findings As mentioned the findings contain the amounts of Internet use of students and their parents in two

countries. The amount of Internet use has been measured by posing the questions on Internet access. Chart 4.17 depicts the generally access or no access to Internet in the India and the Iran concurrently.

The responses “yes” or “no” mean the respondents in Iran and India either “work” or “do not work” with Internet. The chart 4.17 shows that 83 percent of respondent students in India work with Internet, while 17 percent of them have no access to Internet. On the contrary, 94 percent of the respondent students in Iran work with Internet and only 6 percent of them having no access to Internet. Results show clearly that Iranian students use Internet 11 percent more than the Indian students.

Beside of measuring the general use of Internet, this work has directly studied the locations of access to Internet in Iran and India i.e. school and home. Chart 4.22 depicts the access to Internet of respondent in school in two undertaken countries Iran and India.

IranIndia

CHART 4.17 Use of Internet in 2 Classes (Students)

300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Frequency300250200150100500

Frequency

%83.5Yes

%16.5No

%94.4Yes

%5.6No

IranIndiaCHAERT 4.22 Q9A_Accessing Internet at school

250 200 150 100 50 0 250200150100500

NO NO

YES YESYes 24%No 76%

Yes 23%No 77%

The chart 4.22 shows that 24 percent of Iranian and 23 percent of Indian students have access to Internet

in their schools. This means 76 percent of Iranian and 77 percent of Indian students have no access to Internet in their schools.

As the above facts and figures show, the frequencies of access or no access to Internet in schools are almost the same for Iranian and Indian students. Given the fact that the degree of computer access at schools is higher in Iran than in India, it may be inferred that despite adequate tools for Internet connections in Iranian schools, the students do not have the required motivation for Internet use in schools. In other words, the numbers of Internet connection are not as many as the number of computer sets available in Iranian schools. A comparison of the frequency of computer access with the frequency of Internet connection in schools will result in the following table:

27

Comparative Table of Computer and Internet Access in Schools Iran India Types of Access

56%37%Computer24%23%Internet

As shown above, although 56% of Iranian students have computers in their schools, the Internet access rate is only 24%. In other words, 32% of Iranian students with computer sets available in their schools have no access to Internet. In the case of India, the computer access and Internet access rates are close to each other. This means only 14 percent of Indian students with computer sets available in their schools have no access to Internet. This fact shows that Indian administration give more incentives for Internet access for their students in schools. The correlation coefficients, however, between the computer access in school and Internet access hours have more to say.

As it is seen in Table 4.11, the correlation coefficient between the computer and the Internet access hours in Iranian schools is close to 0.89, while the Pearson correlation coefficient for the two variables in India stands at 0.57. The higher correlation coefficient between the computer and the Internet access hours in Iranian schools, in comparison with Indian schools, shows that despite higher number of computer sets in schools, the availability rate for students is not high. As it was studied previously, the high number of available computer sets in Iranian schools does not necessarily mean high degree of computer and Internet access. However, the 0.89 correlation coefficient between computer and Internet access in Iranian schools shows that with the real access of Iranian students to computer sets at their schools, the degree of Internet access will be increased substantially. This is because computer sets might be useless for some time. Namely may remain computer sets more often useless and thus existing computers at school without real accesses, do not increase the use of ICT necessarily.

TABLE 4.12 Pearson Correlations

1 .102.092

273 273

.102 1

.092

273 273

1 .378**.000

103 97

.378** 1

.000

97 284

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Q8B Accessingcomputer at school,hours per week

SIn_Rate Amount ofInternet use: Totally

Q8B Accessingcomputer at school,hours per week

SIn_Rate Amount ofInternet use: Totally

StudiedCounries

INDIA

IRAN

Q8B Accessingcomputer at

school, hoursper week

SIn_RateAmount of

Internet use,hours per month

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).**.

TABLE 4.11 Pearson Correlations

1 .574**

.000

273 273

.574** 1

.000

273 273

1 .887**

.000

43 40

.887** 1

.000

40 103

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Pearson Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed)

N

Q9B Accessing Internet atschool, hours per week

Q8B Accessing computerat school, hours per week

Q9B Accessing Internet atschool, hours per week

Q8B Accessing computerat school, hours per week

StudiedCounries

INDIA

IRAN

Q9B AccessingInternet at

school, hoursper week

Q8B Accessingcomputer at

school, hoursper week

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).**. According to the above table the correlation coefficient between the computer access hours and Internet

use in general shows 0.38 for Iran and 0.10 for India. This shows that with the increasing availability of computer sets for Iranian students at schools, the amount of Internet use will grow by 0.39. The figure stands at 0.10 for Indian students. In other words, the higher the degree of computer access at schools, the higher will be the internet use in both countries, although the degree of effectiveness is higher in Iran. It seems access to computer practically familiarizes students with computer applications, such as Internet use, and encourages them in this connection. It is probably for the same reason that real availability of computer sets in schools, not merely having computers, determines the Internet use in general (including Internet use outside schools such as homes and coffee nets).

In addition to schools, students have a chance for Internet access at home. Chart 4.23 depicts the degree of Internet access at home for Iranian and Indian students.

IranIndiaCHART 4.23 Q7_Accessing Internet at home

2

2

1

1

0

300 250 200 150 100 50 0 300250200150100500

YES YES

NO NOYes 43%No 57%

Yes 89%No 11%

28

The above chart shows that 43 percent of Indian students have Internet access at home, while the figure stands at 89 percent in Iran. This means 57 percent of Indian students have no access to Internet in their homes, while only 11 percent of Iranian students lack Internet access at home.

A comparison of Internet access at home between the respondent students in Iran and India shows that Iranian parents have provided more information and communication tools for their children.

Comparative Table of Computer and Internet Access at Home

Iran India Types of Access 95% 61% Computer 89% 43% Internet

The “Comparative Table of Computer and Internet Access at Home” depicts the degree of computer and Internet access at home for Iranian and Indian students. As it is seen in the table, the difference between computer and Internet access at home for Iranian students is six percent, while the figure stands at 18 percent for Indian students. This indicates that unlike the school officials, the Iranian parents have provided more information and communication technology facilities for their children at home. The opposite is true in the case of Indian students.

Yes

No

CH

AR

T 4

.24

Use

of

Inte

rnet

(Par

ents

)

70.0%60.0%50.0%40.0%30.0%20.0%10.0%0.0%

66%

34% INDIA

Yes

NoC

HA

RT 4

.25

Use

of

Inte

rnet

(Par

ents

)70.0%60.0%50.0%40.0%30.0%20.0%10.0%0.0%

70%

30%IRAN

Charts 4.24 and 4.25 depict the amount of Internet use by parents in Iran and India. A comparison of the

two charts shows that Iranian and Indian parents use Internet with frequencies of 70% and 66% respectively. This means a greater number of Iranian parents work with Internet than the Indian parents.

In addition to the above charts that depict Internet “use” or “no use” by parents, charts 4.26 and 4.27 show the Internet use hours by parents in Iran and India.

Ot30- 3410- 145- 91- 4No

CHART 4.26 Use of Internet in 9 Classes: Hour per Month(Parents)

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

INDIA

Oth30- 3415- 1910- 145- 91- 4No

CHART 4.27 Use of Internet in 9 Classes: Hour per Month(Parents)

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

IRAN

As it is shown in the above charts, Iranian parents spend more time on the Internet. A comparison of the

two charts makes it clear that the majority of Indian parents have been clustered in the left side of Chart 4.26 that signifies no use or less than one hour per month use of Internet. Also the frequency of Iranian parents using Internet between 1-4 hours per month stands at 30 Percent, while the figure is 18 percent in India. Although the volume of Internet use by parents in Iran is higher than India, the difference in Internet use rate is not high. In other words, the amount of Internet use by parents in Iran and India shows more similarity than difference.

4. Conclusion In order to provide a comparative picture of Internet usage as a main element of information and

communication technology this research was conducted. Therefore the evidences state that Iranian students have more access to computer and Internet than Indian counterparts. A glance at the access rates to computer and Internet at school and home shows that Indian officials work more for providing computer and Internet access for their students, while in Iran parents have provided more computer and Internet accesses to their children. Though the results show that the rate of Internet use among Iranian students is higher, but the difference in Internet use is not as high as the difference in access rate. In other words, Indian students compensate internet access in schools at home or in coffee nets.

Also it becomes clear that in comparison with Indian parents, a greater number of Iranian parents use Internet, although the difference is not outstanding. Moreover, the amount of Internet use by either of the parents in both the countries is affected by his or her spouse’s Internet use in different rates.

29

This reality shows that the amount of Internet use by students is higher in Iran in comparison with the students in India. The higher amount of Internet use in Iran seems to come from two facts: Access to Internet in Iran is higher than in India; Internet is taken as a communication tool with more freedom of action. Moreover, during the recent years Persian-language websites have been increased substantially. This has turned Internet into an unrivaled information tool in all aspects of social life.

5. References

30

[1] Internet World Stats. Miniwatts Marketing Group. 2011, 1Retrieved in June 2, 2011 from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/ stats.htm,.

[2] CA Technologies, State of the Internet 2010: A Report on the Ever-Changing Threat Landscape. CA Technologies Internet Security Business Unit. 2010, Retrieved in January, 2011 from: http://www.ca.com/us/ global-technology-security.aspx

[3] Dehghan, Hossein. The Outcomes of Information and Communication Technology for Gender Inequality. 2004, Journal of Social Sciences Ferdosi University of Mashhad, Vol. 1, No. 3 Autumn, Outcome 2004: 145-182.

[4] Haythornthwaite, C.. Social networks and internet connectivity effects. 2005, Information, Communication & Society 8(2): 125-147.

[5] Gaved, Mark and Anderson, Ben. The Impact of local ICT Initiatives on Social Capital and Quality of Life. 2006, University of Essex Retrieved in February, 2008 from: http://ww w.essex.ac.uk/chimera/

[6] Altheide, D. L., An ecology of communication. The Sociological Quarterly. 1994, 35(4): 665-683.

[7] ibid.

[8] Dutton, W. H.. Society on the Line: Information Politics in the Digital Age. 1999, Cambridge: Oxford University Press.

[9] Pigg, Kenneth E. and Crank, Laura D.. Building Community Social Capital: The Potential and Promise of Information and Communications Technologies. 2004, The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol. 1, No. 1.

[10] Haythornthwaite, C.. Introduction: The Internet in everyday life. 2001, American Behavioral Scientist 43(5): 363-382.

[11] Ferlander, Sara. The Internet, Social Capital and Local Community. 2003, PhD Dissertation of sociology, University of Stirling, Dissertation abstract, UMI Data base, No 3045365.