University of Twente Student Theses

Login

Verhalen over Technologie Ouderen en de veranderingen van ICT "Van snoertelefoon naar smartphone" Een onderzoek naar de meningen, ervaringen en waardering van ouderen over hun ervaringen met ICT producten

Hoppe, Alicia (2013) Verhalen over Technologie Ouderen en de veranderingen van ICT "Van snoertelefoon naar smartphone" Een onderzoek naar de meningen, ervaringen en waardering van ouderen over hun ervaringen met ICT producten.

[img] PDF
4MB
Abstract:In the past eighty years people experienced an increasing development of technology. Especially the information- and communication technology (ICT) had a huge impact on society. The older generation had to consciously adapt to the new changes, in contrast to the younger generation, which grew up alongside these developments (digital natives). This study examines the experiences and appreciations of elderly people with different technologies in ICT. In this research 20 elderly people with an age ranging from 50 to 80 have been interviewed. This was achieved with the use of a semistructured interview and an analysis based on the grounded theory approach. By using this method, the participants could mention everything they considered important. The mean age of the participants was 62 years with a standard deviation of 9. The results show that the elderly experienced the phone as an important invention through which they gained the possibility to call each other. The access the phone has provided seems to be most important to them. For the elderly people, the changes of the technology meant a major shift in the way of communication and how to stay in contact. On the one hand, they see that there is less personal contact, but on the other hand they also note that there is the possibility to stay in contact more. The way older people look at the use of new ICT seems to be very different. Although some go along with the changes, others are more fearful and start to deal with technologies quite late. A smartphone for example is only used by a small group of elderly people. Despite this, elderly people also see positive sides to the new technologies, such as the information speed, the opportunities that exist and how easy everything is. But not everyone finds it easy. A couple of people are also anxious to use technology and they first had to get used to it. In the future, the interviewed elderly people have expressed their wish to stay informed regarding new products, although they believe that they are not going to buy most of it. Moreover, the factors that influence the usage of new technology are studied. For this purpose, this research uses the Technology Acceptance Model of Davis (1986, 1989) and it is revealed here that this model is also applicable to elderly people. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use influence the acceptance of technology of elderly people. If those two factors are experienced favorable, it is more likely that elderly people start with the use of certain technology. With the narrative approach we were able to identify important underlying experiences and appreciations of the participants in relation with the development of ICT. In addition to previous research more factors are found, giving a more detailed impression of the usage of new technologies. Generally, older people see the advantages of the use of new ICT-products. It seems like they experience no major problems if they have started using new technologies. It appears that everyone in higher age benefits of the use of ICT and it seems advisable to develop interventions that support elderly people when they start to learn the use of new technologies. In this research factors are presented, that are likely to influence this process. With the information provided in this research efficient interventions can be created.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/63222
Export this item as:BibTeX
EndNote
HTML Citation
Reference Manager

 

Repository Staff Only: item control page