Dissertation Research: Growing Older in the Information Age: A Symbolic Interactionist Study of Stigma and Online Community in China and the United States

论文研究：信息时代的变老：中美耻辱和网络社区的象征性互动研究

• 批准号: 0431373
• 负责人: Kim Fortun
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-15 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0431373&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Growing; Older; Information

This Science and Technology Studies Dissertation Improvement Grant aims to produce new knowledge about how Internet use contributes to identity formation, focusing on older Internet users in two cultural contexts: China and the United States. Specifically, the study focuses on how older people cope with oldness-associated stigma through the process of "virtual" interaction that takes place in senior-oriented online communities. A focus on stigma will both foreground cultural contexts and provide a way to track between people's online and offline lives. This study has three main objectives: 1) to generate primary empirical knowledge about older adults' interactions in senior-oriented online communities, 2) to explore the mutual shaping of older adults' online and offline worlds, and 3) to compare and contrast older adults' online and offline interactions in China and the US. These objectives lead to three primary research questions: 1) How do older adults interact and form identities in senior-oriented online communities? 2) How do the oldness-related stigma that older adults face in the physical world and the social interaction that takes place in the virtual world mutually constitute each other? And 3) How is the aging experience of older American Internet users different from and similar to that of older Chinese Internet users? The symbolic interactionist perspective will provide theoretical and methodological guidance for exploring these research questions: the three basic premises of symbolic interaction addressed by Blumer (1969) form the foundation of the study, while Goffman's (1963) framework for understanding stigma and coping strategies will direct this project. Matthews's (1979) argument that oldness is a stigma bridges this study and Goffman's work. Finally, Koufaris's (2001) work on organ transplant recipients using the Internet to cope with stigmatized identity suggests the possibilities of older adults using the Internet in similar ways. Because offline situations play a crucial role in shaping online interactions, this study chooses to focus on two specific groups of older adults: older Americans who are members of the SeniorNet online community and currently live in New York City, and older Chinese who are members of the OldKids online community and currently live in Shanghai. By matching both the virtual and physical sites of the two case studies, this study can explore the mutual shaping of online and offline experiences. Twenty-five members of each of the two groups will be interviewed to collect data about their online and offline experiences. Content analysis of these fifty people's online self- descriptions and discussion messages will be conducted to provide additional data about their online interactions and identities. Data analysis will be guided by grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This study will make important empirical and theoretical contributions to studies on aging and technology, and on technology use in different cultures. Specifically, this study will 1) produce new empirical data about older adults' interaction and identity formation in online communities, 2) enrich the larger literature on the mutual shaping of online and offline worlds, and 3) contribute to a better understanding of the differences and similarities between Chinese and American cultures in the information age. One broad impact of this study will be to help older adults, especially those who aren't Internet users, understand how the Internet can be used to improve their aging experience and quality of life. Learning from their peers. experiences, older adults can make better use of the resources and opportunities available on the Internet. The findings of this study can also shed light on how other stigmatized individuals and groups may employ the Internet to cope with similar situations. Furthermore, this study points out the importance of having appropriate, effective social and political interventions to facilitate older adults' use of the Internet. Therefore, this study can be valuable to policy makers, social workers, and anyone else who cares about older adults.

这项科学和技术研究论文改进授权旨在为互联网使用如何贡献身份形成，重点介绍两种文化背景：中国和美国的旧互联网用户。具体而言，该研究的重点是老年人如何通过在以高级在线社区为导向的“虚拟”互动过程来应对与老年人相关的污名。对污名的重点既将前景文化背景，又提供一种方式来跟踪人们的在线和离线生活。这项研究具有三个主要目标：1）关于老年人在高级在线社区中的相互作用的主要经验知识，2）探讨老年人在线和离线世界的相互塑造，以及3），以比较和对比中国和美国的老年人在线和离线互动。这些目标导致了三个主要的研究问题：1）老年人如何在面向高级的在线社区中互动并形成身份？ 2）老年人在物理世界中面临的与旧的污名以及虚拟世界中相互构成的社会互动如何？ 3）年长的美国互联网用户的衰老体验与中国互联网用户的老化体验与众不同？符号互动主义的观点将为探索这些研究问题提供理论和方法论指导：Blumer（1969）介绍的符号互动的三个基本前提构成了研究的基础，而Goffman（1963）的框架以理解污名和应对策略将指导该项目。马修斯（Matthews，1979）的论点是，古老是污名化的这项研究和戈夫曼的作品。最后，Koufaris（2001）使用Internet在器官移植受体上工作，以应对受污名化的身份，这表明老年人以类似方式使用互联网的可能性。由于离线情况在塑造在线互动方面起着至关重要的作用，因此本研究选择专注于两个特定的老年人组：老年人是Seniornet在线社区的成员，目前居住在纽约市，而老年中国人是Oldkids在线社区的成员，目前居住在上海。通过匹配两个案例研究的虚拟和物理站点，这项研究可以探索在线和离线体验的相互塑造。将采访两个小组中每个小组的25名成员，以收集有关其在线和离线经验的数据。将对这50人的在线自我描述和讨论消息进行内容分析，以提供有关其在线互动和身份的其他数据。数据分析将以基础理论为指导（Glaser＆Strauss，1967）。这项研究将对衰老和技术的研究以及在不同文化中的技术使用方面做出重要的经验和理论贡献。具体而言，这项研究将1）产生有关在线社区中老年人的互动和身份形成的新的经验数据，2）丰富了有关在线和离线世界的相互塑造的较大文献，以及3）对信息时代中中国和美国文化之间的差异和相似性有所帮助。这项研究的一个广泛影响是帮助老年人，尤其是那些不是互联网使用者的老年人，了解如何使用互联网来改善其老龄化的经验和生活质量。向同龄人学习。经验，老年人可以更好地利用互联网上可用的资源和机会。这项研究的发现还可以阐明其他受污名的个人和团体如何使用互联网来应对类似情况。此外，这项研究指出了进行适当，有效的社会和政治干预措施以促进老年人使用互联网的重要性。 因此，这项研究对于政策制定者，社会工作者以及关心老年人的其他任何人来说都是有价值的。