...
The
...
digital
...
divide
...
revisited:
...
Towards
...
a
...
multifaceted
...
measurement
...
instrument
...
for
...
digital
...
inequality
...
Ilse
...
Marien,
...
Leo
...
van
...
audenhohove
...
Over
...
the
...
last
...
decade
...
research
...
has
...
pointed
...
out
...
the
...
highly
...
complex
...
and
...
multidimensional
...
character
...
of
...
the
...
digital
...
divide,
...
which
...
no
...
longer
...
solely
...
refers
...
to
...
not
...
having
...
access
...
to
...
computer
...
and
...
the
...
Internet,
...
but
...
entails
...
various
...
barriers
...
related
...
to
...
access,
...
motivation
...
and
...
digital
...
literacies
...
caused
...
by
...
a
...
large
...
number
...
of
...
– often
...
intertwined
...
– social
...
and
...
economic
...
characteristics.
...
Various
...
measurement
...
tools
...
to
...
map
...
Internet
...
use
...
and/or
...
digital
...
inequality
...
exist,
...
such
...
as
...
the
...
Digital
...
Divide
...
Index
...
(DIDIX),
...
Digital
...
Opportunity
...
Index
...
(DOI)
...
or
...
the
...
Oxford
...
Internet
...
Survey
...
(OxIS).
...
Question
...
however
...
remains
...
to
...
what
...
extent
...
these
...
measurement
...
tools
...
are
...
in
...
line
...
with
...
the
...
increased
...
complexity
...
and
...
multidimensional
...
character
...
of
...
digital
...
inequality.
...
This
...
study
...
questions
...
the
...
theoretical
...
and
...
methodological
...
issues
...
related
...
to
...
the
...
conceptualisation
...
and
...
measurement
...
of
...
digital
...
inequality.
...
Therefore,
...
it
...
entails
...
1)
...
a
...
theoretical
...
reconsideration
...
of
...
the
...
different
...
elements
...
and
...
barriers
...
that
...
determine
...
the
...
digital
...
divide;
...
2)
...
a
...
critical
...
analysis
...
of
...
the
...
various
...
shortcomings
...
of
...
existing
...
measurement
...
tools;
...
and
...
3)
...
recommendations
...
for
...
improvement.
...
The
...
main
...
research
...
question
...
is
...
what
...
the
...
crucial
...
determinants
...
for
...
digital
...
inequality
...
are,
...
and
...
how
...
these
...
can
...
be
...
translated
...
into
...
suitable
...
indicators
...
for
...
quantitative
...
measurement
...
tools.
...
The
...
theoretical
...
framework
...
of
...
this
...
study
...
is
...
based
...
on
...
a
...
variety
...
of
...
digital
...
divide
...
research.
...
On
...
the
...
one
...
hand,
...
it
...
consists
...
of
...
an
...
in-depth
...
reconsideration
...
of
...
the
...
four
...
levels
...
of
...
access
...
– mental,
...
material,
...
usage,
...
skills
...
– identified
...
by
...
van
...
Dijk
...
(1999).
...
On
...
the
...
other
...
hand,
...
it
...
is
...
based
...
on
...
research
...
related
...
to
...
the
...
adoption
...
and
...
domestication
...
of
...
new
...
technologies
...
and
...
the
...
influence
...
in
...
this
...
regard
...
of
...
social
...
and
...
cultural
...
capital,
...
lifestyles
...
and
...
life
...
stages,
...
usage
...
context
...
and
...
learning
...
trajectories
...
related
...
to
...
digital
...
literacies.
...
The
...
empirical
...
research
...
is
...
based
...
on
...
desk-research
...
and
...
is
...
aimed
...
at
...
mapping
...
and
...
analyzing
...
the
...
indicators
...
put
...
to
...
the
...
fore
...
in
...
various
...
measurement
...
tools
...
such
...
as
...
Eurostat,
...
DIDIX,
...
DOI
...
or
...
the
...
OxIS.
...
Results
...
indicate
...
that
...
the
...
majority
...
of
...
the
...
existing
...
measurement
...
tools
...
are
...
highly
...
limited
...
in
...
scope
...
and
...
mainly
...
focus
...
on
...
easy-to-measure
...
aspects
...
such
...
as
...
quantity
...
and
...
frequency
...
of
...
use.
...
Few
...
measurement
...
tools
...
have
...
incorporated
...
the
...
overall
...
complexity
...
of
...
digital
...
inequality.
...
Also,
...
too
...
little
...
attention
...
is
...
given
...
to
...
the
...
measurement
...
of
...
the
...
multidimensional
...
character
...
of
...
digital
...
literacies.
...
The
...
majority
...
of
...
the
...
existing
...
measurement
...
tools
...
focus
...
on
...
selfreported
...
operational
...
skills,
...
and
...
pay
...
little
...
attention
...
to
...
information-seeking
...
or
...
strategic
...
skills.
...
This
...
paper
...
tries
...
to
...
overcome
...
these
...
limitations
...
in
...
proposing
...
an
...
alternative
...
measurement
...
tool
...
using
...
new
...
and
...
improved
...
indicators.