How use of the Internet impacts community participation and the maintenance of core social ties: An empirical study

This dissertation is written in a three article format, consisting of three journal length papers preceded by an introductory chapter and description of the study methods. All three analyses are based upon information collected in a 2005 random sample mail survey of 1,315 households in a small relatively isolated metropolitan region of the Western United States.;The first chapter addresses how use of the Internet affects individuals' levels of community participation and leadership in local events and groups. Results show clearly that Internet usage does not reduce the amount that individuals participate in local community events and groups. Higher levels of Internet usage are also positively related to acting as a leader or organizer in local happenings. However, higher levels of Internet usage are also related to having more of one's closest friends and relatives living outside the local area.;The second chapter addresses how community members maintain their close social networks. Specifically, what modes of communication are used in the maintenance of these ties and whether this varies based on whether the ties are local or not, how much people communicate and the degree that one uses the Internet. The results show that email has become a pervasive part of the way that people communicate with their closest social ties especially when these ties reside outside the local area regardless of respondents' demographic characteristics. However, the telephone remains the most used form of communication.;The final chapter addresses issues of survey design. Six experimental manipulations of survey questions are used to test whether the visual layout of the items affect respondents differently based on their level of education, age and sex. The results show that the visual layout of questions appears to affect respondents in similar ways regardless of their demographic characteristics. These results lend support to the emerging body of research concerning how the visual design of questions serves as an important source of measurement error in self-administered surveys.