A comparative study of the relationship between the digital divide and the social capital of young people in Yazd and Kerman

Subject Areas : Sociological Studies of Youth

Mahnaz Farahmand ¹ , Rahmatolah Dadvar ² , Seyed Reza Javadian ³ , Ahmad Kalatesadati ⁴

1 - Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
2 - Sociology PhD student, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran and Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Baft Islamic Azad University, Baft, Iran.
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
4 - Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Received: 2023-10-03 Accepted : 2023-11-25 Published : 2023-09-01

Keywords: Social capital, Digital Divide, youth of Kerman, youth of Yazd,

Abstract :

Background and purpose: The digital divide as a new phenomenon has created certain inequalities in access to the Internet and new technologies, which has caused a kind of new inequality in societies. Based on this, main goal know the differences and similarities between the relationship between the digital divide and social capital among the youth of Yazd and Kerman. The theoretical framework of this research is based on VanDijik's digital divide theory, which examines technological, temporal, intellectual, social and cultural resources.Method: The method of conducting this research is applied in terms of objective and causal-comparative in terms of technique. The statistical population of this research is the youth of Yazd and Kerman, and the sample is also based on the Cochran formula, 385 youths from Yazd city and 385 youths from Kerman city. The collected data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient, analysis of variance and structural equation model using SPSS and Amos software.Findings and results: Statistical findings, while showing a significant difference in the digital divide in the two cities of Yazd and Kerman, were indicative of the fact that the correlation between the two indicators of the digital divide and social capital in the two cities is significant. That is, there is a significant relationship between the digital divide and social capital, and considering the negative correlation coefficient, it is clear that with the increase in the digital divide, social capital decreases in two cities.