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Information inequality in contemporary C hinese urban society: The results of a cluster analysis
Author(s) -
Yu Liangzhi,
Zhou Wenjie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the association for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.903
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 2330-1643
pISSN - 2330-1635
DOI - 10.1002/asi.23531
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , inequality , sociology , distribution (mathematics) , cluster (spacecraft) , information society , economic geography , demographic economics , social science , geography , demography , political science , economics , mathematics , computer science , population , law , mathematical analysis , programming language
Having reflected on the theoretical tradition of previous information inequality research that treats society's information rich/poor as identical with its socioeconomic rich/poor, this study examines the informational structure of contemporary C hinese urban society through a cluster analysis of a sample of 3,361 urban residents measured by a holistic informational measurement developed around the concept of “an individual's information world.” It finds that, first, 4 groups, instead of a binary “haves versus have‐nots,” best characterize C hinese urban society informationally; second, the distribution of people among these groups conforms to normal distribution, in striking contrast with the pyramid‐shaped socioeconomic structure of C hinese society; third, although the demographic characteristics of these groups suggest a significant correlation between people's informational and socioeconomic statuses, the 2 are far from identical; fourth, although the 4 groups differ in all aspects investigated, they differ most notably in information assets and the range and type of materials they choose as their regular information resources; fifth, although the 4 groups vary significantly, each differs from the others in its own way. This study concludes that society's informational and socioeconomic structures are 2 related but distinctive structures, and that the informational structure is characterized by highly complicated textures of inequality.