Internet Altering Indian Households

Internet has changed the communication paradigm; it is no longer difficult to reach people beyond geographical boundaries. It has a variety of uses for different demographics of society. Internet is a blessing to everyone if used for the right purpose. Every member of society, men, women, children, and senior citizens, have equal opportunity to learn and use internet. Internet allows its users to create and join online communities, to share ideas and gain knowledge about any topic. YouTube, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram are the most popular websites among internet users.
Amongst its boundless uses, women have chosen to use internet for maintaining a healthy life style. According to the Women Web Study Report June 2013 by Google India, there were total of 150 Million internet users in India and among them 60 million were women. Furthermore, it elaborated that half of the internet users agreed that internet surfing influenced their decision before purchasing a product. The interesting finding was that the eighty percent of women recommended their purchase to other women whereas twenty five percent of them shared their online purchasing experience online. These findings highlight the use of the internet among Indian women.
The Indian patriarchal culture has always associated technology with men. Its usually the men of the house who purchase and operate "technology". But Internet has proven to be quite different - over the years women in Indian society have grown affinity for it. They are using internet with utmost ease for various purposes.
The content in this book throws light on how married Indian women are using internet to bring creativity, efficiency and a "newness" to their mundane household responsibilities. How Internet is being used for their kitchen management, child care, socialization and entertainment. It forces our society to reflect on how action, computer and internet training can positively impact Indian married women.
Internet supports economic development of Indian women by facilitating e-commerce and e-learning. The training for using the internet and computer may enable women to make the best use of the internet to perform their household responsibilities The suggestions provided by the married women highlight that government and welfare agencies should promote and initiate computer and internet training programs and projects for women. This step for digital inclusion will lead towards women -empowerment and uplift their status in their family, society, and nation at large. This digital literacy and inclusion initiatives may lead women to gain empowerment and further help in upliftment of their status in family, society, and nation. Them. This book is an eye opener for all of us to think how technology can be used or development, upliftment, and empowerment of socially backward gender in a society.

Autorentext

Myself presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Extension and Communication, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, India. I Have 20 years of teaching experience and presently coordinating "Rural Extension Programmes" of the department. I was the Programme Coordinator of the course P.G. Diploma in Development Management run by the department since last 12 years.Presently coordinating Master Programme of the department. From the academic year 2014-2015.I am also coordinating the administration of Fashion Communication Department, Institute of Fashion Design, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, The M.S University of Baroda, Vadodara. My major contribution is in the field of ICT in education and development focusing on designing and implementing information technology in the formal and non-formal set-up for bringing quality changes in the lives of the people. The focus of my work is in community Development Programmes Using Various Communication Strategies from Traditional to Modern media. Media blending techniques and behaviour communication strategies have been incorporated into all my projects for bringing change in the communities. I expertise in collaborative community development projects for outreach activities for community development work. Since last ten years, my work is towards senior citizens for improving their quality of life. Recently i am working on E content development of curriculum courses offered at UG level.

Klappentext

Technological advancement is helping mankind to live a better life. Internet being one of the best examples of technological advancement is a boon to society. The present research aimed to study the extent of internet usage by married women of Vadodara city for performing their household responsibilities. The sample of the study was selected through purposive and snowball techniques. However, the data was collected through both qualitative and quantitative methods. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data whereas an interview schedule was used to collect qualitative data. The data were analyzed using different statistical measures viz ANOVA, Postdoc, Intensity Indices. The findings of the study also revealed that the internet was used to a moderate extent by married women for performing their household responsibilities. Internet usage for household responsibilities was high for socializing and entertainment related household responsibilities whereas it was moderate for kitchen management and child care management related household responsibilities. There were significant differences in usage of internet for overall household responsibilities performed by married women in relation with their age, years of marriage, type of internet user, and experience of using the internet. Married women who were- younger mothers, recently married, heavy internet user, had a single child and good experiences of using internet showed high usage of internet for performing household responsibilities. The findings also indicated that married women had overall fair experiences while using the internet. A higher percentage of married women (37.50%) did not face any problem while using the internet. A little less than forty percent (39.40%) of them faced more personal problems whereas little more than one third (35.69%) of them faced more technical problems. The qualitative findings also reflected the use of the internet by married women for kitchen management, childcare, finance management and socialization and entertainment related household responsibilities. Married women suggested to have a training session on the effective use of the internet for performing household responsibilities. The findings of the study highlighted the varied use of the internet for the performance of household responsibilities.

Leseprobe
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Chapter APPROACHES TO MEASUREMENT:
The data was collected from three hundred and twenty-five married women of Vadodara city who had children and were using the internet. It was collected from August 2016 to March 2017. Key persons and institutions were identified covering all zones of Vadodara city to collect the data. They were identified from residential areas, schools, colleges, organizations, public and private offices, corporate offices, social groups, paediatrics, children hobby centers where married women can be approached. These women were residents, employers, employees, relatives or friends of employees.
Schools were approached to reach out to the mothers. An official permission was taken from school authorities to collect the data from their schools. Large numbers of married women were identified through schools; they were either teachers or mothers of students studying in that particular schools. Names and addresses of the potential sample were acquired from friends, colleagues, and neighbors by using the snowball sampling technique. The questionnaires were distributed to the married wom…