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Ethical gaps in studies of the digital divide

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Abstract

There are many reports about the digital divideand many discrepant interpretations of what thereports indicate. This pattern of competinganalyses, often in relation to identical datasets, has endured for a good part of the lastdecade. It is argued here that a major problemwith much of the digital divide research is afailure to include ethical concerns as anexplicit part of analyzing and interpretingdigital divide gaps. If researchers includemore recognition of ethics with their findingsabout divide gaps, it is likely that they willproduce better research and findings as well asmore defensible linkages between study reportsand policy deliberations.

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Hacker, K.L., Mason, S.M. Ethical gaps in studies of the digital divide. Ethics and Information Technology 5, 99–115 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024968602974

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