Beyond Post-Industrialism: An Examination of Lifestyle in the Information Society

This book presents research that examines the differences in informatizationalized lifestyle across different demographic groups. The primary focus of the research is to determine the interplay of structurally determined life chances with life choices that result in a lifestyle. More specifically, the informatizationalized lifestyle scale constructed in this study is based on the choices around home Internet usage for those who have surpassed the technical and economic barriers to Internet access known as the Digital Divide. The study used data from the Current Population Survey for 1998 and 2000 on Computer Ownership and Internet Usage. The findings show significant differences in informatizationalized lifestyle across gender, age, marital status and socioeconomic status in both 1998 and 2000. In 1998 and 2000, those individuals who are the most likely to participate in the informatizationalized lifestyle are males who are between the age of 26 to 35, single- separated, divorced or widowed and have the highest socioeconomic status.