Older Adult Measure
Frequency of tech measures
What is this measuring?
How often respondents use different technological devices including tablets, smartphones, etc.
Source(s)
Leedahl, S. N., Souza, K., Capolino, A., Brasher, M., Pascuzzi, E., Azzinaro, C., Ellison, T., Estus, E., & Maigret, M. (2023). Improving technology use, digital competence, and access to community resources among older participants in the University of Rhode Island Engaging Generations Cyber‐Seniors digiAGE Pilot Study. Journal of Elder Policy, 2(3), 55–92.
Survey items – question wording and instructions to participants:
How frequently do you use the following technological devices?
| Device | 1 Never | 2 Monthly | 3 Weekly | 4 Daily | 5 Multiple times a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Desktop computer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2. Laptop computer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3. Tablet (e.g. iPad, Kindle) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4. Smartphone (e.g., iPhone, Android) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5. Flip phone | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6. Landline | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 7. Television | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 8. Other | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Coding – answer choices:
1 (Never), 2 (Monthly), 3 (Weekly), 4 (Daily), and 5 (Multiple times a day)
Scaling – how to combine items / score
A “technology usage” scale can be created by taking an average across the eight questions for technology use (range 1-5). Higher scores indicate more frequency.
A “number of different devices” index (computers, tablets, phones, etc.,) can be created by summing how many different technological devices they reported using at least weekly (range 0-5).
Psychometrics – Cronbach’s alpha if possible
Cronbach’s alpha is not applicable to this measure, as it was not intended to be used as a multi-item scale requiring internal consistency.