
Dr Grant Blank
Research Associate
Grant Blank's work focuses on the social and cultural implications of the Internet and new media, quantitative and qualitative methods, and cultural sociology. He taught on the OII social statistics courses.
Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) represents the UK’s input into the World Internet Project (WIP), an international collaborative project which studies the social, economic and political implications of the Internet, carried out at over twenty universities and research centres around the world. WIP carries out detailed surveys in every member country to help understand how individuals adopt and use the Internet and other technologies, and what implications this has on their everyday lives — from their use of time to their role within their community.
OxIS statistics and results can be compared with surveys from over three dozen nations worldwide. By defining a set of standard, core questions which are asked by all members in all WIP surveys, we can place British findings on trends of Internet adoption and use in a comparative perspective both cross-nationally and over time. Participation in WIP allows the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) to take a leadership role in a worldwide collaborative effort, and to become an authoritative source of independent research and analysis of global trends in Internet use, and the specific patterns in Britain.
The WIP was founded in 1999 by Professor Jeff Cole (USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future) in collaboration with the Osservatorio Internet Italia at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy and the NTU School of Communication Studies in Singapore.
This project is ongoing.
24 November 2008
The World Internet Project marks the first time that a worldwide partnership of research institutions has compiled survey data on the behaviour and views of Internet users and non-users