Table 4

Table 1. Examples of participants’ computer and Internet problems reported to the help desk.

Symptom Reported	Cause of Problem
Email freezes.	Never installed the modem. Didn’t know it was part of the computer.
Computer keeps dialing the Giant Eagle supermarket.	Typographical error in login script.
I can’t log in.	Caps Lock for password not noticed because password is hidden.
Error -39.	Buggy software.
Netscape disappeared.	User reformatted disk after advice from Apple’s technical support line.
No application launch when clicked.	User closed windows instead of quitting program; program doesn’t open a window if it is already running.
Modem won’t dial.	Someone else was using the phone.
Modem won’t connect after dialing.	Busy signals.
What is "add enclosure?"	Didn’t know email could send documents.
Can’t connect to Elvis Homepage.	Server at site busy or down.
Can’t find email address.	Forgot address and didn’t set up an address book.
Can’t find Rabbit newsgroup.	Didn’t know how to use "match string" function. Then searched for "bunny" instead of "rabbit."
Can’t send email to @oberon.pgh.vs.	The domain is .us not .vs.
Still over quota despite erasing messages.	Deleted but didn’t purge messages.
Can’t get my MPEG videos to play.	Need to configure settings.
The launcher quits.	Disconnected aliases.
How do I save images for my Web page?	Need to obtain or download software.

Table 2. Correlations among variables describing individual participants in their first year of using the Internet.

Variables (n = 237)	Distribution^a	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.
1. Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=teen)	60% adults	-
2. Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)	45% males	-.02	-
3. Participant’s race (1=white, 0=minority)	76% white	.01	.14*	-
4. Household income of participant’s family	median = $42K	.04	.02	.23***	-
5. Participant’s pretest computer skill	M = 3.5 (1)	-.16*	.17*	.01	-.08	-
6. Help desk requests made by participant	M = 2.6 (5.3)^b	-.11⁺	.06	-.02	.02	.14*	-
7. Help desk requests by other members of the participant’s family	M = 4.8 (7.3)^b	.00	-.11⁺	.04	.11⁺	-.13⁺	-.16*	-
8. Number of others in family that the participant helped	M = .22 (.26)^c	-.23**	.08	-.10	-.13⁺	.16*	.15*	-.30***	-
9. Internet usage of participant (average weekly connect hours, log)	M = 2.8 (5.3)	-.20**	.06	.10	-.01	.24***	.37***	-.11⁺	.27***	-
10. Participant stopped using Internet (1= stopped, 0=active)	19.8% stopped	.01	-.026	-.12⁺	-.12⁺	-.07	-.19**	.06	-.09	-.23***

^{aAll means are based on untransformed scores.
^{bMean external technical support requests are calculated on all participants. Fifty-one percent of the sample (n = 121) never called the help desk.
^{c

Mean number of people in the family who asked participant for help divided by the number of family members who answered this question

^{+p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

Table 3. Standardized regression coefficients predicting the number

of help desk support requests made by participants (logged).

Independent variables

Predicting help desk requests

Coeff.

Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)

.06

Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)

-.02

Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)

-.06

Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family

.03

Participant’s pretest computer skill

-.05

Number help desk requests made by others in the participant’s family

-.15**

Participant’s Internet usage (average weekly connect hours, logged)

.50***

Adjusted R²

.26

N

237

^{+p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

Table 4. Comparing participants who were the top help desk requester in their family with others in their family.

Variables

Top

help desk

requester

in family

Average for

other

participants

in family¹

Difference between

top help desk requester

and others in family

Includes families having more than one participant
(n = 75 families, 219 individuals)

n = 70

individuals

n = 149 individuals

Average number of help desk requests made in 52 weeks

7.1 (7.8)

.5 (1.2)

t (218) = 10.1, p<.001

Average pretest computer skill

3.6 (1.0)

3.4 (1.0)

t (218) = 1.4, n.s.

Average pretest computer attitude

3.8 (.6)

3.5 (.7)

t (218) = 2.4, p<.05

Internet usage (average weekly connect hours)

5.6 (7.8)

1.7 (3.4)

t (218) = 5.2, p<.001

Ratio of teen help requesters to adult help requesters (in families

with both teens and adults; N = 58 families, 179 individuals)

31/21

=1.49

63/64

=.98

Subset of families who completed special survey²

n = 54 individuals

n = 107 individuals

Number of others in family that the participant helped

(based on the number of family members who indicated the participant as a helper divided by the number of family members who answered the survey)

.34 (.3)

.16 (.2)

t (159) = 4.4, p<.001

Note. Eighteen single participant families were excluded.

^{1 Data in this column include those of 21 individuals (7 families) making no help desk requests during the year.

^{2
Comparisons are based on responses to a survey question answered in May 1997 by a subset of participants using the Internet.

Table 5. Standardized regression coefficients predicting participants’ help to
more family members (weighted by number of family members).

Independent variables

Predicting help given to other family members

Coeff.

Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)

-.22**

Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)

.12

Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)

-.11

Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family

-.10

Participant’s pretest computer skill

.06

Help others in family gave to family members

-.04

Participant’s Internet usage (average weekly connect hours, logged)¹

.15*

Adjusted R²

.08

N

167

^{+p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

^{1Average weekly connect hours were computed over the four months
prior to the questionnaire that asked family members who helped them

with computer problems.

Table 6. Percent of potential helper/recipient pairs in which computer help was reported, sorted by
age and gender of pairs.

Received Help from

Others in Family

Gave Help to Others in Family

Men

Women

Boys

Girls

Total % Who Received Help

Men

10%

(1/10)

28%

(11/40)

48%

(10/21)

17%

(5/29)

27%

Women

38%

(15/40)

30%

(3/10)

38%

(8/21)

49%

(16/33)

40%

Boys

10%

(2/21)

14%

(3/21)

17%

(2/12)

7%

(1/15)

12%

Girls

7%

(2/29)

30%

(10/33)

33%

(5/15)

4%

(1/24)

18%

Total % Who Gave Help

20%

26%

36%

23%

N = 374

Note. Data come from 177 participants who completed a survey asking who helped them use the computer and/or Internet. Twenty eight family members who were named as helpers but who did not complete the survey are also represented in the count of helpers above. The denominators for the proportions given are derived from the distribution of 374 possible helper/help recipient pairs, sorted by generation and gender. Anyone who was named as a helper by anyone else in the family is included and also is counted as potentially a helper for the others who completed the questionnaire. For example, in a three-person family, if a mother named her teenage son as helping her with the computer, then her son was potentially his father's helper and counted as such if the father completed the questionnaire. If the father named the son as a helper then the son would be reflected twice in the table above, once in the proportion of adult female recipients/teen male helpers and once in the proportion of adult male recipients/teen male helpers. Eighteen helpers were counted more than once.

Table 7. Impact of making help desk requests and of helping others in the family on participants’ subsequent Internet usage and skill,

controlling for earlier usage and skill.

Independent variables

Predicting participant’s Internet usage weeks 27 - 52

Predicting participant’s posttest computer skill

Model 1

(without guru variables)

Model 2

(with guru variables)

Model 1

(without guru variables)

Model 2

(with guru variables)

Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)

-.03

.00

-.11⁺

-13***

Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)

-.06

-.11*

-.01

-.04

Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)

-.02

-.07

-.22***

-.21***

Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family

.12**

.13*

.07

.06

Participant’s Internet usage, weeks 1 - 26 (average weekly connect hours, logged)

.76***

.75***

Participant’s pretest computer skill

.53***

.54***

Participant’s number of help desk requests, weeks 1-26 (logged)

-.12†

.09

Participant’s number of help desk requests, weeks 27-52 (logged)

.22***

.07

Number of other family members that participant helped

.07

.07

Adjusted R²

.56

.65

.33

.42

N

207

164

182

154

^{+p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001

Table 8. Impact of a participant’s making help desk requests and helping others in the family on other family members’ subsequent Internet usage and skill.

Variable

Predicting other family members’ Internet usage weeks 27 - 52

Predicting other family members’ posttest computer skill

Model 1

(without guru variables)

Model 2

(with guru variables)

Model 1

(without guru variables)

Model 2

(with guru variables)

Helper’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)

-.10*

-.11*

.01

-.10

Helper’s gender (1=male, 0=female)

-.04

-.01

-.074

-.03

Helper’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)

.08†

-.13*

-17**

-.18**

Family’s household income (in thousands)

.14**

.13**

.03

-.03

Internet usage of other family members, weeks 1-26 (average weekly connect hours, logged)

.82***

.84***

Pretest computer skill of other family members

.62***

.65***

Helper’s desk requests, weeks 1-26 (logged)

-.03

-.13

Helper’s help desk requests, weeks 27-52 (logged)

.02

.11

Number of others whom the participant helped in the family

.00

-.06

Adjusted R²

.65

.66

.41

43

N

186

155

164

143

^{+p<.10 *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001}}}}}}}}}}}

Independent variables	Predicting help desk requests
	Coeff.
Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)	.06
Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)	-.02
Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)	-.06
Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family	.03
Participant’s pretest computer skill	-.05
Number help desk requests made by others in the participant’s family	-.15**
Participant’s Internet usage (average weekly connect hours, logged)	.50***

Adjusted R²	.26
N	237

Variables	Top help desk requester in family	Average for other participants in family¹	Difference between top help desk requester and others in family
Includes families having more than one participant (n = 75 families, 219 individuals)	n = 70 individuals	n = 149 individuals
Average number of help desk requests made in 52 weeks	7.1 (7.8)	.5 (1.2)	t (218) = 10.1, p<.001
Average pretest computer skill	3.6 (1.0)	3.4 (1.0)	t (218) = 1.4, n.s.
Average pretest computer attitude	3.8 (.6)	3.5 (.7)	t (218) = 2.4, p<.05
Internet usage (average weekly connect hours)	5.6 (7.8)	1.7 (3.4)	t (218) = 5.2, p<.001
Ratio of teen help requesters to adult help requesters (in families with both teens and adults; N = 58 families, 179 individuals)	31/21 =1.49	63/64 =.98
Subset of families who completed special survey²	n = 54 individuals	n = 107 individuals
Number of others in family that the participant helped (based on the number of family members who indicated the participant as a helper divided by the number of family members who answered the survey)	.34 (.3)	.16 (.2)	t (159) = 4.4, p<.001

Independent variables	Predicting help given to other family members
	Coeff.
Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)	-.22**
Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)	.12
Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)	-.11
Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family	-.10
Participant’s pretest computer skill	.06
Help others in family gave to family members	-.04
Participant’s Internet usage (average weekly connect hours, logged)¹	.15*

Adjusted R²	.08
N	167

Independent variables	Predicting participant’s Internet usage weeks 27 - 52		Predicting participant’s posttest computer skill
	Model 1 (without guru variables)	Model 2 (with guru variables)	Model 1 (without guru variables)	Model 2 (with guru variables)
Participant’s generation (1=adult, 0=under 19)	-.03	.00	-.11⁺	-13***
Participant’s gender (1=male, 0=female)	-.06	-.11*	-.01	-.04
Participant’s race (1=white, 0=non-white)	-.02	-.07	-.22***	-.21***
Household income (in thousands) of participant’s family	.12**	.13*	.07	.06
Participant’s Internet usage, weeks 1 - 26 (average weekly connect hours, logged)	.76***	.75***
Participant’s pretest computer skill			.53***	.54***
Participant’s number of help desk requests, weeks 1-26 (logged)		-.12†		.09
Participant’s number of help desk requests, weeks 27-52 (logged)		.22***		.07
Number of other family members that participant helped		.07		.07

Adjusted R²	.56	.65	.33	.42
N	207	164	182	154

Table 1. Examples of participants’ computer and Internet problems reported to the help desk.

Table 2. Correlations among variables describing individual participants in their first year of using the Internet.

Table 3. Standardized regression coefficients predicting the number of help desk support requests made by participants (logged).

Table 4. Comparing participants who were the top help desk requester in their family with others in their family.

Table 5. Standardized regression coefficients predicting participants’ help to more family members (weighted by number of family members).

Table 6. Percent of potential helper/recipient pairs in which computer help was reported, sorted by age and gender of pairs.

Table 7. Impact of making help desk requests and of helping others in the family on participants’ subsequent Internet usage and skill, controlling for earlier usage and skill.

Table 8. Impact of a participant’s making help desk requests and helping others in the family on other family members’ subsequent Internet usage and skill.