Examining the Democracy Gap Approach in the Digital Age Based on Data-Based Theory
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 PhD student in Communication Sciences, Ard. C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Amin University of Law Enforcement Sciences, Tehran, Iran. (Corresponding Author)
3 Associate Professor, Educational Research and Planning Organization, Tehran, Iran
4 Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences, Ard. C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.
Abstract
Democracy, which is one of the achievements of social life, has also been influenced by new media. Today, thanks to the existence of new media, even ordinary people are informed about the political and social events of the country and even the world, express their opinions, become familiar with new ideas and people, and this awareness undoubtedly has an impact on their future decision-making.
The aim of the present study was to design a model of social networks on the development of a democratic society based on grounded theory. The participants of the present study included mass media experts, specialists in the field of media and cyberspace, and experts and professors of higher education in universities, 15 of whom were purposefully selected to conduct semi-structured interviews, and the interviews continued until the data reached theoretical saturation.
The results indicate that in the open coding stage, we obtained 208 initial conceptual propositions, which were classified into 18 main categories, including causal causes, main phenomena, strategies, contextual characteristics, intervening category, consequences, identification, and the relationships between them were drawn and presented in the form of a paradigmatic model.
Keywords
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