Call for Papers: Digital social contacts

The editors for an upcoming special issue of the Community, Work and Family journal (Taylor and Francis) have published a call for papers.

The call is for research that offers insights into digital communication in work and family life, and how this may vary within and between European countries.

Researchers who have analysed European Social Survey (ESS) data on digital social contacts in work and family life are specifically invited to submit an abstract for consideration.

The deadline for abstracts is Monday 1 May 2023.

A rotating module on digital social contacts was included in Round 10 (2020-22) of the ESS for the first time.

It included questions to measure the attitudes and behaviour of respondents on internet and smartphone access, associated privacy concerns, intergenerational contact, remote working and proficiency in using the internet and mobile phones.

The guest editors of this special issue of Community, Work and Family are Anja-Kristin Abendroth (Bielefeld University), Tanja van der Lippe (Utrecht University) and Judith Treas (University of California Irvine).

All three were part of the design team who successfully applied to include the digital social contacts module in the ESS.

The call for papers includes four guiding questions:

• Does digital communication in work and family life, its evaluation, and consequences differ between European countries and to what extent can these differences be explained by differences in digital infrastructures, national policies, demographic composition, and economic circumstances?
• Are there gender, parenthood, migration and class-specific patterns of digital communication in the spheres of work, family or community or their interfaces?
• How does digital communication shape relationship quality, well-being, resources and demands in work, family and/or community as well as the intersection of these life spheres?
• Does digital communication mitigate or reinforce gender or other social inequalities in the family or workforce?

Interested authors should submit an abstract of 500-1000 words to all special issue editors via email, outlining their research question, theoretical background, data and method of analysis.

Despite delays to fieldwork in some countries due to the pandemic, Round 10 data is now available for 25 participating countries.

Read the full document: