DOCUMENT RESUME

Ownership rates of advanced communication technologies among Hispanic families are lower than the national average. Going beyond socioeconomic (i.e., family income, educational attainment, and occupation) indicators as key predictors of the so-called technology gap, this paper relies on qualitative analysis of Hispanic families ' attitudes and opinions about computers to provide a richer context for understanding the gap. Six focus groups were conducted in the summer of 1997 (n=72). Interviewees were recruited from Santa Ana and Riverside, California, and were eligible to participate if: (1) they were heads of household of Hispanic origin; (2) their yearly family income was between $25,000 and $65,000; and (3) they did not already own a home computer. Focus groups were balanced in terms of gender, and participant ages ranged from 21 to 64. Santa Ana focus groups tended to include mostly college-educated, professional, English-speaking, and native-born respondents, while Riverside focus groups include