Rough set based knowledge discovery of interface for the internet usage among Japanese elderly women

Abstract

The world currently faces the new wave of industrial civilization, that is regarded as the changes caused by the Revolution of Information Technology (IT). This study is conducted to clarify how a mobile phone (MP) and the Internet through personal computer (IPC) have been actually used. We also examine what kind of interface (input device) is preferred by the elderly, by using a questionnaire regarding the IT equipment. This study adopts not only the χ2 test but also the rough set analysis. As a result of the rough set analysis and χ2 test, those who were interested in a MP preferred, Japanese kana syllabary (JKS) the most. The rough set analysis also discovered the facts that those interested in the keyboard had a preference for the IPC and also that those interested in the JKS and the speech preferred a MP. We can conclude that the complementary use of the rough set analysis and χ2 test bring more powerful knowledge discovery. © Springer-Verlag 2001.