Measuring digital citizenship: A comparative analysis

Abstract

This paper aims at showing a state of the art about digital citizenship from the methodological point of view when it comes to measuring this construct. The review of the scientific literature offers at least ten definitions and nine different scales of measurement. The comparative and diachronic analysis of the content of the definitions shows us two conceptions of digital citizenship, some more focused on digital competences and others on critical and activist aspects. This paper replicates and compares three scales of measurement of digital citizenship selected for their relevance and administered in a sample of 366 university students, to analyze their psychometric properties and the existing coincidences and divergences between the three. The most outstanding conclusion is that not all of them seem to measure the same construct, due to its diversity of dimensions. An online activism dimension needs to be incorporated if digital citizenship is to be measured. There is an urgent need to agree internationally on a definition of digital citizenship with its corresponding dimensions to elaborate a reliable and valid measuring instrument.