Acilar (2010)
Contents
Source Details
Acilar (2010) | |
Title: | Demographic Factors Affecting Freshman Students' Attitudes towards Software Piracy: An Empirical Study |
Author(s): | Acilar, A. |
Year: | 2010 |
Citation: | Acılar, A. (2010). Demographic Factors Affecting Freshman Students' Attitudes towards Software Piracy: An Empirical Study. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 7, 321-328. |
Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
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About the Data | |
Data Description: | The data for this study was obtained by surveying a sample of one hundred and sixty freshman students at the Department of Business Administration at a public university in Turkey. The survey was conducted in November 2009. After eliminating incomplete and unusable responses, 125 usable responses were used for analysis. |
Data Type: | Primary data |
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Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | No |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
"The widespread use of computers and the Internet has provided many advantages to everyday life, but also created new opportunities for unethical and illegal acts such as software piracy. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated that worldwide software piracy rate went up to 41 percent in 2008 and worldwide losses to software vendors due to software piracy totaled more than $50 billion in 2008 (BSA and IDC, 2009). Besides being an economic problem, software piracy is also an ethical issue, especially in academic settings. The evidences from numerous studies suggest that many undergraduate students consider software piracy and other unethical use of information technologies as an acceptable behavior.
The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationships between the demographic characteristics of freshman students and their attitudes towards software piracy. Data were obtained from a survey sample of 125 students in the Department of Business Administration at a public university in Turkey. The study found that overall attitudes of freshman students towards software piracy are close to neutral position on the Likert scale. The results of the regression analysis showed that monthly family income and duration of Internet usage in a week affected attitudes of freshman students towards software piracy, but to a lower extent."
Main Results of the Study
- On the Likert scale, the author finds that the overall attitudes of freshman university students toward software piracy are close to neutral.
- The study finds that he majority of the participants do not have a strong opinion about software piracy either way.
- The author notes that, to a lower extend, monthly family income and the duration of internet usage in a week affect the freshman attitude towards software piracy. The author also notes that, surprisingly, there is positive relationship between monthly family income and software piracy attitude.
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The author recommends taking proactive steps to reduce software piracy among university students. In order to prevent software piracy and raise awareness among students, education is key. The curriculum should include ethical use of information technologies and software and real case studies should be provided to students such as examples of arrested software pirates. These examples could create a more acute awareness of the gravity of the consequences when engaging in software piracy. The author recommends also the adoption of a clearly stated information technology usage policy by universities. Students should indeed be provided with relevant legislation and university policy for use of information technology resources.
Coverage of Study
Datasets
Sample size: | 125 |
Level of aggregation: | Students |
Period of material under study: | November 2009 |