Browsing by Author "Wren, Lauren Polk, 1988-"

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Broadband infrastructure's impact on economic growth in rural southeastern Oklahoma : a qualitative single case study.
(2023-08) Wren, Lauren Polk, 1988-; Sloan, Amy M.
Americans utilize high-speed internet access as an essential resource, providing the industry a completive edge, especially in rural communities. Unfortunately, the United States has internet deserts. Irving coined the phenomenon as “the digital divide,” which exists in areas of inaccessibility to broadband services, such as southeastern Oklahoma. The inability to access the internet limits career opportunities and skill development, leading to lower earnings and promotions (Freeman et al., 2016; Mack et al., 2021). The concept of universal service was that all United States citizens should have equal access to wired services such as telephone and electricity. However, former funding efforts failed to complete the connection of rural citizens to such opportunities (Ali, 2020). In the latest Census Report (2022), Oklahoma has a poverty rate of 21% compared to the national average of 12%. Only 88% of Oklahomans completed high school, and 26% completed college. In rural southeastern Oklahoma, a lack of high-speed internet infrastructure impedes economic growth. I designed my qualitative single case study to understand better lifelong rural southeastern Oklahomans’ perspectives on how the current broadband infrastructure impacted rural economic growth. From November to December, I collected data from lifelong Choctaw County, Oklahoma residents through interviews, speed test results, and documentation on current broadband infrastructure news. I used the theoretical framework of community capitals as my researcher’s lens to understand participants’ answers and how they identify challenges of current broadband infrastructure in Choctaw County that impacts economic growth. My study’s method, data collection, and analysis provided answers to my two central research questions: What challenges do Choctaw County residents identify with broadband network infrastructure and rural economic growth, and in what ways do Choctaw County residents perceive the relationship between broadband infrastructure and economic growth opportunities in rural southeastern Oklahoma? The research findings prove that high-speed internet is essential for rural communities to prosper. Likewise, participants identified an evident lack of internet accessibility in Choctaw County and described the areas that lacked access as dead zones or dead pockets. Participants identified that rural employers depend on high-speed internet to compete with urban areas in today’s world.