Key Factors in the Use and Frequency of Use of Microcomputers by College Students

There has been a steady increase in the use of microcomputers on college campuses in recent years, and as a result, more interest in studying microcomputer use. The purpose of this research is to examine some of the factors that predict which undergraduates use microcomputers and how much they use them. To this end, the Student Affairs Research and Evaluation Office at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst conducted a telephone survey of a random sample of 308 undergraduates. The results show that three variables—computer access, expected future computer use, and prior computer use before entering college—explain almost one-half of the variance in identifying microcomputer users and nearly one-fifth of the variance in explaining frequency of use.