Surveying the social implications of information technology

A survey of informed opinions in the UK addressed 15 areas in which information technology (IT) may play an important role. Over 100 respondents provided their judgments, not only on the scale of change to be anticipated by 1995 and 2010, but also on the factors that they believed would underlie the trends. This article reports on the main results of the survey-especially the points of agreement and divergence among respondents-on the structure of the forecasts, and on the approach taken by researchers to classifying distinctive views of the future. The survey yielded interesting data on expectations as to social and technological changes, and it is suggested that its methodology may be used more widely.