Cluster analysis of international information and social development

摘要

Data from 31 countries are examined in this paper. Five variables representing the meeting of basic needs of the population, and fifteen variables representing information activities are used as proxies of social and information development at national level. The statistical technique used to analyze these variables is cluster analysis. The results obtained suggest that information development is achieved mainly by countries which have also achieved social development. Therefore, nations with high incomes, but without social development lack information development. Moreover, the results show that the information gap between rich and poor nations seems to be greater than the social gap.