| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Coordinators were preferred over students because of the gatekeeper role the coordinators occupied with regard to Internet access. In addition, by virtue of their position, they were aware of both the messages available on the Internet for their students and the Jewish values taught within their educational stream. Finally, teachers with computer experience were chosen over students because of the anticipated complexities in accessing a young sample population that likely possessed limited information sought for this research, as well as the difficulties in randomly selecting from thousands of diverse students (almost 24,000, typically 6- to 11-year-olds, from grades 1 to 6) (“Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem 2002/2003: Education,” 2003). It was with some confidence that these coordinators’ values were similar to the students’ values they represented in this study—a leap of faith to be sure.
The two supervisors, Krupel and Avnon at the Computer Center, generously provided a list of Jerusalem elementary schools identifying Mamlachti-Dati and Mamlachti locations. They also forwarded a mailing list of computer coordinators indicating their names, addresses, and educational streams. In addition, these supervisors reviewed both the survey instrument (see Appendices C and D) and the introductory letter—for linguistic and cultural clarity. More importantly, Krupel and Avnon furnished an unsolicited letter of support on department letterhead which was included in each mailing encouraging the respondents to participate. We are confident that this support letter enhanced the participation rate by lending substantial backing and credibility to the study. While it provided much of the same information as the introductory letter, its most significant impact came from a statement mentioning that the “team” at the Computer Center was “very interested in the results of this academic research.”