Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Information Systems and Technology, PhD

Program

Center for Information Systems and Technology

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Chinazunwa Uwaoma

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Juliette M Gutierrez

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Nagla S Alnosayan

Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member

Paul Witman

Terms of Use & License Information

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Rights Information

© 2025 Olalekan David-Banjo

Keywords

Action design research, Crime-reporting mobile apps, Sociotechnical factors, Technology adoption

Subject Categories

Criminology

Abstract

Although mobile applications (apps) for crime reporting can enhance safety and foster social cohesion in urban communities, adoption of existing crime-reporting apps remains low because they overemphasize technological features at the expense of social realities. To address this problem, the study builds on socio-technical systems theory to addresses this problem by developing a Socio-Technical Evaluation Framework (STEF) in partnership with urban residents that can be used to guide the design and evaluation of these apps. The study combines qualitative (focus groups, interviews, app review analysis, and co-creation workshops) with quantitative methods (surveys and structural equation modeling) to identify and validate the key social and technical factors crucial to adopting crime-reporting apps. The results revealed that although users initially found these apps to be helpful, sustained use is driven by perceived value related to anonymity, recency, autonomy, camaraderie, and accessibility. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling analysis confirmed that perceived value and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) constructs predict both behavioral intention (BI) and actual use, with the model explaining 74% of the variance in BI and 51% of the variance in actual use. The STEF framework offers a transferable methodology that can be used to develop effective, community-driven digital solutions.

ISBN

9798265477378

Included in

Criminology Commons

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