We analyze the relationships seniors have with mobile communications in two different European contexts, Romania and Catalonia. By means of a qualitative approach, we describe the ways older individuals incorporate mobile phones in everyday life communication practices, and the motivations supporting these decisions. To understand motivations for using a given communication device –as the mobile phone– we took into account the channels individual has access to; individual’s personal interest on using available devices in everyday communications; the location of the members of the individual’s personal network; and the pricing system that determines the cost of mediated communication. The empirical analysis is based on two case studies conducted in Romania and in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia) in different moments, between 2010 and 2012. Participants were 60 years old or over. Information was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews that were recorded and transcribed, while a common methodological design allows an enriched insight. Besides gender, we take into account heterogeneity of ageing for a more nuanced analysis. This paper constitutes the first step in the exploration of common trends in the relationship seniors have with mobile communication in different European countries.

中文翻译：

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两种欧洲语境下的老年人与移动通信

我们分析了罗马尼亚和加泰罗尼亚这两种不同的欧洲背景下老年人与移动通信的关系。通过定性方法，我们描述了老年人将手机纳入日常生活交流实践的方式，以及支持这些决定的动机。为了了解使用给定通信设备（如移动电话）的动机，我们考虑了个人可以访问的频道；个人在日常通讯中使用可用设备的个人兴趣；个人的个人网络成员的位置；以及确定中介沟通成本的定价系统。实证分析是基于在不同时刻在罗马尼亚和巴塞罗那大都市区（加泰罗尼亚）进行的两个案例研究，从2010年到2012年。参与者年龄在60岁以上。信息是通过记录和转录的半结构化访谈收集的，而通用的方法设计则可以提供丰富的见解。除了性别，我们还考虑了衰老的异质性，以进行更细致的分析。本文是探索老年人与欧洲不同国家的移动通信之间的共同趋势的第一步。