Diffusion Innovation Theory

I have grown accustomed to knowing what to expect when we start a course at Abilene Christian University, but with our Persuasion and Social Change course, I had no idea what to expect for our curriculum. Discovering the process of influencing others and group choice has been enlightening for us as a class. Actually, Diffusion of Innovation Theory, which was developed by Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest social science theories. Diffusion of Innovations seeks to explain how innovations and social changes are taken up with a segmented group of people. Through knowledge and application of research-based theories, we have grown to understand the different perspectives involved in the evolution of change theories. During this time together,
The third part of my Artifact is the group wiki assignment from the diffusion research biases exercise. It is effective to note that there are certain limitations that come with theory. With diffusion theory, there is an issue of equality, as socioeconomic gaps among the members of a social system are often widened as a result of the spread of new ideas. (Rogers, 2003, P 135). Outlined are four biases that are related to diffusion theory: pro-innovation bias, issues of equality, individual blame biases, and recall
119). “The individual-blame bias is a tendency to side with the change agencies that promote innovations rather than with the individuals who are potential adopters. System-blame is the tendency to hold a system responsible for the problems of individual members of the system” (Rogers, 2003, p. 114-115). More research needs to be done in terms of assessing why individuals choose to not follow a change or an innovation. Like, there is an assumption and a perception, that if the individual did not chose to adapt to the change, they must be uneducated, or poor, or ignorant and resistance to all other changes. Research lacks in explaining actually why some people chose to not follow the innovation. Maybe the change caused dissonance with their personal values or beliefs, or maybe there is not enough financial resources in their household to support implementing the change.
Lastly, is the Social Movement assignment from Module Six that is included in my Artifact. One of the most profound things that I have taken from this course, is that there are groups of populations within our society that feel that Social Movement Theory, and academic theories in general, do not support their population for various reasons. The knowledge from Social movement Theory is intended to be useful for any groups of people who are advocating for change,