Rachel McLean

Before I became a Reader at Liverpool John Moores University, I was Head of Creative Technologies at The University of Bolton (until February 2013), and Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University (until December 2009). In 2005 I completed my PhD at the 6* rated CNTR at Salford University, where I was awarded the United Utilities eBusiness Research Studentship. My thesis, titled Consumer Knowledge, Empowerment and the Internet: Critical Research into the Provision and use of eCommerce, took a Critical Social Theory approach to consumer adoption of the internet in commercial activity. Since then, I have extended this work to focus on experiences of citizens of the digital society and inclusion/exclusion; uses of technology at home, work and leisure; and adoption of technology by businesses, in particular creative industries. More recently, my research has focused on social networking (including studies of football supporters and musicians, and research into issues relating to children who are growing up in an increasingly technological society). I have an interest in research methods and seek to make both methodological as well as practical and theoretical contributions in my research.