Research Methodology - Results Evaluated

I have found that the Sony Ericson user has found their service unreliable, and hence their phone no longer works. However whilst it did work he used his phone’s internet daily. This seems to be the general idea, as both the other answers showed that they use their phone’s internet daily. There is also a similarity in the amount of money that these people have spent whilst using their mobile internet. They have each paid at least £20 or higher, showing that they are prepared to pay a big sum to keep their phones up to date. There is also a trend in what websites they visit – Facebook is a popular website, and sport websites such as BBC Sport and the Southend United website have been mentioned. This shows that these users prefer to use mobile phone internet for social networking websites, and in some cases, sport websites as well. The question that asks whether it is easy to navigate around their browser shows some varied answers. The Sony Ericson user didn’t find it easy to navigate, though the iphone and Samsung users found it easy to navigate around their phone’s browser. This shows that more modern mobile phones might have browsers that are easier to navigate. The next question shows that all of the users wouldn’t trust the security on their phones enough to complete a transaction. The popular view is that they would prefer to pay their network operator, but not any other website. The next question shows that each user uses their mobile phone anywhere, meaning that they are never away from any important information found on the internet. The last question shows that each user prefers using their computer for browsing the internet rather than using a mobile phone.

          The quality of the answers has provided me some good information for my report. I have gained enough information to be able to write this report, and will certainly use this information to help me address the subject.

Research Methodology - Questionnaire

1.      How often do you use the internet on your mobile phone?

Answer 1: My mobile is broken, but I use the internet on my 3DS daily – it connects via Wi-Fi

Answer 2: Almost every single day - (I own an iPhone 4)

Answer 3: I use it whenever I’m waiting for something – be it while I’m cooking dinner, waiting for a bus/train etc.

2.      How much money have you spent on items such as wallpapers and games on your mobile phone’s internet?

Answer 1: About £20

Answer 2: I download lots of apps, some free, some cost a certain amount of money. Overall, I think I have spent in the region of £20-25 on apps since getting my iPhone 4. If you are combining music into this as well, you could be looking at adding another £30-45 added onto that figure.

Answer 3: I reckon I’ve spent over £20 on games and ringtones.

3.      What websites do you usually visit on your mobile phone?

Answer 1: Facebook

Answer 2: Twitter, Facebook, sometimes sports apps such as Sky Sports, FL Club Website (Southend website), and sometimes, YouTube.

Answer 3: Facebook, BBC Sport and BBC News.

4.      Do you prefer using mobile phone internet to using the internet on a computer?

Answer 1: I prefer using the internet on computers

Answer 2: Sometimes it is more efficient than computer’s internet, I would say yes, in the instance of entertainment (Twitter, Facebook, etc) but on a work basis, I would choose a computer’s internet over a phone’s.

Answer 3: I prefer using a computer as you have a bigger screen and can do much more.

5.      Do you find it easy to navigate through a mobile phone’s internet browser?

Answer 1: It depends on a phone. If it was a good smartphone or an iPhone, then it would be easy. But an old Sony Ericcson with uncomfortable controls, no.

Answer 2: Yes - The iPhone’s internet browser is very easy to navigate around (Safari for Mobile), and you can have multiple tabs open as well.

Answer 3: It depends on each phone, but my phone’s browser is pretty simple to use.

6.      Do you think a mobile phone’s internet browser is as secure as a computer’s browser?

Answer 1: I would never carry out a transaction on a mobile device. However, I would enter passwords to check Facebook and the like.

Answer 2: I guess this would depend on what internet connection you are based on – In general, I would say yes it is secure, but I wouldn’t trust it as much as I would trust a computer’s browser security.

Answer 3: I wouldn’t perform any transactions on sites such as Play.com or Amazon on my phone – I would only pay sites on my phone that are associated with my network.

7.      Where do you use mobile internet?

Answer 1: Home and Mcdonalds

Answer 2: Usually when I am out and about, when I haven’t got access to the internet. Also in situations like power-cuts which take out routers and wifi connections.

Answer 3: Anywhere I can – home, bus stations, other houses etc.

8.      Do you find using mobile internet to be enjoyable as using the internet on a computer?

Answer 1: No, it might be compact and apparently ‘fun’. But personally, I just prefer sitting down at my desktop PC and using a proper keyboard and looking at a large screen instead of getting thumb strain or using a tiny telescopic stylus.

Answer 2: I don’t think “Enjoyable” is the word. I do however find it is a very useful resource when you need to look something up, and you aren’t near an internet connection/computer.

Answer 3: I find internet on my computer more enjoyable as you can do more on a computer. I only use my mobile phone’s internet when I don’t have access to a computer, or the computer is too slow

Literature Review

       I found a book – “Mobile Internet for Dummies” by Michael J. O’Farrell (and four others), a journal – “Comparing Internet and Mobile Phone divides” by Ronald Rice and James Katz and a website - http://soni2006.hubpages.com/hub/Effects-of-cell-phone--mobile-phone-use-on-our-brain-and-memory. I will evaluate these sources and show the main points I will use in the report.

     The book “Mobile Internet for Dummies” by Michael J. O’Farrell has five quotes I have found to use in my report.

·         “Gartner Group estimates that consumers around the globe will spend $32.2 billion on music for their handsets by 2010, an increase from $13.7 billion in 2007. Those numbers represent an incredible growth rate” (O’Farrell, et al. 2008, p259).

·         “Gartner Group expects that by 2010 more than 1 billion camera phones will be shipped worldwide” (O’Farrell, et al. 2008, p260).

·         “Admit it: Sending a text message to vote for American Idol is fun. Although standard text messages cost only 15 to 20 cents apiece, they add up fast if you’re a power messenger” (O’Farrell, et al. 2008 p266).

·         “If you subscribe to a service for ringtones and wallpaper with premium-rate text messaging billing, it can cost $5 to $10 per subscription alone”  (O’Farrell, et al. p266)

·         “The term mobile Internet applies specifically to services and Web sites designed to be viewed on mobile devices that have small screens and use low bandwidth”  (O’Farrell, et al. 2008 p271)

   These quotes will be quite useful, as I will be able to describe how much society is prepared to pay for items found on their mobile phone’s internet and how much they use the mobile internet. The last quote will help me to define what the general idea of mobile phone internet is at the beginning.

        The journal “Comparing Internet and Mobile Phone divides” by Ronald Rice and James Katz will provide two quotes for my report which are shown below.

·         “Early adopters of the mobile phone were more likely to work fulltime” (Rice and Katz, 2002).

·         “the multivariate analysis found Nonusers to be less likely to work fulltime, have less income, and not be married” (Rice and Katz, 2002).

These quotes will be useful as it shows results from a survey the authors fulfilled. These quotes show both sides of this subject – what is likely to happen to users and non-users of mobile internet in their future lives. I will use these quotes to help describe the impact on the lives of people from mobile phones.

        The website http://soni2006.hubpages.com/hub/Effects-of-cell-phone--mobile-phone-use-on-our-brain-and-memory will provide three quotes for my report.

·         “Recent study even tells that even reproductive organs are adversely affected by waves that come from cell phones”

·         “Drivers who listen to cell phone conversations are distracted even if they do not talk, exhibiting similar behaviour as people who have been drinking”

·         “It is better to use a mobile operator which works on a lower frequency, as higher frequency can have higher ill effects on our brain.”

      I will use these quotes to show how mobile phones can affect human behaviour. These quotes are quite useful, because they can be used to predict how users will act in the future as a result from using mobile phones.

Overall I believe I have gathered an extensive and diverse amount of quotations to use for my report, all of which present great value to the report. 

Personal Tutorial

I have now had my personal tutorial with my personal tutor for my course (BSc Business Information Systems) - Martin Hancock. I said I am doing fine with most of my modules - Design Principles, Design for the Internet and Learning and Skills Development for HE and Work. I am yet to complete logbook tasks 7, 8, 9 and 10 for Coding concepts, which I aim to complete. I also have decided that doing a poster instead of a presentation for my Learning Skills and Development unit might be better to do. This will be an A3 document which should be eye catching but still provide plenty of information. Overall my personal tutorial was useful.

My mind map - The impact of Mobile Internet on Society

This is my mind map for my report, which be be about the impact of Mobile Internet on Society.

VARK questionnaire results

I have now completed the VARK questionnaire to determine my learning style. Acording to the results, I am a multimodal learner. I scored 7 as a visual learner, 7 as an aural learner, 7 as a reading/writing learner and 5 as a kinesthetic learner. This shows that my learning style is varied.

Personally I think this result is correct - I do like to use a variety of methods. I like to read information to learn something, and also like to write down notes whilst learning. I find that when I write it makes me remember it better. I also find that when I read, I can read for a while but I have to have some music on in the background. I do agree with being kinesthetic as well though I prefer reading and writing to the kinesthetic way of learning. I also agree with myself being a visual learner, which can be linked with the way I like reading/writing.

I suppose the auditory way of learning is my least favourite way of learning. I would rather see things and write them down rather than listen to recordings. This may be because my hearing isn't the best, but I personally enjoy reading/writing and the visual way of learning rather than listening to things.

My favourite method of learning is reading/writing. I have enjoyed it since primary school - I was always good at reading and excelled through the reading levels quite quickly. I also enjoyed writing essays when I got into college. I hadn't enjoyed it as much before but now that I had a subject that I liked to write about (IT) I found it more enjoyable. I have also enjoyed writing for fun at home.

My Learning Line - Learning and Skills Development for HE and Work