The Attachments between Students at Texas Tech University and Their Cell Phones

The Attachments between Students at Texas Tech University and Their Cell Phones

By: Khanh Hoa Vo Thi

Abstract

 As the ESL academic writing class at Texas Tech University, we wanted to explore how students in our institution think about cell phone usage and intercultural marriage. Although the class has two different topics, we all conducted the same survey with thirty-two questions, which were equally divided for both groups of interests, and a population of two hundred twenty-nine T.T.U. students. However, it was mandatory for each member of the class to write a twelve-page report regarding his or her selected subjects. Being a part of the cell phone group meant that, in this paper, I gave a brief introduction about our center issue: the attachments between young adults and the modern technology of communication in today’s society. I also reviewed the related reading materials, described the process of collecting the needed data, presented the summarized results, discussed the important statistics, and made the necessary conclusions. Our pilot study showed that T.T.U. students heavily depended on cell phones and most of them would hardly admit this fact or take necessary actions to address the issue. Nonetheless, instead of sorely focusing on the negative outcome of cell phones on the wellbeing of the users, I considered the positive aspect of these devices on social relationship between generations as well. Besides, in the last parts of this paper, I especially proposed some strategies which might help the society reduce the downsides of this modern kind of communication.  

Introduction

The controversial attachment between cell phones and the users, especially young adults, has arisen as one of the most common concerns of today societies. On one hand, different generations can communicate more effectively by sharing their experiences on cell phone usage (Around the web, 2016). Nevertheless, intense cell phone use regardless of the situations, for example texting when driving, can increase the risks of health and safety (Lang, 2015). Therefore, this social phenomenon implies interesting psychological and emotional aspects of human thinking that should be fully explored and investigated.

We are students of the ESL academic writing class, which started in spring semester 2016 at Texas Tech University. This is an institution in West Texas with the student population of 31,000, in which 7% is international enrollment and 83% is domestic enrollment (Hope, 2015). In order to have an adequate understanding about the cell phone phenomenon, we wanted to conduct a small survey on how Texas Tech students felt about cell phone usage in their daily life. In our opinion, our population had the tendency to activate their cellphones while they were learning in classes or driving in cars. Hence, we gathered and discussed possible approaches that we could use to investigate this issue. Finally, we came up with a pilot survey regarding students’ genders, favorite activities that they liked to do with cell phones and whether they think these devices can affect their life quality or not.

Although I was a member of the group mentioned above, I wanted to focus on the effect of cell phones on social relationships of their users. The group survey had some questions about T.T.U. students’ opinions on cell phone usage in different situations. I believed that the use of cell phone was dominating face-to-face interaction, and it is acceptable for young adults in general and T.T.U. students in particular. The statistics and information collected from the survey could help me to develop and justify my survey hypotheses.  

Literature review and Hypotheses

In an article about the fact that young adults are more and more obsessed with their cell phones (Alleyne, 2011), the author describes the users’ attitude toward these devices as the feeling people would be likely to have for crucial parts of their bodies, for example their limbs. Professor Susan Moeller and a group of scholars in University of Maryland conducted an experiment with 1000 students who came from 10 different nations to examine the rightness of the above statement. For one day, the participants had to turn off their cell phones as well as other media gadgets, and the researchers observed their reactions during the allotted time. The results showed the young generation, regardless of their nationalities, had the same experiences of loss and anxiety when detached from their cell phones.

Supposedly, students in Texas Tech University will have similar reactions when temporarily being separated with their cell phones, like the students in the research mentioned above. We expect that there is only 5% of the population, which is 12 out of 240 subjects, who will answer that they have no feeling toward an inactive cell phone. Especially, in the experiment of Professor Moeller (Alleyne, 2011), there are some participants who conceded that being apart from their cell phones can be as painful as losing limbs on their bodies. Although we suppose that at least 20% of T.T.U. students in our survey have this similar reaction, we also believe that they may not concede the truth when answering the questionnaire.

In fact, cell phones can cause more severe consequences for young users who are inclined to this modern technology. According to an online article from Longwood University’s forum (2015), Dr. Bjornsen explored the relation between cell phones usage in class and students’ performances. In one year, he observed 218 students who used cell phones 4 to 5 times in their classes, and the result indicated that the low grade was directly proportional to the heavy cell phone use. However, the students did not admit the rightness of this conclusion.

In our study, we will have about 240 students who are willing to answer our questionnaire. This number of participants is equal to the population in Dr.Bjornsen’s experiment (2015), and we believe that T.T.U. students in our survey have been distracted at least one time in class by cell phones. For example, it is very tempting to check your phones whenever the notifications come up on the screens. However, it is hard to convince the students that these distracting devices can actually reduce their study performance. We believe 80% of the subjects are in the denial phase, which means they are aware that cell phone certainly hurt their grades but they assure us that they can handle texting, browsing, checking social media and studying at the same time. The other 20% would be a combination of students who are in admitted phase, which means they are ready to address the problem of using cell phones in class, and people who are already mindful of the negative effects of cell phones.

Another article written by author Matchan (2015) revealed that some institutions still advocate the use of cell phone in classrooms because the convenience of instantly gathering data and collecting information. Moreover, parents of the students also want to reach their children via cell phones. The problem is how to balance between the pros and cons of allowing students to use these devices in classes. An ESL teacher quit her job due to the frustration of incapability to draw the attention of her students into her lectures instead of their cell phones (Matchan, 2015). Unable to concentrate in class, students learn less than they are capable of. It is understandable when 88% teenagers in the United States have the chance to have their own phones and 93% of this population goes online most of the time.

When you walk around the campus of Texas Tech University, it is easy to see that a lot of students are listening to music, calling, and texting on their own cell phone. We assume that 100% of our targeted group has cell phones and retain close attachment to it most of the time, even in classes. We also believe that T.T.U. students have multiple purposes in cell phone usage but rarely use it for supporting their study.

What would probably be the reasons for the cell phone dependence in today’s people, especially in the young adults? The following article of Kathiann Kowalski (2014) can bring up some interesting facts regarding this phenomenon. The author finds out that people tend to be happier when using their cell phones, although there are some certain differences between males and females. While male users often use the phone to look up information and for relaxation, female users spend most of the time keeping their relationships going by using cell phones. Nonetheless, the author asserts that there is neither sound evidence nor a reliable scale to evaluate whether overuse of cell phone can equal serious addiction or not.

I, however, have found people around me to be very similar. Both genders utilize cell phone to its full capacity and although they have different interests, they all use the same functions of this technological device. For example, females usually stay in touch with others on their phones. Similarly, my male neighbor, who studies Biology in T.T.U., can chat with his friend for hours on the phone about football. In another case, males tend to look for enjoyment when using their phones, but females also entertain themselves by shopping online, reading fashion magazines or watching make up videos on YouTube. Hence, I believe T.T.U. students will show no particular difference in cell phone use between genders.

In another point of view, cell phone usage can positively influence human life in psychological, social, aesthetical and financial aspects (Luce, 2011). The author asserts that cell phone usage allows people access to abundant resources of the world, because it can blur all the boundaries between countries and cultures. Nevertheless, if cell phone is falsely used, it can lead to unexpected occurrences, for example: cyber bullying, traffic accidents and interruption. For this reason, using this technology appropriately is the responsibility of today’s people.

We suppose that T.T.U. students are aware that they can moderate cell phone usage, but can hardly turn this understanding into practical solutions because the tremendous applications of this technology are very attractive and convenient for them. It could the case that 50% of our study sample agrees that cell phones can have negative effects and the other 50% disagrees with that statement but maybe 100% will keep on using cell phones most of their time anyway.

Furthermore, young adults tend to accept cell phone usage in situations that require high concentration, driving for example. According to an article regarding this assertion (Copeland, 2011), a lot of teenagers from 14 to 17 years old think texting when driving is more acceptable rather than drinking when driving. However, a survey conducted at the University of Utah shows that these two actions lead to the same serious outcomes. When people text while driving, their vision is impaired and the concentration is distracted from the surrounding roads. Therefore, incidents of carelessness would happen and harm other drivers and nearby passengers. Teenagers are most likely to answer incoming messages on their phones when driving and they have the highest rate in car collisions.

We believe that T.T.U. students also text or even call when they drive, but we do not think that all 240 subjects will honestly admit that, because they know using cell phones in this situation is wrong. I usually see most of my classmates use their phones when I accompany them in their cars. Nonetheless, except for texting or calling, they also search for destinations via GPS and surf the internet for information to discuss with other people in the same car. As a result, I assume that T.T.U. students are distracted by their phones while driving for many reasons but not limited to texting and calling. Although it is hard to predict what percent of the subjects would be willing to admit their acts, I believe that people who know using cell phones when driving is inappropriate but still concede it are addicted to this kind of modern communication.  

However, an article written by Traci Pedersen (2012) supports the idea that young adults can suffer from physical and mental health problems due to heavy cell phone use. Researcher Sara Thomee of University of Gothenburg asserts that there is a close connection between cell phone overusage and the users‘ wellness based on a sample of 32 people. The risks of stress, sleep disorder and misery increase with the time people spend on cell phones. These symptoms appear distinctively in two genders; the men usually experience sleep disturbance while the women are often under stresses. Researcher Thomee also suggests that in order to stay healthy, people should try to spend time without cell phones.  

I suppose T.T.U. students also have certain symptoms of tension, sleep disorder and depression, but cell phone overuse might not be the only explanation. Thomee’s sample of 32 people (Pedersen, 2012) is relatively small compared to our sample of 240 T.T.U. students. Therefore, the bigger sample taken on T.T.U students might lead to a more appropriate conclusion. We expect that about one third of our respondents may report either stress or sleep disorder due to overusage of cell phones.

Professor Ira Hyman from Western Washington explains his examination of how young users control their social relationships by cellphones in an article in Psychologytoday (2014). Ira observes how often people, from 18 to 68 years old, give and receive either messages or calls on phones. Although no age division has more than 10 calls per day, there is a significant difference between young and old groups in texting. Young adults prefer to use text messages in most cases, from going to church to hanging out, while older people tend to call or email. Even in special circumstances, ending up a romantic relationship for example, young people also text their partners about the decision. In the end, cellphones are simply the effective tools that young people use to manage their social interactions.

We believe the students in Texas Tech University would be likely to consider the cell phone as a way to communicate easily and effectively. Not all of the students in Tech live near campus or their friends’ houses, thus they can save a lot of time and effort for planning appointments, driving to the destinations, or waiting for the participants just by communicating with each other via their phones. It is possible that 100% of the subjects in this survey would prefer calling or texting instead of in-person contacting.

In a recent article, the author Jeff Brumley (2016) discusses interesting facts about how young adults refuse to use their cellphones in religious activities. According to the statistical data of Pew Research, in a group of people from 18 to 29 years old, only 9% of the subjects accept the use of cellphones in worshiping. On the contrary, many religious officials believe modern gadgets can help build effective communication with the worshipers (Brumley, 2016). For instance, Pastor Jay Kieve encourages people to access additional information related to his sermons via QR code by their phones. However, George Miayata, a 27-year-old worshiper, wants to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of religious practices and avoid the disturbance of cellphones. Nevertheless, younger people are more likely to approve this new approach, and many pastors still see cellphones as potential way for worshipping. 

Although using cell phones is common in most social situations, there would be some limitations for the dependence of people on this modern device. During their life, young adults have been exposed to many established perceptions that cannot be changed easily by the temptation of using cell phones. For example, if the parents continuously implied that turning on cell phones in family dinners is unacceptable, their children will grow up with that permanent belief in mind. Therefore, I assume that T.T.U. students also have control over when it is acceptable and when is not to use their cell phones. I expect to find from 20% to 50% of our study’s sample in all ages would advocate not using cell phones in religious activities. However, young people are more adaptable to new perceptions of today’s culture than the old are, so I suppose that they will accept this technology-integrated spiritual approach much more easily.

In some specific cases, cell phones still have a positive side. This following article (Around the web, 2016) presents a communicative project of a group of students from Model Middle, who believes cellphones are effective to connect different generations. The project, named “Cyber Seniors”, is open to all elders who would like to have sufficient access to modern technology such as cellphones, tablets, etc. Members of the project are at the local park every Tuesday for one hour to assist the seniors with fundamental tasks on cellphones: deleting messages, zooming out small letters and so on. There are no problems if elders do not possess cellphones; any technological gadget is able to be used in this project.

The young generation would certainly be aware of the negative aspects of cell phones; therefore, they are trying to make change by positive as well as creative ways and T.T.U. students might not be an exception. Because they cannot relinquish these devices, it would be better if they focus on the benefits that cell phones can bring. We assume that the majority of the sample population would like to share their understanding of cell phone usage with different generations. However, in some circumstances, the distance between ages may limit the opportunity for them to do so.

Methods

In order to conduct the analysis of the attachment between users and their cell phones, our group of students in the ESL writing class decided to focus on young adults, and we made an agreement that we would collect data directly from domestic Texas Tech undergraduate students regardless of their majors. However, after having 240 of the targeted subjects in both genders, we could recruit more people in a variety of ages, nationalities and public status. Because of the multi-aspect nature of the human connection with cell phone, our group designed the questionnaire in three main contexts: in the educational environment, in individual transportation and in social relationships. I was especially interested in the possible outcome that might occur to the chosen population when they accepted the interference of cell phone in their daily societal interaction.

We had 18 questions which were designed to explore the reactions of T.T.U. students when we put them into sensitive situations that they might have to admit the negative sides of this device. In question 9, we indicated that using cell phone in class properly hurt students’ grade and asked the participants whether they were with this statement or against it. Question 19 is a challenging one, because we supposed that their phones suddenly shut down, and we asked them to rate their emotion toward the given situation from emotionlessness to extreme frustration; for example losing some limbs in their bodies. I believed that the cell phone also had its own benefits, thus I made a question that asked the participants whether they would share their cell phone skills with family members or relatives of different ages.

Each member in our group should collect the responses of 6 males and 6 females to establish our statistical data. Although we already had the paper questionnaire, we decided to make an online version of these questions, because open-source engines such as Survey Planet could help us calculate and categorize the answers. To have a diverse data resource, I came to the Student Union Building, because many T.T.U students from different majors and age groups often came there to study, to take a break or to have lunch. At first, I gave my subjects the paper questionnaire to have 12 people do the survey at the same time. Then, I put all the responses in the online survey to have them calculated and categorized into pie charts and brief descriptions. When collecting data, we also noticed that question 20 did not work effectively, because we questioned the subjects about their experience with sleep disorder and excess stress caused by cell phones, but only allowed them to choose between two options. Most of them had neither of those symptoms and they would like to have a blank answer. Nevertheless, the students in Texas Tech were supportive of the survey, so I got reliable data input for our class’s statistical resource.

Results

In the first place, we supposed that only a minority of the sample population, students of Texas Tech University, would show no emotion when their cell phones stopped working. In addition, we also believed that at least one fifth of the subjects would experience the tension of losing parts of their bodies when being separated from their phones, but they would avoid choosing that expression. In fact, the most common reactions to an inactive cell phone were annoyance and insecurity. Surprisingly, the “no feeling” reaction was the third biggest group after the annoyed and insecure group, and none of the participants in this category chose more than one option. Only 9.6% of the whole sample population chose the losing limbs reaction, which is much lower than the predicted 20%, with the equal choices in both genders. In the case of no emotion, the statistical data has opposed the hypothesis. Nevertheless, in the case of extreme expression, the results have shown a tendency of avoiding the severe answer. As a result, we can conclude that most of the T.T.U. students feel uncomfortable when their phones are idle, and they are inclined not to admit the stronger feeling.

In the classroom context, we assumed that our participants were addicted to cell phones, but they were not in the same stage of dependency as well as the same level of awareness. We predicted that more than half of the students in our survey were in the denial phase, while the rest were a mix of those who were in admitted phase and those who were fully aware of the side effects of cell phones. We found that in a 50-minute class, half of the sample population reported that they would check their phones in an average of one to three times, while only 21.4% said they would not even touch their devices during the lecture. Question 9 also shows that more than half of the targeted group stated that they did not think cell phones could hurt their grade. Moreover, 66% of the subjects who said that they check the phones more than 10 times in class, disagreed that this device can negatively affect their study performance. As we can see, the contradiction between the answers in two mentioned questions proves that the students understand their dependency on cell phones but keep the downside of this attachment. Hence, the collected data justifies the above hypothesis.

We also believed that all the participants kept using cell phones most of the time in class, and although they had a variety of reasons for that, they hardly used these devices for educational purposes. We found that many members of the targeted group performed more than one task on their phone during class. About 80% of the Texas Tech students who attended the survey, used their devices to text and check social media. However, there were about 25% of the population who had activities on their phones that were different from the given options, which included: checking time or email, playing games, looking up information for the lecture, not using at all and other. Interestingly, only five students asserted that they did not use cell phones in class. This statistic completely contradicted the result of question 7, which indicated that 21.4% of the sample group had no activity in phones.  As a result, the collected data has become the reliable validation for the hypothesis.

In my point of view, I assumed that there were no particular differences between males and females in terms of cell phone usage. Both genders could share similar interests in utilizing this modern kind of communication, and T.T.U. students were not an exception. As my expectation, the answers of question 12 showed that our participants intended to use the same functions of cell phones regardless of their gender differences. For example, there were 54% of females and 46% of males within the 71% of the population who turned on GPS while driving. Surprisingly, in the proportion of 53% the population who listened to music when their cars were on the roads, female students got 57% and male students got 43%. Similarly, in the case of people who called while driving, male subjects and female subjects almost shared the same value of portion, which were 46% and 54%. Furthermore, in question 20, I identified that half of the targeted subjects liked to use cell phone for online shopping. As I expected, the numerical data showed that 55% of this small category was female students and the 45% left were male students. There was a slight difference between the numbers of two genders, and as a result, we can see no significant dissimilarity in the way T.T.U. students used their cell phones. Therefore, my hypothesis is validated and justified by the data above.

Although we believed that our participants had certain understandings about the drawback of cell phone usage, they hardly put that awareness into action in order to reduce the negative effects of that technology in their own lives. Regarding the issue of using cell phones while driving, I believed that the sample population had more than one reason for their distractions on the roads. Moreover, I supposed that people who understood the danger of using this modern device while driving but still admitted that fact on the survey were addicted to it. Only 1.3% of the subjects did not concede the feasible risks of cell phones. Furthermore, in question 11, 78.1% of the subjects thought this behavior was dangerous, 78.6% of the population in question 10, would continue to check their devices either when driving or when stopped. Hence, the hypothesis once again can be proven to be right.

 In an attempt to explore the effect of heavy cell phone usage on users’ health, we also made a prediction that one third of the population would have suffered from stress or sleep disorder caused by constantly using this modern device. Interestingly, when we looked at 22 participants who stated that being separated from their phones was like missing the limbs on their bodies, we found that more than half of these subjects experienced sleep disorder, one person had both stress and sleep deprivation and only 3% showed no symptom. This statistical data indicated the possible relation between close attachment to cell phones and unhealthy physical conditions. We can see that participants had the tendency to suffer from one of these symptoms or even both of them, and thus provided sound confirmation for the rightness of the above hypothesis.

In terms of social communication, we believed that 100% of T.T.U. students who attended our survey, would prefer calling or texting instead of face-to-face interactions. In question 17, I noticed that as a whole, the number of people who text and the number of people who call are almost equal. Especially, males even made more phone calls than females did, and in fact, it was 25% for men and 20.5% for women. Although females outnumbered males in term of texting, these numerical data shown that both genders have the same need for retaining social communication and relationship by cell phones but with different approaches. 

Although we had a lot of assumptions about cell phone addiction, I myself believed that young adults in general and our participants in particular had their own restriction on cell phone usage. For example, they might hesitate to use this kind of communication in religious activities. In question 20, we identified that only 23% of the sample population accepted worshiping via this modern kind of communication. However, females tended to be more adaptive to this approach than males, because they were about 64% of the group. Based on this evidence, I can conclude that the usage of cell phones in formal social activities, such as worshiping, has not become commonplace yet. However, today’s generations are more open-minded, especially young women, and they can consider using modern device in spiritual activities as a potential possibility.

In the end, although I proposed that T.T.U students were willing to connect with older generations by sharing their understanding of using cell phone beneficially, that might not have adequate opportunities to do that. With question 16, we found that 72.9% of the targeted group agreed to teach their senior family members how to utilize the helpful functions of cell phone. However, as we did not make further questions to explore the reason behind the refusal of the rest of the group, I am unable to define whether the objective age differences or the subjective participants’ decision is the main explanation for this statistical outcome. Therefore, in this hypothesis, I come to the conclusion that the question did not address the willingness of the participants, and it is unclear that whether they had actually done the mentioned actions or they might not have had the opportunities.

Discussion

First, we believed that only a small percentage of our population would likely have extreme reactions which were unemotional and overemotional, when their cell phones were inactive. Nevertheless, the facts were far more than we expected; most of the subjects responded to question 18 with mild-mannered expressions. Hence, in the first hypothesis, we concluded that the targeted subjects may have the tendency to moderate their public responses toward sensitive issues.

We also predicted that a large amount of our population were in the phase of denying their dependence on cell phones. To justify this assumption, we examined the students’ interactions with this modern technology in a 50-minute class. The results of questions 7 and 9 showed that the people who used cell phones during their lectures outnumbered the people who kept these distracting devices out of their attention. The fact that young people prefer to use cell phones without regard to urgent necessities and regardless of the situations can illustrate their addiction to this type of technology. However, it is complicated to address this issue due to some objective reasons which are discussed in the paragraphs below. 

Furthermore, we assumed that educational purposes were not the central motivations for those students who used cell phones in class. The results from question 8 represented the fact that most of the subjects performed a variety of tasks that did not relate to the content of the class, but more likely related to entertainment and relaxation. Once again, the collected information strongly supported our hypothesis. We suppose that the education program about moderate cell phone usage, if there is any, should take young adults in academic environments as its main target.

As a personal assumption, I supposed that in terms of cell phone usage, both male and female subjects shared the same approaches to those modern devices. For example, question 12 showed that both genders claimed that they accessed the same applications on cell phones to find desired locations, relax and communicate, while they were driving. Similarly, question 20 provided evidence that there was no significant difference in the number of men and women who used cell phones for their daily life activities. For that reason, the hypothesis was proved to be true.

As a group, we believed that our subjects found it hard to put their awareness about cell phones’ drawback into practical actions. The results of question 11 showed that the majority of the population agreed that cell phones had potential risks which could affect their wellbeing. On the contrary, the result of question 10 showed that the similar number of subjects responded that they would keep using those devices regardless of the downside. If you find yourself unable to put down the phone even in crucial circumstances that can directly affect your life, chances are your addiction to this kind of technology is undisputable.

In order to explore the physical consequences that might occur due to the heavy cell phone usage, we used question 19 to collect information from our participants. In addition, we also looked at the answers of the group that felt as if they had lost a limb in question 18. The statistics indicated that most of the members of this group suffered from one or both of sleep deprivation and anxiety mentioned in question 19. As we can see, people have the abilities to acknowledge the possible risks of their beloved devices but their incapacities in taking necessary actions make this fact become a major problem in today’s societies.

In terms of social relationships, we believed the interference of cell phones literally declined the in-person interaction of our participants. The results of question 17 showed a surprisingly equal number of male and female subjects who preferred sending text messages and making phone calls for daily communication. However, in question 20, which regarded other situations such as banking, shopping and religious practicing, there were significant decreases in the number of men and notable increases in the number of women. Overall, the results indicated the tendency that young adults would more likely use cell phones in the circumstances which used to be face-to-face communication. Therefore, the collected data validated the associated assumptions. It is hard to find appropriate strategies that can possibly reduce the use of cell phones in today’s context because the users themselves deny taking actions to address this issue even for their own sakes. However, if we can increase communications between different age groups and let elders inform young adults about the active and positive world before cell phones, the problem of these devices’ addiction can somehow be adjusted.

Nevertheless, our results on the topic of teaching elders about the phone in question 16 did not provide adequate evidence for the related hypothesis. Although the statistics showed the advocacy of young adults in sharing their cell phone’s experiences with other generations, these data did not justify the assumption about our participants’ willingness and their real chances of taking actions. As a result, the hypothesis became an open-ended question, which needed further investigation to get a specific conclusion.     

Although we conducted the survey seriously, we should consider some limitations for future improvement of our research methodologies. The first deficiency is the small population that we worked on. Our writing class had to face a shortage of resources, which were not only about the number of investigators but also about the available facilities. We believe that if we can receive outside funding, we can expand the survey to include the entire state of Texas. With such an enormous number of participants, we would produce more specific and accurate research outcomes, which could be used as the research baseline for social programs that are related to the different aspects of cell phones and human beings.

Conclusion

We conducted our pilot study about cell phone usage on a small population of two hundred and twenty-nine Texas Tech students, which included one hundred five males and one hundred twenty-four females. In order to analyze the statistical data we collected from the subjects, we divided the results into various subcategories by using either gender differences or specific minor groups of answers. Overall, the collected results also gave us the general statistics as well as interesting facts about how our population, which was students at Texas Tech University, thought about their attachment with cell phones. The considerable literature review was the sound background for us to develop our hypotheses. Furthermore, our first-hand assumptions were the references for us to design the questions in our survey. As a result, the collected data had direct connections with our hypotheses, and these statistics would definitely confirm the established presumption or oppose them. Although our study provided sound evidence for the existence of cell phone addiction in young generations, the collected statistical data hardly gave us any clue to the solutions that could address this issue. Nonetheless, the most important fact given by our pilot survey is the detail that cell phone users are able to understand their addiction to this modern devices, but they will not likely to take any critical actions to detach themselves from that tough situation. People who make public programs to raise societies’ awareness of this issue, need to take into account the fact that without practical restrictions, it is hard for the participants to adjust their addiction toward cell phones.  

Bibliography

Alleyne, R. (2011, April 2011). The young generation are ‘addicted’ to mobile phones. The Telegraph. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8458786/The-young-generation-are-addicted-to-mobile-phones.html 

Around the web. (2016, February 6). Students give lessons on cellphones, tablets to senior citizens to bridge technology gap. Northwestgeorgianews. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/news/local/students-give-lessons-on-cellphones-tablets-to-senior-citizens-to/article_4a324f50-cc99-11e5-9cfc-9b501339e156.html

Bjornsen, C. (2015, August 27), College students’ test scores suffer with cell phone use in class, Longwood researcher finds. Longwood University. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://www.longwood.edu/2015releases_62426.htm

Brumley, J. (2015, September 17). Many young people shun cellphone use in church — even to read Scripture. Baptistnews. Retrieved on May 2, 2016 from https://baptistnews.com/culture/item/30482-many-young-people-shun-cellphone-use-in-church-even-to-read-scripture

Calvillo, H. (2015, October 26). TTU student population. Student Counseling Center. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from https://www.depts.ttu.edu/scc/APA_Internship/Student.php

Copeland, L. (2011, March 19). ‘Awareness gap’ on the road texting. USAToday. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20100920/texting20_st.art.htm

Hyman, I. (2014, January 26). Cellphones are changing social interaction: Breaking up by text message. Psychologytoday. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/201401/cell-phones-are-changing-social-interaction 

Kowalski, K. (2014, September 17). Watch out: Cell phones can be addictive. Student Science. Retrieved on May 2, 2016 from https://student.societyforscience.org/article/watch-out-cell-phones-can-be-addictive

Lang, N. (2015, August 20). Americans can't put down our cell phones - and it's actually killing us. The Week. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://theweek.com/articles/572481/americans-cant-down-cell-phones--actually-killing

Luce, J. (2011, May 25). The impact of cell phones on psychology, community, culture, arts and economics. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on March 24, 2016 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-luce/the-impact-of-cell-phones_b_508011.html 

Matchan, L. (2015, June 16), Schools seek balance for cell phones in class: Are they a teaching tool or distraction? TheBostonGlobe. Retrieved on May 2, 2016 from https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2015/06/15/cellphones-school-teaching-tool-distraction/OzHjXyL7VVIXV1AEkeYTiJ/story.html

Pedersen, T. (2012, June 17), Heavy cell phone use linked to depression, sleep problems in young people. PsychCentral. Retrieved on May 2, 2016, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/06/17/heavy-cell-phone-use-linked-to-depression-sleep-problems-in-young-people/40262.html

Appendix

ESL 5315 Academic Writing. Thank you for participating in our survey on cell phones and intercultural marriages! Feel free to make any comment. 
1. ___ M ___ F 
2. ___ single ___ married ____ in committed relationship ____ divorced 
3. Age ___<18 ___18-22 ___ 23-27 ____28-35 ____ >35 
4. (check all that apply) ___ from Texas ____ from USA, not Texas ____ international 
___ from Lubbock ____ from urban area, bigger than LBK ____ from city or town smaller than LBK 
____ from farm, ranch, countryside 
5. Describe your major, occupation or field (check more than one if appropriate) 
___ hard sciences ___ math ___ English/rhetoric/literature 
___ creative arts ___ design ___ social sciences ___ other (name) ____________ 
6. How many hours do you spend on the cell phone per day?
___ less than 30 minutes ___ 1-2 hours ___ 3-4 hours ___ > 4 hours 
7. How many times do you check your phone in an average 50 minute class? 
___ never ___ 1-3 times ____ 4-10 times >10 times ___ constantly 
8. What is usually your purpose of using the cell phone in class? 
___ browsing ___ texting ___ checking social media ___ other _________________________________ 
9. Do you feel that checking cell phones in class hurts your grade? 
___ Yes ____ No 
10. When you are driving in Lubbock, how often do you check or use your phone? 
___ never ___ only when stopped ____ occasionally ___ a lot 
11. When you are driving on the open road, how often do you check or use your phone? 
___ never ___ only when stopped ____ occasionally ___ a lot 
12. What is your purpose in using cell phones while driving? Check what applies. 
___ GPS ___ texting ___ speaking ___ social media ____ music ___ never use phone 
13. Do you feel using the phone when driving is wrong or dangerous? 
___ always ___ usually _____ often ___ sometimes ___ not generally 
14. Do you think excessive use of cell phone is reducing social interaction? 
___ yes ___ no 
15. Have you ever had stress on a date, or difference of opinion on phone use? 
___ yes, I used it more than date wanted ___ yes, date used it more than I wanted ___ no 
16. Do you teach parents, aunts & uncles, or grandparents how to use cell phones?
___ Yes ___ No 
17. Which do you generally prefer, texting or calling? ___ texting ___ calling 
19. How do you feel when your cell phone has died? (check what applies) 
___ no feeling ___ annoyed ___ insecure ___ unsafe ___ like I’ve lost a limb 
20. Has a cell phone ever caused one of these for you or someone you know? 
___ excess stress ___ sleep disorder 
21. Do you use your phone for either of these? Check what’s appropriate. 
___ religious purposes ___ banking ___ shopping, i.e. on Amazon 
22. Do you have experience with intercultural/interracial marriage or relationships?
___ no ___ have been in one ___ am in one now ___ grew up in one 
23. Would/Did your parents support your intercultural/interracial marriage? 
___ yes ___ no ___ yes with warning or strong advice 
24. Would you support your child’s intercultural/interracial marriage? 
___ yes ___ no ___ yes with warning or strong advice 
25. Do you feel more supportive of it than your parents? 
___ more supportive ____ less supportive ___ about the same 
26. Do you think intercultural marriage is good for society? 
___ yes ___ no ___ doesn’t make a difference 
27. What do you think are the most difficult aspects for people in intercultural marriages? 
___ religion ___ language differences ___ food ___ other _____________________________________ 
28. What kinds of things could cause arguments in intercultural marriages? 
___ food ___ religion ___ traditions ___ ways of communicating ___ other _______ 
28. What would you be willing to sacrifice to maintain an intercultural marriage? (choose as many as apply) 
___ nothing ___ some food preferences ___ seeing family as often as I’d like 
___ live in the town I’d like best ___ being able to have the best job or job I’d like 
___ having a family of different religion from mine ___ would sacrifice anything for love 
29. What do you think are the most beneficial aspects of intercultural marriage? (check what applies) 
___ none ___ children have better education ___ become more open-minded 
___ learn more about cultures, travel more ___ other (name) _______________________________________ 
30. How would you characterize children of intercultural/interracial marriages, generally? Check any. 
___ advantaged by being bilingual/bicultural/biracial 
___ advantaged by being more adaptive to change & cultures 
___ teased or ridiculed by other kids 
___ more open-minded 
___ confused about religion 
___ less interested in religion 
31. How do you feel about pastoral counseling for intercultural couples? (Check any that apply) 
___ necessary ___ always helpful ___ sometimes helpful 
___ not helpful ___ might cause more harm than good 
32. If you are in an intercultural marriage, would you do it again, if you could go to the past? 
___ yes ___ no