Synopsis
Title:
Impact of Cell phone Usage
on the Behavioural Patterns of Undergraduate Students in Pune
Name of
the Researcher: Ramaa Golwalkar
Name
of the Guide: Prof.
Dr. Kiran Thakur
Department:
Department of
Communication and Journalism, University of Pune
Faculty: Mental, Moral and
Social Sciences
Date of Passing of the PhD examination: September 2013
Information
Technology gave rise to Personal Communication Technology (PCT). Cell phone is
the outcome of the galloping development in PCT. It is also the best example of
media convergence. It facilitates the user to access, generate, store, edit and
transfer the information in permutation and combination of text, picture, audio
and audio-visual format. Its latest models are providing more user-friendly,
faster and efficient versions. The cell phone gadget manufacturing companies
are focusing more into converting the gadget into a complete
‘communinfotainment’ (communication + information + entertainment) experience.
The society is experiencing ‘mobile
ecosystem’ due to technological advancement. The two most important features of
this ‘mobile ecosystem’ are (i) the explosive growth of SMS based on a humble
160 character strings, and (ii) near addictive behaviour in the youth user
segment which is now referred to as ‘Screenagers’ or ‘Generation Txtor’ or
‘Generation Y-erless’.
Focus of the present study is to analyse the
impact of cell phone usage on the behavioural patterns of undergraduate
students in Pune. It was also designed
to track the socio-cultural
ramifications of introduction and wide acceptance of cell phone as a
communication medium by the society.
Introduction
The
cell phone screen is referred to as a ‘personal screen’ and is the most used
third screen in everyday life besides Television and Computer screens. Cell phone technologies are distinctive from other
network technologies (e.g. the computer) and thus known as Personal
Communication Technologies. PCTs are often worn on the body, highly
individualized, and regarded as extensions of the self. They make us individually
addressable, regardless of where we are.
PCTs
developed a unique environment in the society. It helped common people to
access, gather, generate, edit, store, transfer variety of information in a
fraction of seconds. This free flow of information includes entertainment,
education and other variety of information wanted and / or unwanted. The young
generation is exposed to the information implosion available on their finger
tips. The dynamism in PCTs provided plenty of opportunities to users to change
the socio-cultural environment. To locate these changes, this researcher used theories of renowned scholars such as
Harold Innis namely ‘time and
space bias of media’ and ‘technology and social change’, Marshall McLuhan’s ‘Hot and cool
media’ and Karl Mannheim’s
‘Theory of Generations’ as
a touchstone to test the impact of mobile phone technology on the undergraduate
youth in Pune. The study was intended to find the answers of following research
questions:
i.
What are the cell phone usage patterns of
undergraduate students of Pune city?
ii.
What
impact has the cell phone, as a medium of communication, created on the
communication pattern of undergraduate students?
iii.
What is
the intensity of cell phone addiction of undergraduate students of Pune city?
iv.
What is
the influence of the usage of cell phone on relationships with family members
and friends of undergraduate students in Pune?
v.
How do
undergraduate students use their cell phone when they are alone and when they are
in public places?
vi.
Whether
Indian society is experiencing the shift in the power centre with reference to
cultural values? For example, is the young generation becoming a part of the
decision making process of the family? Is their opinion given preference over
the opinion of elders?
The researcher focussed on five colleges
affiliated to University of Pune offering various undergraduate courses and
completed a minimum of 40 years of imparting formal education in the
jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation.
Design
of the Thesis:
The outcome of this research has been
presented in the following format:
- Chapter
one: Introduction
- Chapter
two: Review of Literature
- Chapter
three: Research methodology
- Chapter
four: Data Analysis – Quantitative and Qualitative
- Chapter
five: Discussion, Conclusion and Suggestions
- Chapter
six: Summary
- Annexure
The first chapter contains a detailed
overview of the primary issues related to human communication and Information
Technology. It lays down the theoretical foundation of the present study with
theories propounded by eminent communication scholars like Herald Innis,
Marshall McLuhan and Karl Mannheim. Further, it takes stock of present day
scenario of Information Technology and underlines the necessity of this study.
Literature Review
A review of literature available on the
subject (Cell phone and The
Society, Cell phone and Generation Y) and related subjects (Cell phone
and Market, Cell phone and Negative Effects) is presented in the second chapter. There are studies available on the
impact of cell phones on users with reference to psychological and
physiological impacts as well as economic aspects, but very less was found in
terms of Communication Studies, that is ‘Communicology’. The impact of user
friendly media convergent cell phone technology or Personal Communication
Technology on human communication needs special focus. This study tried to
concentrate on the same with the above perspective.
Research Methodology
The third chapter describes the research
methodology adopted for the study. The nature of study was exploratory, ex post facto and descriptive in
nature. Both quantitative as well as qualitative approaches were employed in
combination to achieve maximum possible accuracy while arriving at the
conclusions. The quantitative method was used to measure the nature of impact
of cell phone usage by undergraduate students as perceived and reported by them
with greater precision. The qualitative approach was used to provide a broad
philosophy as observed by the representative opinions of the people observing
and reporting the impact of cell phone usage on the behavioural pattern of
undergraduate students.
Instead
of independent and dependent variables, the researcher identified a few
indicators to gauge the impact of cell phone usage on undergraduate students.
They
are as follows: 1) Emotional dependency – cell phone as companion; 2)
Challenging the authority – family norms and social relationships; 3) Time
spent on cell phone – amount of exposure to the technology; 4) Use of cell
phone in a variety of spaces – in personal, social and public spaces / zones.
The Method, the Tool and the
Procedure
The method employed for quantitative
data collection was survey and the tool used was questionnaire. The qualitative
data was collected with the help of interviews and interaction.
The pre-testing
for the questionnaire was conducted between 12.11.2011 to 16.11.2011 on ten
undergraduate girls and ten undergraduate boys. The results of this study were
presented as per schedule declared by the Head of the Department on 22.12.2011,
in the presence of the Head of the Department, eminent scholars of media and
communication and the fellow students in the Department of Communication and
Journalism, University of Pune, Ranade Institute Building, and Fergusson
College Road, Pune. The refined questionnaire was then put for Validation Test wherein 50
undergraduate girls and 50 undergraduate boys, which is a total of 100
undergraduate students, were asked to fill the questionnaire.
The data collected for the validation test
was thereafter sent to the statistician for testing the consistency reliability
of Part I and Part II of the questionnaire. Cronbach’s Alpha value for Part I
of the said questionnaire is 0.78 = Acceptable; and Part II is 0.85 = Good.
Overall Alpha value for the Reliability test
is 0.80 which is ‘Good’.
Sampling
Method / Scheme
Multi-stage
sampling method was employed in 3 stages. First stage: Assembly constituency
for college listing. Second stage: Random selection of colleges. Third stage: Purposive selection of the students
meeting sample characteristics.
The
undergraduate students who were using cell phones for more than one year and
who were full-time students from the selected colleges affiliated to University
of Pune formed the final sample of the present study.
Final sample:
The study was conducted on the 582 undergraduate
students (305 boys and 277 girls) of the five colleges affiliated to the
University of Pune and located within the jurisdiction of Pune Municipal
Corporation.
Data
Analysis
After
digitization of the data frequency distribution, the percentile was calculated.
Similarly, with the help of a statistician, t Test was carried out
for attitude and behavioural Likert Scales using SPSS.
Utility
of the Research
The aim of the research was to study the impact
of cell phone usage on the behavioural pattern of undergraduate students in
Pune. The outcome of the study would be helpful for interdisciplinary verticals
like Communication Study, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Socio-psychology and
Behavioural Science, especially family counsellors and socio-cultural
scientists who wish to understand the effects of cell phone as a communication
medium on the young generation.
Data
Analysis
Chapter four presents a detailed qualitative
and quantitative analysis of the data collected by the survey method and
questionnaire tool and detailed discussions with the samples for qualitative
analysis. The tabular and graphical representations of the data were also
included for better understanding of the analysis.
Discussion
and Conclusion
The combined data collected and analysed in the
fourth chapter is discussed in the fifth chapter. Following outcome of
quantitative analysis:
1.
Majority
of the undergraduate students changed nearly four cell phone handsets since they started using it independently. About
half of the undergraduate student population continued using the same cell
phone set till they practically could not use it. Less than one tenth of the
undergraduate students changed their cell phone set whenever a new model was
introduced in the market. It clearly means that mobile phone companies’ ad
campaigns designed to target the adolescents had negligible impact on the
target audience.
2.
More
than half of the undergraduate students had a tendency not to save the contact
details with the original names. They preferred to save them either with a pet
name, a code name or favourite names. More than three fifth of undergraduate
students accepted saving contact details with different names. However, they
did it for the sake of convenience and had no explicit intentions to mask the
information of their contacts. Thus, no lying behaviour regarding hiding the
information of the contact details was found in three fifth of the undergraduate
population.
3.
Unfortunately
awareness level of the undergraduate students about the emergency helpline
numbers was very low and the parents’ concern about the child to provide
her/him a gadget to alleviate emergency was ignored by the respondents.
4.
Large
number of students used multimedia phones, and not simple basic handsets.
5.
Most
students used phones every day, for voice calls and texting. Most of the
undergraduate boys talked on their cell phone and most girls sent preferred
sending SMSs. More boys used alarm than girls; nearly three fourth of them used
cell phone alarm every day instead of the traditional alarm clock. About two
third of undergraduate boys reportedly listened to pre-recorded music on their
cell phone. Similarly more number of boys accessed internet as compared to the
girls. More than one third of undergraduate boys and more than quarter
undergraduate girls played games every day on their cell phones.
Habit of putting every day the
reminder notes in the cell phone was found only in one fifth of undergraduate
boys and quarter of undergraduate girls.
One third of the undergraduate
students used their cell phone camera every day. They used it to click
photographs of important information like notices displayed on notice boards
and even the power-point presentations in the classroom rather than going
through them wherever displayed and jotting down or keeping them in memory.
Viewing a film on cell phone screen
was not a preferred option by them.
6.
Maximum
number (80%) of the undergraduate students had multimedia cell phone sets and
internet browsing facility on their cell phones. Quarter of the undergraduate
students checked emails and social networking. About one fifth of undergraduate
boys as compared to about one tenth of undergraduate girls used their cell
phones to check their mailboxes, send e-mails, access social networking sites,
browse educational material, to hit any other website and to down load
applications too. Nearly one fifth of undergraduate students visited any
website while accessing internet on their cell phone. Less than one fifth of
them browsed educational material while surfing on their cell phones.
Application downloads was done by slightly more than one tenth of the
undergraduate students, less than one tenth of them were checking only
important e-mails.
7.
Nearly
three fourth of undergraduate students used pre-paid connections and nearly one
third of them used the post-paid alternative. More than four fifth of
undergraduate students had limited their monthly cell phone expenditure up to `750. Girls spent more on communication
facilities than boys. On the other hand, boys spent on internet browsing,
buying mobile accessories, and value added services more than the girls.
8.
Nearly
one third of undergraduate students spent more than 3 hours of their daily
routine to use their cell phone. On an average quarter of undergraduate
students spent 1 to 2 hours per day on their cell phones. Equal percentage of
undergraduate students spent 2 to 3 hours. Nearly one fifth of them spent less
than an hour.
9.
More
than three fifth of undergraduate students admitted to spend majority of the
cell phone activity time on texting, out of which more than one fifth of
undergraduate students added emoticons like J, L to their text messages. Slightly more than
one third of undergraduate students spent their cell phone activity time on
voice calling. It was also seen that girls use SMS facility more
than boys. Practice of adding emoticons to the text messages is
found more in girls than boys.
10.
About
three fifth of undergraduate students had a habit of regularly carrying cell
phone near their pelvis which may affect their reproductive system.
11.
Nearly
two fifth of undergraduate students used ‘qwerty’ keypad. Less than one fifth
of undergraduate students used Devanāgari or/and Indian script fonts
while texting. Boys were found using more of Indian scripts than that of girls.
12.
Maximum (88%) undergraduate students used ‘missed
call’ to communicate variety of messages without verbal or text message which
can be taken as an electronic improvisation of the beating the drums in ancient
times. The only difference is that this improvisation is a strictly one to one,
that is, interpersonal communication and not a group communication.
13.
Undergraduate
students used SMSs to share decent jokes; thought of the day; business cards;
to greet family members, relatives and friends on special occasions; to avoid
unwanted conversation; to save money on voice calling; to convey inability to
attend call; to maintain secrecy. Nearly one tenth of undergraduate girls and
only 4% undergraduate boys admitted sending SMSs out of habit.
14.
It is
also revealed that cell phone as personal communication technology blurred the
socio-cultural boundaries of behaviour and gave a casual approach towards
communication. More than three fifth of undergraduate boys regularly sent and
received SMSs containing bad (indecent) language/ sexually explicit text to and
from girls of same age. Also, equal
percentage of undergraduate boys sent and received ‘not so decent content’ and
/ or ‘indecent jokes’ to and from elderly people. Half of undergraduate girls
did the same. It means that two third of undergraduate boys’ and half of
undergraduate girls’ population used cell phone to communicate indecent content
with the population of same age and also to the elder generation.
One third of undergraduate students’
population found it important to stay connected hence they were calling,
talking and remaining in touch. One third of undergraduate students found it
easy to kill time in calling and talking on cell. Nearly one tenth of
undergraduate girls and 3% of undergraduate boys were habitual callers. There
were 5% more girls who were habitual callers and hence calling out of habit.
15.
Cell
phone conversation gives four types of gratifications to the undergraduate
students, out of which relaxation prevails over other types. Quarter of
undergraduate students felt satisfied after a cell phone talk. Quarter of boys
felt relaxed after talking on cell phone as compared to slightly less than one
third of girls. More than one tenth of undergraduate students felt cell phone
talking boosts self confidence. Equal percentage of undergraduate students
found it as exhausting. More than one tenth of them felt stimulated after
talking on cell phone.
16.
Nearly
half of undergraduate boys and less than half of undergraduate girls had a
strong feeling that the quality of their life had improved because
of cell phone. Nearly one third of undergraduate students would feel unwanted
or ignored if they would not receive a call for an hour or even a
day. More than one third of them had the realization of their anxiousness
caused out of thoughts of probable missed calls when their cell phone is out of
coverage area. Nearly half of undergraduate boys and about three fifth of
undergraduate girls would feel helpless without a cell phone and they
frequently kept checking their cell phone for a ‘missed call’ or
SMS.
17.
On an
average two fifth of undergraduate students, invariably spent their time
playing with their cell phone when they were alone.
18.
Statistical
tests also confirm that there is hardly any difference in the percentage of
undergraduate students dependent on cell phone. One third of undergraduate boys
and slightly more than quarter of undergraduate girls preferred to use cell
phone to talk to their friends even if face-to-face communication
could happen. Equal percentage of undergraduate students was found using cell
phone conversation as their frequent method to counter loneliness and elevate
the mood. Similarly they were regularly cutting down their expenses on
canteen, petrol and other minor vices like cigarette and other tobacco
products, pubs etc.
19.
It is
observed that the concept of privacy in Indian society has expanded with the
usage of cell phone. The personal communication technology (Campbell &
Park) is responsible not only for the extension of the communication facilities
to connect the people with never before ease; but also for the expansion of
circumference of personal space and privacy. The parent-child relationship is
very fragile where on an average one third of late adolescent population
expected their parents to observe some constraints while interfering in their
lives especially when it comes to the usage of cell phone. About quarter of
undergraduate students was more comfortable talking to their parents on cell
phone than face-to-face conversation.
20.
There
is a power shift in the family as social institution. Nearly three fourth of
undergraduate boys and more than three fifth of undergraduate girls were
frequently asked for their opinion by the parents, which was then valued for.
Slightly more than three fifth of undergraduate boys and two third of
undergraduate girls were recurrently found superseding the elderly members of
the family in the decision making process, as their parents gave importance to
their opinion over the opinion of the elderly members. Secondly, about half of
undergraduate students were reported playing regularly with their cell phone while
interacting with parents or elderly members of the family. That means slightly
less than half of the young population fiddle with the cell phone while talking
to their parents and elderly family members. This behaviour is against the
prevalent social behavioural norms and communication pattern; which indicates
to insult the elders, that is to restrain from any other activity which
distracts the attention while interacting with elders.
About three fifth of undergraduate
students were often found talking and SMSing the people keeping their parents
in dark. Less than three fifth of undergraduate students regularly found to be
lying on cell phone specifically about their location with their parents,
relatives and friends. Thus on an average, three fifth of undergraduate
students’ population had deceitful behaviour with their parents, friends and
relatives time to time.
20. Overall
more than one third of undergraduate population used cell phone without any
embarrassment in the social function.
Slightly more than two fifth of
undergraduate students took into account cell phone set as one of the qualities
of personality.
Nearly three fifth of undergraduate
population frequently gave preference to the cell phone caller than their close
friends and / or family members, and also the formal communication with elders,
especially teachers. It can be inferred that the person present in person
becomes insignificant, irrelevant and standing apart without any purpose.
20.
It is confirmed that personal technologies
used in public space respatializes (that means rearranges or transforms the
attributes related to space around) the public space
(Green & Haddon, 2009) . It is therefore clear that the
mobile telephony has extended the personal space of the user, rather the
personal space is now encroaching the social and public space. Average half of
the undergraduate students used cell phone in public places. One third of
undergraduate boys and more than quarter of undergraduate girls did not bother
about the ‘use of mobile phone prohibited’ type notices displayed in the public
places. More than two fifth of undergraduate students enjoyed to be plugged in
while driving vehicles means that either they listened to music or they attended
calls on phone.
More than three fifth of undergraduate
students regularly talked on cell phone while walking on the streets and equal
percentage of them, frequently made or
attended call and continued to talk on cell phone for a long while travelling
in public transport or standing in a queue.
21.
An average of three fifth
undergraduate students generally had heated SMS Communication, thereafter very
often sent an additional SMS containing LOL or a smiley to reduce the tension.
22. In SMS, slightly less than three fourth of
undergraduate students used short forms of the spellings which are phonetically
correct but grammatically incorrect, thus in a way they considered SMS text as
a verbal communication in written form. It is implied that they actually wanted
to manage with maximum 160 character limit of SMS to express themselves. It has
a palpable impact on formal written communication as the similar language was
found in the written examinations’ answers; using short forms and minimal space
of answer-sheet.
In a way, one can say that cell phone
is responsible for expanding the personal space and shrinking the written
space. The long term impact of such a practice may result in reducing the
ability of in-depth comprehension and analytical approach in thoughts &
expression in the formative years of late adolescence.
23. On an average slightly less than two third
of the undergraduate students preferred to click photographs of important
information like notice board, Power Point Presentations presented in the
classes etc. On one hand it is an easy and time saving way to store the
information as it is; on the other hand this act eliminates the prospect of
writing; thereby using the motor skills that is coordination of voluntary
muscles of finger and hand controlled by brain.
24. When it comes to the cell phone dependency
of undergraduate students the statistical tests found that no gender
differences on the nature of
cell phone dependency. Although the dependency quotient is equal in both boys
and girls, it is important to note that undergraduate boys were more under the
influence of cell phone than undergraduate girls in terms of their behavioural
pattern and their relationships with their parents, other family members and
friends. On one hand the perception towards cell phone and the life of
undergraduate students no gender difference was found, on the other assess the
reported behavioural pattern undergraduate boys’ behaviour was more influenced
by the cell phone than the undergraduate girls’ behaviour.
The qualitative
analysis revealed that -
1. Cell
phone usage pattern was a classic case of ‘abuse of resources as an unalterable
habit of human beings.’
2. Due
to cell phone the virtual world had
become more active than the real one.
3.
The
undergraduates stuck to their phones as if this gadget was the source of their
oxygen intake. In other words, cell phone had apparently become as essential as
food, clothing and shelter to this generation.
4. Cell
phones became an integral part of the life of the youth as these carried
photographs, phone numbers, messages, music, college notes, and documents etc.
and after internet integration, offers Face Book, Twitter and other social
media to connect to the rest of the world.. The cell phone became a tool for
the person’s identity to be expressed.
5.
Cell phone use would cause lack of
concentration.
6.
Exposure to 24 hour-access to internet and also social
networking sites through mobile phones since early and late teen age (13 years
to 17 years) had negative impact. While these users are in the process of
forming self-image, this virtual world could foster their hunger of having a
larger than life image among the members of their social network but it took
them away from the real world. Now through cell phone they could be online for
24 X 7. Thus they could carry this larger than life self image of the virtual
world with them everywhere.
7. 24X7
cell phone usage was liable for the expansion of the private space. The
undergraduate students talked on phone regardless of the space. They even
talked on such subject, which, otherwise they would not have discussed in the
presence of others.
8.
The young
generation grew up looking forward to upgrade their technology instead of
upgrading their lives.
9.
Certain
oral and textual degradation of language, considerable increase in impatience
and decrease in tolerance among the youngsters was observed.
10. Two-wheeler Plus cell phone was a combination which
could invite accidents.
11. On
an average majority of the young population were found spending nearly `500 per
month.
12. The
mobile phone saved lot of time but at the same time the same consumed most of
it.
13. The
teenage girls were more prone to use SMS and teenage boys were more prone to
use voice calling. This difference in the usage pattern was because boys had
less patience to type the message, hence they resorted to talking.
14. The
late night hours on phone chatting with friend and getting up late in the
mornings was a routine practice of young generation.
15. The
undergraduates talk on cell phone for the sake of talking and staying
connected. There is no serious content in the conversation. Most of the time it
is just a ‘time pass’ and gossiping.
16. People
in general fluently talk fallacious things in their cell phone conversations.
The percentage of teenagers was considerable in this lot; they found to be
deceiving very often about their location.
17. The
major impact of cell phone usage was that the anyone present in person would
become insignificant once a call or SMS was received.
18. Cell
phone proved to be an effective tool to escape from the unwanted situations.
19. The
undergraduate students were all the time plugged in. The user using the
earphone continuously might get permanent damage to the hearing ability.
20. The
parents felt proud in confessing that their children did not listen to them.
21. Out
of 100 youngsters on the road 99 were found using cell phone either for
communication or for texting or for listening to music. More than 40% of the
road accidents were caused due to using mobile phones while driving. Nearly
half of the young generation using mobile phone on road got annoyed and back
answered the police on duty who expressly raised objection on their mobile
phone use on road.
22. Economically
backward young people compromised on the quality of the battery of their cell
phone set.
23. Sometimes
teenage couple was found watching something objectionable like pornographic
clip on the mobile screen in public space such as a hired auto rickshaw.
24. They
appeared to take all the safety instructions very lightly. They even found
using cell phone without bothering for notices displayed there preventing use
of the mobile phones.
25. The
youngsters involved in multiple relationships were found using mobile phones to
deal with their multiple girl/boyfriends. The examples of deceitful behaviour
with the lover using mobile phones resulting into serious crimes like murder
appeared to be rare cases at present but their number would certainly grow in
future.
26. Every
medium had its impact on language so did cell phone have. The size of the
screen and the limitation of the characters to be texted cannot afford the
luxury of grammatical, syntactical and other linguistic precisions like
spellings. Therefore, it is obvious that this generation which is brought up
with the cell phone as a medium of communication is using the abridged,
condensed and so called distorted text language. Since these days, most of the
linguists are for the descriptive grammar instead of prescriptive one; this
form of language should be looked at as one of the phases in the voyage of
development of language.
27. There
would be a paradox that there would be a reduction in educational discipline,
while providing greater exposure to the user.
28. The
privacy provided by cell phone was responsible to change the traditional,
cultural and behavioural set, and also to homogenize the nation into one. This
would necessitate educationists, teachers, parents and social scientists to
revisit teaching pedagogies, content and evaluation systems and look at their
students more holistically – not just as domain learners at the tender
undergraduate stage.
29.
If human interaction got to be entirely dependent on technology then
there lurked a danger of breakdown of civil society. Civil society entails on
not only collective communication but also collective action. Although
communications technology facilitated the spreading of thought faster than
before, people had to act collectively and with a physical presence.
30. Karl
Marx’s famous quote ‘religion is the opium of the people,’ should be applicable
for mobile phones.
Summary
and Suggestions
This chapter summarises the thesis. Based on
the findings this researcher has pinpointed sensitive areas where the young
generation may fall prey to the ill effects of Personal Communication
Technology.
Limitations of the study
This
research revolved round the PCT (Personal Communication Technology) which is
ever-changing with galloping speed. The study was conducted during September
2010 to September 2012 and thus limited to the PCT available during the above
mentioned time frame. Thus it could not include the technology introduced after
the study. It was restricted only to the undergraduate students of University
of Pune. The topic was delimited for the sake of making it practically
achievable within the given time frame. The topic was interdisciplinary and
hence the researcher was at times dependent of the scholars of other
disciplines for example Psychology. Hence, the questionnaire took a long time
to be finalized. The sample design was purposive as the main objective of the study
was to assess and analyse the impact of cell phone usage on the behavioural
pattern in general and communication pattern in particular of the undergraduate
students. The results of the study are with the specific reference to the
undergraduate students studying in the colleges affiliated to University of
Pune. The study gives a broad indication about the impact of cell phone usage
on the undergraduate students in Pune. The findings thus cannot be generalised
in respect of students in colleges everywhere in the country. A larger sample
from urban and rural India may offer better perspective about the behaviour and
communication as well as relationships of late adolescents of in the country.
Budgetary
and time constraints were other important limiting factors.
Suggestions
for Future Research
The field of communication is vast. While carrying out this study,
and reviewing literature available on the subject of impact of Information
Technology and Personal Communication Technology, the researcher realised that
studies and research in many areas seems called for. Communication of the Cell
phone Generation (childhood cell phone users), Cultural and social variance
caused due to cell phone communication, measurement of communication
effectiveness, are some of the areas that need research.
Ramaa Golwalkar Dr.
Kiran Thakur
Research
Student Guide
Pune.
Date:
…………………………………………….
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