scholarly journals University students' preference regarding social media content, internet usage and online friendship patterns

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-249
Author(s):  
Asma Butt

PurposeThis study aimed to find out the web content accessed by university students and to compare the level of interaction with real-life friends and online friends.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the quantitative research design used, and the researcher collected data through the survey method. The population comprises all undergraduate students at the University of the Punjab, Lahore. The sample of 320 students, age ranges from 18 to 22 years from eight selected departments, collected through a simple random sampling technique and after extraction 284 questionnaires evaluated by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).FindingsThe findings of the study showed that students preferred activities on the Internet is to access social networking sites. Additionally, the mobile phone is the most commonly used device among university students to access the Internet. Furthermore, students mostly used Facebook to keep in touch with their old friends and talk on different topics more easily with their online friends as compared to real-life friends. The study also shows that the results of both the hypothesis are significant; therefore, no difference exists regarding time spent on the Internet in real-life friendship patterns and online friendship patterns.Originality/valueThe research was used to find out the difference between the online friendship and real-life friendship patterns of the two groups who use the Internet for less time and who spend more time on the Internet among the university students.

Author(s):  
عبد الكريم الدبيسي ◽  
يسرى خالد إبراهيم

The digital environment has brought a lot of changes to the lives of societies and affected and changed their cultures, lifestyles, ways of thinking and interaction with the environment. The digital environment, with its rapid developments, has produced new ideas and behaviors on societies in general and Arab society was not far from these currents, after more than fifteen A year since the Internet entered Iraq, which is one of the most important manifestations of democracy, the latest radical changes in human relations. The information acquired by the human being today is one of the Internet and its culture dependent on it, and here began the study questionably head of that: What is the role of social networking sites in promoting young people's awareness of the importance of the popular movement? The research aims through adopting the survey method (Public Opinion Survey) to identify the most important political, economic and social dimensions of youth awareness that the Internet has brought to them by enhancing information and increasing confidence in the importance of change and persistence on the principle and the research sample is from university students and they are the motors of mobility in the Arab countries Study (Iraq )


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Appiadu ◽  
Mercy Kuma-Kpobee ◽  
Efua Vandyck

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to identify the apparel shopping styles of Ghanaian female young adults and to assess the applicability of the consumer styles inventory (CSI) within the Ghanaian context.Design/methodology/approachA multistage random sampling technique was used to select 405 Ghanaian female undergraduate students aged 18–25 years from the University of Ghana. The CSI was used to collect data and these were analyzed using principal component analysis.FindingsThe results showed that the subjects adopted multiple shopping styles when scouting for stores and selecting apparel for managing their appearance. Seven of the CSI dimensions were confirmed (perfectionism, brand consciousness, novelty-fashion consciousness, confused by over-choice, impulsive carelessness, recreational hedonism and habitual brand loyalty). A new shopping style, indifference shopping orientation was identified.Practical implicationsMarket segmentation, product development and marketing strategies should be tailored to the shopping styles of female young consumers in Ghana.Originality/valueThis study, for the first time, uses the consumer characteristic approach and the CSI to identify the apparel decision-making styles of young adult female Ghanaians. This fulfils the need for the study of shopping styles, which is vital for producers and marketers to enable them to make informed decisions to meet specific needs and expectations of these cohorts of consumers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu ◽  
Rita Amoah Bekoe ◽  
Dorothea Sekyiwa Otoo ◽  
Akua Pokuaa Essah Koli

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the views of university students on social networking sites (SNSs) adoption for educational purposes and investigate the factors that motivate students to use SNSs for academic purposes.Design/methodology/approachA survey method of research was adopted and questionnaires were administered to the respondent group. A total of 522 valid responses from the University of Ghana Business School Students were used in the empirical analysis. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship among the key constructs of the study.FindingsThe results of this study suggest that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, the existence of facilitating conditions and the purposes of SNSs are the key factors that motivate students to adopt SNSs for academic purposes. However, the influence of other people in society and the desire to be identified with social groups were found not to be important predictors of SNSs use by students for educational purposes.Research limitations/implicationsThe data examined in this study are based on sample responses from only one university, which may limit the extent of generalization of the findings.Originality/valueThis paper provides some useful insights into the key predictors of SNSs adoption for educational use by university students from the perspective of a developing country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 992-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfred M.Y. Owusu ◽  
Anthony Essel-Anderson ◽  
Teddy Ossei Kwakye ◽  
Rita Amoah Bekoe ◽  
Charles Gyamfi Ofori

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence Ghanaian tertiary students’ career choices. The paper explores the dimensionality of the career choice factors within the Ghanaian context and also ascertains their degree of influence on students’ career choices. Design/methodology/approach The study employs survey method of research and a set of questionnaire was used to examine the factors that influence students’ career choices. A total of 354 undergraduate students from the Ashesi University College in Ghana participated in the study. Factor analysis was conducted on the career choice factors and differences in response between science and business students were ascertained by means of independent sample t-test. Findings The findings of this study indicate that university students in Ghana place much premium on intrinsic value and employability/financial prospect in their career choice decisions than such factors as prestige and desired working conditions. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are relevant for policymakers and tertiary education providers interested in making the study of science an attractive option for university students in Ghana. Originality/value The findings of this paper highlight some of the underlining reasons for the unpopularity of the study of sciences among university students in Ghana.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wazzuha Amina ◽  
Nosheen Fatima Warraich ◽  
Amara Malik

Purpose This study aims to explore the university students’ usage pattern of Wikipedia information and its effect on their learning. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was designed to collect data from the students of master programmes at University of the Punjab, Lahore. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was used to select the sample from the population of “Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences”. In total, 225 masters’ students from eight departments participated voluntarily in the study. Findings Findings revealed that the majority of the respondents used Wikipedia information regularly for both academic and leisure purposes. They usually did not edit/add content in Wikipedia entries though they observed incomplete contents in it. Overall, the respondents perceived Wikipedia as an easy and understandable source of information that enhanced their understanding about a topic and enabled them to accomplish tasks more quickly. Research limitations/implications The sample of this study was social sciences students from one university. The findings may not be generalizable across other groups of students and universities. Practical implications These findings suggest that students have a positive behaviour towards Wikipedia and regarded it as a good source of information. They use Wikipedia information for academic and leisure purposes. So, the academics and librarians need to provide better guidelines for using Wikipedia, rather than prohibiting its use altogether. Originality/value This paper provides useful information on the use of Wikipedia among university students from a developing country’s perspective and thus contributes to the tendency of increasing acceptance of Wikipedia in academia. Furthermore, understanding how gender plays a role in differentiating the using behaviour of Wikipedia information could benefit both academics and library practitioners.


2020 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Ali Raza ◽  
Wasim Qazi ◽  
Bushra Umer ◽  
Komal Akram Khan

PurposeSocial media experience a rapid rise in recent years and steep into almost every aspect of people's lives by altering their lifestyles and creating an impact on their wellbeing. The purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of SNSs on life satisfaction among university students by first exploring what are the key gratifications which motivates them to engage in SNSs and then focusing on the psychological outcomes including social overload and social benefit from using SNSs that affects life satisfaction among the university students.Design/methodology/approachTheory of social influence and uses and gratifications theory were used in this study to examine the motivations for using SNSs, and the impact of psychological outcomes associated with SNSs usage, i.e. social benefit and social overload on life satisfaction among university students of Pakistan. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.FindingsThe outcomes indicate that the need for maintaining interpersonal interconnectivity, entertainment value and social enhancement value derives the students' participation in social networking sites through which they encounter social benefit and social overload. The presence of social benefit enhances life satisfaction while social overload results in decreasing life satisfaction of students. Using social networking sites influences life satisfaction in the presence of social overload and social benefit while there is no direct influence of social networking sites on life satisfaction was evidenced.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study investigated the needs that drive the use of social media through the lens of UGT & Social influence approach. The other potential determinants of social media usage intention should be analyzed by employing variables of the other models.In this study social media was examined as a general platform used by the university students of Pakistan. In future researches the driving needs should be examined in the context of specific social networking sites.Practical implicationsThe presented findings embraces the implications for the authorities of higher education institutions and policy makers as it provides the useful insights about student 2019s motivations and participation behavior in SNSs which would help in developing strategies for desirable results.Social implicationsEducational institutions can utilize the research findings by incorporating social media tools in the academic system, student's interaction with their mentors will lead towards enhanced involvement of students and intellectual skills along with upgraded academic performance which will positively influence life satisfaction of the students.Originality/valueThe scarcity of findings was observed in the local environment specifically in the context of SNSs usage and well-being of the higher education students. This study addresses the motivational factors of SNSs usage and their psychological outcomes simultaneously and focused on the investigation of social media usage drivers and its outcomes among the university students of Pakistan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Dr. Mahvish Fatima Kashif ◽  
Dr. Faiza Shaheen ◽  
Maryam Tahir

The objective of the study was to find out relationship between perceived parenting styles of mothers and emotional intelligence among undergraduate students. Correlational research was selected as research design. The population of the study was undergraduate students of education department of public and private universities of Lahore. The total population was 1760. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample. The strata were formed on the basis of nature of the university. The total number of students selected was 528. The instrument consisted of three parts; first part consisted of demographic information (gender, nature of institution, education of mother and working status of mother). The second part consisted of Parenting Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), designed by Buri (1991) which was used to measure parenting styles and the third part consisted of Emotional Intelligence questionnaire (EI) by Schutte (1998) which was used to measure emotional intelligence. Data was collected individually from participants through questionnaires by survey method. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between the variables and Independent sample t-test was used to determine the difference between the demographic variables.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-505
Author(s):  
Juan Aguirre ◽  
Sindy Chaves ◽  
Karen Burban

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the actual uses of smartphones for university students while they are in the university, whether in the classroom or outside, to facilitate the use of mobile technologies in the university and in classroom activities. Design/methodology/approach The site was the main campus of a university with a population of 10,000 undergraduate students; a convenience sample of 370 students was estimated for 246 usable surveys, with 95% confidence interval and 6.12 percent error. The proposed conceptual framework is based on the unified theory of technology acceptance. The instrument was developed on the basis of the literature and it was validated through a qualitative–quantitative process. The data were collected fact-to-face and the analysis consisted of the estimation of a general profile, mean and standard deviation and the development of the ordinal logistic regression model to test the hypothesis. Minitab 16 was the program used for the calculations. Findings The instrument was found to be acceptable with a 0.90 α. The uses associated with the academic activities are: p8_1 search what I do not understand in the class, p5_1 read digital books, pdf and other documents, p9_1 study, p11_1 share course information and p2_1 take photos of class blackboard and another type of materials. For non-academic uses, the uses were: p14 calendar, p4 listening to music, p9 telephone calls and p7 interacting with new students. The adaptation of mobiles to university education has to harmonize students’ use, professors’ objections and institutional concerns; therefore, four elements are needed before a decision is made: professors’ training, teaching material development, infrastructure adaptation and a sound plan. Research limitations/implications The selection of students was a convenience sample; therefore, the results cannot be extrapolated beyond the sample. Practical implications The study clarifies the traditional idea popular in the area, that is, students use the mobile only for entertainment, and suggests ways to managerially deal with the issue in an orderly fashion, by investing in human capital, infrastructure and electronic teaching tools. Originality/value The value is that the findings provide some ideas regarding the uses of smartphones for university students while they are in the university; such information can be used to orient strategies to develop educational uses of the smartphone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Odede

Background: Mobile learning (m-learning) has been recognised as an essential educational technology component in higher education. The use of mobile devices and the prospect to learn irrespective of time and place make mobile learning an important tool for students. Many studies have been conducted because of the importance of m-learning in advancing teaching and learning but few published scholarly studies have focused on perception and mobile self-efficacy.Objectives: The study’s objective is to assess students’ perception and self-efficacy towards mobile learning at the University of Zululand.Method: The study adopted a descriptive survey method and a stratified random sampling technique was used to select 200 undergraduate students from the four faculties for the study. Data were collected using questionnaire. Statistical tools such as frequency count and simple percentage were employed in analysing the collected data.Results: WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube are the top three social media applications mostly used by the students. Results showed that the students have positive perceptions towards m-learning and possess the confidence needed in using m-learning solutions.Conclusion: Perception and mobile self-efficacy towards m-learning technology are important factors that help in determining whether or not students are ready to use m-learning. Hence, this study focuses on investigating the perception and self-efficacy of undergraduate students at the University of Zululand towards m-learning. Therefore, the study concludes that the University management fully integrates m-learning solutions to its academic programmes to enhance the quality of teaching and learning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
Johnson E. Upahi ◽  
Umesh Ramnarain

Open-ended problem-solving skills have been identified as employable skills, which undergraduate students will need to have in order to cope with real-life problems in their workplaces after graduation. However, the development and assessment of these skills have been inconsistent across courses offered in universities. This research examined undergraduate students’ ability to engage with open-ended chemistry problems, and the influence of their working memory space on problem solving. The research is a descriptive research design that employed a survey method for collection data. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 665 students from 19 chemistry departments in Nigerian universities. The students’ ability to solve open-ended problems was measured in terms of their performance and was found to be below average (< 50). The female students outperformed their male counterparts in the chemistry open-ended problem-solving test (ChemOPST). A strong positive correlation was found to exist between students’ working memory capacity and their performance in the ChemOPST. The research concludes on the need for experiential-based learning of chemical concepts which could help students build a knowledge base that is required to engage with problems that have real-life applications. Keywords: open-ended problems, working memory, chemistry problem-solving, university students.


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