How to measure sessions of mobile phone use? Quantification, evaluation, and applications

Research on mobile phone use often starts with the question of how much time users spend using their phones. The question involves an equal-length measure that captures the duration of mobile phone use but does not tackle the other temporal characteristics of user behavior, such as frequency, timing, and sequence. In this study, we propose a variable-length measure called “session” to uncover the unmeasured temporal characteristics. We use an open source dataset to demonstrate how to quantify sessions, aggregate the sessions to higher units of analysis within and across users, evaluate the results, and apply the measure for theoretical or practical purposes.

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Mobile Phones and Libraries/Information Centres

Encyclopedia of Mobile Phone Behavior ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8239-9.ch025 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 287-296

Author(s):

Jerome Idiegbeyan-Ose ◽

Goodluck Ifijeh ◽

Chidi D. Isiakpona

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phone ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

User Behavior ◽

Information Services ◽

Negative Behaviors ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Library Users ◽

And Behavior ◽

Mobile Use ◽

User Education

This chapter examines mobile phone use and behavior among users in library and information centres. It discusses both observed and perceived mobile phone behaviors among library users and advocates the control of identified negative trends in libraries. It recommends that user education should be intensified; law and legislations on mobile use in libraries should be enacted and guarded jealously. The chapter concludes that, though the use of mobile phones has revolutionized library and information services, it also redefined user behavior. Negative behaviors associated with the use of mobile phones among users will stop or at least reduce while libraries and librarians will continue to evolve ways and means to curb ugly trends.

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Measurement of Technology Behaviors: A Look at Texting Scales

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931213601784 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 1208-1212

Author(s):

Bradford L. Schroeder ◽

Shannon K. T. Bailey ◽

Daphne E. Whitmer ◽

Valerie K. Sims

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phone ◽

Age Groups ◽

Developmental Differences ◽

The Other ◽

Psychological Characteristics ◽

Smart Devices ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Psychological Variables ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Potential Applications

The measurement of technology behaviors occurs in everyday interactions with websites and smart devices, and can be applied to customize interfaces to improve users’ experiences as well as increasing revenues via targeted ads. This is possible because technology behaviors can reflect underlying personal and psychological characteristics about users that can be utilized to deliver custom-tailored content to each user. Texting is a one technology behavior that has been shown to be associated with a variety of psychological variables, including personality, depression, and anxiety, and has been shown to relate to socio-developmental differences among different age groups. Thus, the measurement of texting behaviors could have potential applications for researchers and practitioners. The present study examined a new scale to measure texting behavior: the Texting Behaviors Index (TBX; Schroeder & Sims, 2017), alongside two scales that measure problematic aspects of mobile phone use (Merlo, Stone, & Bibbey, 2013) and motivations for texting (Reid & Reid, 2007). Results indicate that measures from the TBX converge with the other texting scales, and support the TBX’s usefulness as a measure of texting behavior.

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The energy consumption and health hazards of mobile phones

Energy & Environment ◽

10.1177/0958305x16677185 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (8) ◽

pp. 896-904

Author(s):

Manivannan S Velmurugan

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Mobile Phones ◽

Waste Disposal ◽

Health Hazards ◽

The Other ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Environment And Health ◽

Other Hand

Mobile phones are universally popular due to their convenience. Mobile phones solve problems and offer new channels of communication by using a device small enough to fit into one hand. On the other hand, mobile phones may be harmful to the environment and health, and waste disposal problems may be associated with their use. This study discusses the risks associated with mobile phone use and addresses the options to rectify those issues in the longer term.

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