Blog #24 Research Draft

My Research Draft is provided in the link below to Google Drive.


Research Draft Revision 1

Blog #17 Data to be analyzed

The data I want to analyze in this paper will be the comparisons of behaviors between the three participants I interviewed.

Because of the inconsistent list of questions I used, I will only analyze the differences between the amount of messages sent/received through text, length of texts, variance in texting style for audience, etc.  This is because I failed to ask the first interviewee whether if she preferred to communicate using text over phone and vice versa.

Then I will compare whatever I find with the research paper by the article "‘‘It’s the American Lifestyle!’’: AnInvestigation of Text Messaging by College Students" by Lynne Kelly, James A. Keaten et al.

Blog #9 Interview Protocol

Because I did not draft an interview protocol during the early parts of the research assignment, I did not have a consistent list of questions  in my interview transcript.
I only wanted to get very basic information from the interviewees about their usage of SMS texting and communication software on their phones and personal computers.  At the time, I thought that whatever I got from the interviewee would 'tell the story', not the interviewees themselves.


I ended up creating two lists of questions.  They went as follows:

First set (used only for the first interviewee)

Q: How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

Q: Are you texts usually short, or are they long?

Q:Favorite choice of words?

Q: Okay, so would you say when you text people, would you say your language (or style) changes depending on who you're texting to, say for example, coworkers, family members, friends?

Q: I see. Aside from that, how many text messages would you receive, say, on a given week?

Q: Alright....and how long would you say these texts are? Are they usually one sentence in length, or more?

Second set drafted on April 26

1. How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

2. Are your texts usually short, or are they long?

3. Do you text more than you call?  If so, why?  When you are on your computer, and you're talking to people over the Internet, do you prefer to use instant messaging or videoconferencing services such as Skype?  If you prefer one over the other, why?

4. If you could estimate, how many do you receive in a week?

5. Do you text in the same 'style' with everyone in your contact list?  For example, would you text in short, abbreviated sentences versus longer messages, depending on who you are talking to?   Would you say your 'style' changes depending who you text?

6. What are your favorite words,acronyms and abbreviations?  Do you prefer to use abbreviations, or do you have a preference for writing fuller sentences?   Why?

Blog #13 Analyze Transcipts/ Retroactive

List of questions to be asked

My intention for this research project (regardless how late this project is), is to examine the behaviors of people who send and receive text messages, and find if a variance exists in texting adults towards in regards to the practice of texting over SMS, and instant messaging.

I intend to approach at least interview four people and ask the questions below:

1. How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

2. Are your texts usually short, or are they long?

3. Do you text more than you call?  If so, why?  When you are on your computer, and you're talking to people over the Internet, do you prefer to use instant messaging or videoconferencing services such as Skype?  If you prefer one over the other, why?

4. If you could estimate, how many do you receive in a week?

5. Do you text in the same 'style' with everyone in your contact list?  For example, would you text in short, abbreviated sentences versus longer messages, depending on who you are talking to?   Would you say your 'style' changes depending who you text?

6. What are your favorite words,acronyms and abbreviations?  Do you prefer to use abbreviations, or do you have a preference for writing fuller sentences?   Why?

Interview Transcript #1 (NOTE: This interview does not use the standard questions. This interview was recorded on audio media)

Interview Conducted on April 16, 2014. The subject interviewed was a female college student in her 20’s.

Q: How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

A: Um, probably about 40 texts 50 texts....I don't text a lot...a lot of people

Q: Are you texts usually short, or are they long?

A: They're usually short.

Q:Favorite choice of words?

A: Um, LOL...LMAO *laughs*

Q: Okay, so would you say when you text people, would you say your language (or style) changes depending on who you're texting to, say for example, coworkers, family members, friends?

A: To a friend? Yeah it does change. I would use less abbreviations when addressing coworkers or my boss.

Q: I see. Aside from that, how many text messages would you receive, say, on a given week?

A: I'd say about 200-300 texts.

Q: Alright....and how long would you say these texts are? Are they usually one sentence in length, or more?

A: They're usually quick little things, no more than one sentence.

*NOTE: My questions for Interview 1 are not consistent with the list of questions designed for the research protocol. I will acknowledge this error in the limitations section of the research essay.

Interview #2 Summarized Points (NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW WAS NOT RECORDED ON AUDIO/VIDEO MEDIA, IT WAS TRANSCRIBED ON PAPER BY MEMORIZATION, THEREFORE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS ARE REPORTED IN THE THIRD PERSON, AND IS NOT VERBATIM)

Interview Conducted April 26 2014. The subject interviewed was a male postgraduate student in his 20’s.

1. How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

When questioned, the interviewee reported making a dozen texts per day.

2. Are your texts usually short, or are they long?

When questioned, the interviewee reported that his texts were brief in length. The interviewee reported that he did not use much acronyms when texting, and did not have a particular

3. Do you text more than you call?  If so, why?  When you are on your computer, and you're talking to people over the Internet, do you prefer to use instant messaging or videoconferencing services such as Skype?  If you prefer one over the other, why?

When questioned about preferring calls vs. text, the interviewee reported preferring to call his friends over the phone, especially when talking with friends when they are watching the same TV show. He felt that phone calls were better than texting because he could understand and listen better because he could listen to the changes in voice intonations, and thus had a better understanding of the tone and emotion of who he spoke to. When questioned about preferring instant text messaging vs. videoconferencing software, the interviewee reported preferring videoconferencing software such as Skype. He felt when videoconferencing on Skype, that “It’s like you’re in the room with them”.

4. If you could estimate, how many do you receive in a week?

When questioned, the interviewee reported receiving an average of 60 texts per week, receiving more especially when his friends were watching the same television show at the same time.

5. Do you text in the same 'style' with everyone in your contact list?  For example, would you text in short, abbreviated sentences versus longer messages depending on who you were talking to?   Would you say your 'style' changes depending who you text?

When questioned, the interviewee reported that his 'style' of texting does not change much, regardless if the recipient of the text messages are friends, co-workers, or employers. The only that varies is the subject matter of the text.

6. What are your favorite words, acronyms and abbreviations?  Do you prefer to use abbreviations, or do you have a preference for writing fuller sentences?   Why?

When questioned, the subject preferred not using abbreviations.

Interview Transcript #3

Subject is a male college student in his 20’s

1. How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

“On a day? About 15 to 20”.

2. Are your texts usually short, or are they long?

“Short, the shorter the better, no one wants to read long text, you want to make sure you’re putting in exactly what you want to say or want to know.”

3. Do you text more than you call?  If so, why?  When you are on your computer, and you're talking to people over the Internet, do you prefer to use instant messaging or videoconferencing services such as Skype?  If you prefer one over the other, why?

When the interviewee was asked about communicating over computer he had this to say:

“Text, in that case is easier; the emailing response time is too long, you’ll end up checking the phone more often

On calling vs. texting:

“I prefer calling; it’s clearer, and easier to understand someone when you hear them.”

On Skype:

“Well, I’ve only used Skype a couple of times, one was for an interview; was easier for us since the guy in the interview was in California, for a position; it really saves traveling costs, but I’m still talking to the other guy face to face, I like Skype..I like Skype, I think it’s a good program for people to communicate, especially when distance is an issue, I’ve actually used it once when playing Starcraft believe it or not, but...I don't really use Skype that much.

4. If you could estimate, how many do you receive in a week?

“About a week’s worth?, I’d have to say about a 100.”

5. Do you text in the same 'style' with everyone in your contact list?  For example, would you text in short, abbreviated sentences versus longer messages, depending on who you are talking to?   Would you say your 'style' changes depending who you text?

Variation? Yes there is. It’s kinda hard, because I’m a English major, so I want all my stuff to be kind of correct when I send it, but with quick texts, I do it fast, I abbreviate certain things, it depends on my audience. If I’m especially addressing a professor or someone from work, it’s formal, everything is spelled correctly, etc, so I could be perceived more seriously

6. What are your favorite words,acronyms and abbreviations?  Do you prefer to use abbreviations, or do you have a preference for writing fuller sentences?   Why?

Interviewee gives the same answer as Question 2. He believes shorter texts are better for the sake of clarity.

Blog #8 Research Plan (Retroactive)

My goal for this research project was to find a pattern in texting behavior in those who use text messaging to communicate.   I wanted to find if 'texters' changed their style in texting depending on their audience (as vague as that sounds).

I did not develop a focused set of questions until after I interviewed my first participant.  I wanted to ask at least four people. In fact, when I first started, I didn't even have a real list of questions. I only asked very simple questions about how often they texted, and if they changed their writing depending on their audience. 

The questions I wanted to ask are how frequent "texters" send and receive text messages.  I asked my participants questions about how many texts they received daily and weekly on average.  I also asked my participants to describe their style of texting; namely,  if they preferred short messages (usually no more than one sentence), versus longer messages about a paragraph long.

The first sources I used for this research project was th the article "The socio-demographics of texting: An Analysis of Traffic Data" written by Rich Ling, Sundsoy and Bertel.   I thought this article would be useful, since it showed a very detailed statistical analysis on the behaviors of texters (it actually showed that texters prefer to text within their own age group, and prefer to text within a small group of friends and family).   However, it was almost completely irrelevant by the time I developed
a new set of questions.   So I had to look for another source, and kept coming across dead ends, because all of those I ended up interviewing were in their 20's, while most of the articles I ended up coming across were studying teenagers, and had a focus completely irrelevant to the questions I wanted to ask.

But I did manage to find a research paper somewhat relevant to my focus.  It was called "It's the American Lifestyle: An Investigation of Text Messaging by College Students" by Lynne Kelly et al, since all I had interviewed at that point were college students in their 20's.  Unlike the Rich Lin et al. paper, that paper analyzed the behaviors of texters relevant to my paper (frequency of texts, message length, audience consideration, etc.).  So I ended up choosing that one.

Blog Post: Research Planning & Protocol

My intention for this research project (regardless how late this project is), is to examine the behaviors of people who send and receive text messages, and find if a variance exists in texting adults towards in regards to the practice of texting over SMS, and instant messaging.

I intend to approach at least interview four people and ask the questions below:

1. How many times do you text on the phone on a given day?

2. Are your texts usually short, or are they long?

3. Do you text more than you call?  If so, why?  When you are on your computer, and you're talking to people over the Internet, do you prefer to use instant messaging or videoconferencing services such as Skype?  If you prefer one over the other, why?

4. If you could estimate, how many do you receive in a week?

5. Do you text in the same 'style' with everyone in your contact list?  For example, would you text in short, abbreviated sentences versus longer messages?   Would you say your 'style' changes depending who you text?

6. What are your favorite words,acronyms and abbreviations?  Do you prefer to use abbreviations, or do you have a preference for writing fuller sentences?   Why?

Blog 5 Ethnographic Notes

Last week, our classmates had been asked by the instructor to go around the room and introduce ourselves to classmates who we had not met, akin to a cocktail party.  We were then asked to record and recall what we noticed during the those introductions and conversations.  This exercise was in relation to the literature we had read that day about ethnographic studies.

Here is what I had noticed during the event:

1. A noticeable lack of eye contact.
2. Majority of classmates owned smartphones
3. Most classmates had smartphones on hands
4. Most times, classmates were looking or giving input on their phones when listening, with eyes on the phone.
5. First questions usually involved something to do with the respective interviewee's educational major, careerism
6. Majority of classmates were female students