Blog 25

Introduction 

In previous studies on cell-phones, researchers stated that cell phones are forming particular subcultures among youths in many different countries. Although much research has been done on cell phones effect on society, not a lot of studies are conducted on why people acquire cell phones. In the following research I will explore why people acquire cell-phones by analyzing transcribed data from two interviews. In brief, I found that personal safety, image, social interaction, and privacy management all contribute to why people acquire cell-phones. Now, more then ever,kids, teenagers and even adults have cell phones, and are able to have more control over there discourses then ever before. As James Gee says “ Think of discourse as an identity kit, it comes complete with appropriate costume and instructions on how to act and talk in order to take on a particular role that others will recognize”. With the growing use of cell phones, people are now able to talk the talk without having to walk the walk.


Literature Review

Studies on social impacts of mobile phones had been scarce until a couple of years
ago. Rather, past research on mobile phones examined engineering and policy aspects of the technology. In recent years, however, several researchers started to turn attention to social aspects of cell phone diffusion and the impacts cell phones had on people’s daily lives and relationships. James E. Katz,a prominent US researcher studying the social aspects of mobile communication, explored in 1997 the possible effects of wireless communication upon people’s lives. In examining the topic, he identified several levels of effects of such a technology: namely ‘‘first-order effects,’’ direct effects that are immediately perceived by users; ‘‘second-order effects,’’ indirect effects that are ‘‘experiences or feelings that people have or may observe in others’’ (Katz, 1997, p. 235) and ‘‘third order effects,’’ the least direct effects that are observed not by users of the technology but by outside observers who study the effects of the technology upon the society in general.

In Europe and Asia where cell phones are much more prevalent than in the US,
young people have been the driving force in adopting the new communication device. In Finland where the cell phone penetration rate is highest in the world, over 90% of the people under 30 own such a device (Puro, 2002). Taylor and Harper (2001) noted that young people use cell phones, especially their text-messaging feature, as forms of gifts that are ‘‘exchanged in performances that have specific meanings in young peoples daily lives and are played out with the intent to cement social relationships’’

In summary, the researchers in the past have studied the effects of cell phone use
and found that:  there are intended and unintended uses of the technology; cell phones are forming particular subcultures among youths in many different countries; the use of cell phone is blurring the boundary between work and private life as well as the boundary between public and private space; and the cell phone can make the user susceptible to social control by friends, family and businesses. Most of the past studies were conducted in Scandinavian countries, European countries, and Asian countries. In order to add the US perspective, this study will examine what features cause people to buy cell phones, and how that effects the discourses they become apart of.


Methods
I conducted two separate interviews, one with my Mother, she works in a cancer center in NYC. She grew up in a world without cell-phones or any type of technology until the mid 90‘s. The other interview was with my good friend Stephen, he is 21 years of age and is an aspiring musician, and has had a cell-phone since he was in 7th grade. The interview with my mother took place at our home, and the interview with Stephen took place at his home. I used my laptop to record both interviews.


Presentation of Data/Analysis of Data

After conducting my interviews, I pulled out some over arching themes that came up in both interviews. These themes are reasons people decide to get cell phones( or find cell phones appealing)

Personal Safety 
S: “I drive a 1988 Buick, and to be honest, it doesn’t run to well. I work in  Newark and my parents are kind of worried about me driving home at night
J:  so what type of situation do you envision you would use your
phone?
S: Like if I broke down and I needed someone to pick me up. A lot of
places where I drive  you don’t want to be walking up the street to find help

Stephen also noted that having a cell-phone gave him a sense of psychological safety when walking back to his car after work, or walking anywhere alone.

J-Has there been a time recently where you used your cell-phone to feel more safe in a specific situation, or is it mainly used for just car troubles
S-Yea, a month or so ago I was at my friends house, and he lives off campus in Elizabeth. As i approached this corner, a large group of guys started to form, so I picked up my phone and called my friend until I reached my car.
J-For what reason did you do that? Were you scarred or just taking certain precautions?
S-I wasn’t really scarred but it made me feel better knowing someone was there listening to what was going on.

The appearance the use of a cell phone gives to bystanders seems to be a two edged sword.It gives off the look that your busy or doing something, which Stephen, believed made him less likely to get into an altercation. ‘‘If you are on a cell phone, you are less of a target,’’ he said. With a cell-phone, he continued, you ‘‘look busy and look like you’re headed somewhere and that you’re not lost even if you are.’’ On the other hand my Mother felt a bit differently, she said ‘‘I have mixed emotions but I do feel as if they are a good form of protection when I’m walking home by myself at night. I also feel vulnerable because  I now have a smart-phone so i think people are going to think I have money because I have this cell phone––which isn’t necessarily true. They might try to hurt me or take it away from me.

My mother even noted that the events of 9/11 played a large role in her needing to feel safe after such traumatic events.

J: “What was the main reason for purchasing your very first cell phone at that time?"
M: well because Lorin(my sister) was driving to school and had broken down before, she needed to be able to call me at work if she had a problem, Basically emergency's. Same reason Noah(my brother) got one because it was hard to reach him on the hall phone in the dorm. Also after 9/11 was when I felt it was important to have a cell phone. It showed everyone that you never know when disaster can strike and you need to contact another person as soon as possible.





 Image

 Maintaining a “good” social image was a reason Stephen mentioned for acquiring a cell-phone

J: "What was the main reason you chose to get a cell-phone?"
S: "Well I was the only one out of my group of about nine close friends that didn't have  a cell-phone yet"
J: "Did that bother you?"
S: "Not having a cell-phone didnt bother me, but being teased and made fun of got to me after awhile, and I decided to ask my parents for one, and the summer going into my 8th grade year was when I got my first cell-phone"

Interestingly, Stephen also mentioned that his smart-phone presently brings him negative attention from his friends now

S: "A lot of my friends are very laid back musicians who don’t really use smart-phones and try to be anti everything. If I over-use my cell phone I feel like I’m living in such an image, so I kind of get made fun of when I overuse my cell phone in certain social situations "



Privacy Management

My mother never mentioned this as a reason for acquiring a cell-phone, however Stephen mentioned how he cleverly uses the land-line numbers for certain business transactions and keeping the cell phone numbers to those who are close to him. He uses a cell-phone as a way of sifting out people by importance.

J: "Do you feel that land-line phones will be useful in years to come?"
S: "I mean they most likely wont exist in the years to come, but  I like to have a land-line because I want a number where I can give it out to people. Where if you need to fill out a form for something and a store needs your number, I don’t want to give out my cell phone number"

Blog #24

I'm basically done interviewing my two subjects, but now I have to transcribe my data, and select which chunks to use. I know exactly what I want to say, but in our conference I would like to go over the structure of my paper. Hopefully we can discuss what specifically needs to go where. I know we talked about it last class but it was a generalized outline, which was a huge help, but I'd like you to look over what I have so far and let me know if I'm on the right track or if I should stop what I'm doing because its incorrect. Also I could use some help with how to present my data. In my short analysis I knew what I had to say, I just could not say it properly and in "research terms" like you said I wrote more of a literature piece rather then a research paper. Other then that I just need to put everything I have together, because it's all kind of scattered, hopefully after our conference everything will be put into its correct place

Blog #23

When I went over the data I've collected so far on cell phones and there effect on our social communities, I stumbled upon some interesting points. My research question is not weather to prove if cell phones isolate us in or social communities or rather connect us(bring us closer), but it is to show HOW it connects and or isolates us. A reoccurring theme I constantly run into is the term "over-communicating". In my interview with my Mother, she went on to talk about how hanging out with friends was more valued before cell phones, and how there is a certain eeriness of a group of people being together, all communicating with other people in different places, but yet not saying a word. I still have one more interview to do with my good-friend, he is a year older then me and has had a cell phone since 7th grade. I'm going to compare the two types of answers between my mother and my friend, to see if age has an influence. My main focus will be to analyze the features that cause cell phones to be keeping us connected, as well as what features of a cell phone can keep us isolated.

Blog #21

Reflection on Short Analysis

• I have to get into the mind set of research rather then writing a piece of literature.
• I struggled with creating detailed codes, and then once i had a coding system I didnt further analyze, I just left it as is.
• I learned that I have to strengthen my research, rather then focus on my writing.
• I also need to be more organized with how I present my data

Overall I enjoyed doing the short analysis paper, it was my very first "research" paper, and although I didn't do as well as I had anticipated, I know that the best way to improve is leaning from your mistakes, and believe me my short analysis contained plenty.

Blog #20

1.  What are the strengths your writing for the introduction?  What do you need to work on? 
What are the strengths of your writing for the review of the literature?  What do you need to work on?

• I feel that my introduction is slightly vauge and lacks certain details. When I wrote it, I was trying to not give away my entire arsenal of points that I was going to be making throughout the paper.  

2. What is the research problem identified in your introduction?  How do you point out what your research project will contribute toward resolving this "problem"?  In other words, what have you written about  the importance of your project for writing studies?

• I believe the topic of cell phones are very important, due to the fact that almost every child over the age of 14, most likely has a cell phone. The problem identified is that more and more people are becoming reliant on cell phones to do simply everyday tasks. I'm focusing on the effects of having mass convenient all around us, and how people react when things aren't as convenient 

3. What have other researchers found out about your topic that is relevant to your research project?

Other researchers have found that cell phones are being "over-used" and people are "overcommunicating" a problem that has been unheard of in previous generations.

4.  How do you connect findings from question 3 to the purpose of your project?

• I want to find specific examples, by interviewing people who have grown up without cell phones and compare it to someone who is growing up with cell phones, asking the same set of questions, and comparing the answers i get.

5.  What is your plan for finishing your introduction and literature review?

• Keep revising and reading it aloud, so I can make sure it sounds nice and flows smoothly. At the moment I feel like it's just a bunch of points jumbled together. 

6.  What feedback do you want from me?

• I'd like to know how YOU think I should start off my intro. The topic is so vast I'm not quite sure where to draw the readers attention to first 

Blog 19

Question: Do cell phones keep us more connected to social communities or do they isolate us from each other.


In the last couple of decades, our world has seen a rapid growth of technology, not just in computers, there is technology in almost everyone's daily life, whether its a GPS to navigate, or solar panels on your roof, technology is all around us.

More specifically, cell phones, have evolved so rapidly over the past few decades, so much to the point where they have become a necessity of life for some, because they can make certain tasks very convenient. However as we know, everything has two sides. Cell-phones have presented us with an entirely new set of problems. If cell phones are there for the sole purpose of communication, is it possible that this generation and the ones to come are over-communicating? The increase of cell phones and social networking over the past couple of decades are meant to make it easier for us to communicate, but do these advances in technology really make it more complicated to express how we truly feel? Are we moving towards an age where humans have limited contact with each other?

Blog 14

My Research Question: What features of comments asking for change, actually help the student make changes to their writing.


When you work hard on a paper and think you have put down your absolute best work, and all you get back are comments asking you to change your paper, some students may be crushed, while others are uplifted to do better and improve upon what they had written. With my question I want to take a look at what it is about those comments(asking for change) that effect if the response is a negative or positive one.

First I must categorize the comments that make a request of some sort. There are comments that ask the student to change their position of what they said. Example: "This paragraph should be said later on in your essay" those can be coded as positional change. Then there is the types of comment when the teacher  requests change/asks question. Example: "Can you provide more information in this paragraph". Then there are comments that are very direct in the form of a statement while demanding change. Example "You should change your closing paragraph" these could be coded as change/statement. 

I've been a student for quite some time now and have gotten hundreds of papers back and graded, most of which always have comments on them. From my own personal experience  the type of comments that have a positive effect on my writing is the change/question. When a teacher asks you to change something but doesn't hint at what they want changed, it feels as if your in a pitch black room and need to find the light switch  you know exactly what you must do, but do not know how to find it. That is why when a teacher makes a request to change your writing, but then asks a question, it gets you thinking and is a big hint to what they want to see on the paper.

I still have work to do in finding other examples and opinions other then my own and the couple of literacy narratives i will also use