The Importance of Mobile Phones to Students and Employees of University - Research Paper Example

Management Data Analysis Research Paper Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Use of the Survey 1.2 Research Questions 2.0 Data Sampling Techniques 3.0 Findings and Testing of hypotheses 3.1 Age 3.2 Gender 3.3 Mobile Brand in Current Use 3.5 Amount of Money Available to Spend Every Month 3.7 Current Status 3.8 Summary 4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 4.1 Conclusion 4.1.1 Recommendations 5.0 References List of Figures Figure 1: Age Distribution Figure 2: Gender Disparity Figure 3: Mobile Brands in Current Use Figure 4: Factors Considered when Buying a New Mobile Phone Figure 5: Money Available to Spend Every Month Figure 6: Money Spent on the Current Mobile Plan Figure 7: Current Status 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Use of the Survey Mobile phones play a big role in various areas of our lives. They are for more than just sending and receiving text messages and act as general multifunctional devices. They are used by both the young and the old to perform different functions including playing videos/music/games, exchange of photos, sharing files via wireless infrastructures such as Bluetooth and sending MMS messages. The Mobile Life Youth Report (2006) conducted an investigation on the topic of mobile phones and discovered that 91% of the general population own a mobile phone by the age of 12. This underscores the importance of this research topic The survey which was carried in Coventry University, London Campus (CUCL) between 20/2/2015 and 20/3/2015 sought to find out the importance of mobile phones amongst students and staff of the university. The significant results obtained from the survey show that Apple and Samsung are the favorite mobile brands with percentage proportions of 65.7 and 22 respectively. The sample population which was 48.1% male and 51.1% female was largely student dominated (87.1%) with the remainder being employed and non-employed individuals within CUCL. The findings also demonstrated that 46% of the respondents spend between £100 and £1000 on their mobile pans monthly while 41% spend £100 or less. When buying a mobile phone, 66.4% of the respondents agreed that new technologies play a big role during the selection of mobile phones while 50.7% of them prioritize design and colour. 1.2 Research Questions Since the objective of this survey was to establish the importance of mobile phones to students and employees of Coventry University in London, the questions were formulated to tackle key areas of mobile usage. The research questions are outlined below; 1. What’s your age? 2. What’s your gender? 3. What mobile brand do you currently use? 4. Which factors do you think are important when buying a phone? 5. What’s the cost of your current mobile plan? 6. What’s the amount of money you have available to spend each month? 7. What’s your current status? 1.3. Hypotheses H1: The mean age of the respondents is 24 or greater. Since the target group for this survey was college students and staff, the average age was predicted to be 24 and greater. According to a report released by the Higher Education Statistical Agency, the age distribution of students in various levels of study is between 18 and 29. The mean age of the sample population considering a high majority of students, is likely to be 24. H2: The proportion of students compared to employed and non-employed individuals is greater than 0.6. This is because of the simple reason that since a university is an institution of learning, students are likely to be more compared to employees and other non-employed individuals. H3: The proportion of male respondents is equal to that of female respondents in Coventry University. Coventry University has both male and female students and members of staff in approximately equal proportions. In a given sample population, there is a high likelihood of the presence of male and female individuals in equal proportions. H4: When buying a new mobile phone, technological advances is top on the priority list compared to other factors. Liu (2002) carried out an investigation in Philippines and found out that most young people prioritize new technologies when buying mobile devices. Mack and Sharples (2009 pp.1514-28) also observed through a prior survey that students give precedence to technological innovations when buying mobile phones. Since the target population had a large proportion of students, the same pattern is likely to be observed. H5: Samsung and Apple are the most preferred mobile brands compared to other brands in the market. Studies have shown that brands with a good reputation and brand image end up being the favorite brands among all groups of people (Kohli et.al. 2005, pp. 1005-1015). Samsung and Apple are the most popular mobile brands for 2015 as reported by Digital Trends therefore there is a high probability that the respondents totally agree. H6: The proportion of individuals that spend less than100£ on their mobile plans is 0.7 Students made up the largest size of the target group. There is therefore little expectation that they spend large amounts of money on their mobile plans. This is because most of them have little or no source of income and therefore become careful on how they spend money. 2.0 Data Sampling Techniques The sampling method used in this survey was questionnaires. These questions were conducted online on random students and other citizens around Coventry University in London. A total of 149 respondents were interviewed albeit not every single one of them filled out all the questions. The sample population was random-both male and female as well as students and other employed/unemployed individuals. The questionnaire was sent to the respondents to fill out and send it back for analysis. Both nominal and ordinal data types were implemented in the research. 2.1 Analysis of the questionnaire The data was collected among 149 students. Only 122 students filled the questionnaires correctly representing a 81% of the total sample. Most students sampled preferred the apple phone as their phone of choice but had to weigh between the price and specification of this phone compared to those of Samsung or other brands. The students’ average disposable income also determined the kind of phone that they would buy. A model representing the students’ decision to buy apple phone is given buy. As =Y + D.Inc + P.Sams + P.Others Where: As = Apple phone purchased by student Y=Constant D.Inc. =Student disposable income P.Sams = Price of Samsung phone. P.Others = Price of other brands. Data collected. Age Apple*10 Samsung*10 Other brands*10 Average disposable income 21 150 110 92 1205 22 140 105 72 800 21 120 92 85 600 23 115 100 66 500 19 123 100 85 450 21 123 140 90 870 20 148 140 100 700 19 130 120 87 698 17 129 100 77 870 25 130 150 89 560 29 125 116 120 895 44 132 150 140 548 20 148 152 160 870 21 100 112 130 600 25 152 105 120 650 21 120 150 120 589 22 122 123 152 874 21 186 158 125 560 19 184 100 120 1005 20 100 95 87 587 23 98 56 150 487 21 102 150 80 896 24 78 80 58 856 21 87 50 65 400 25 87 58 86 450 22 69 87 65 415 21 105 132 152 500 23 89 58 69 560 21 87 56 96 401 26 84 75 82 450 17 110 125 65 620 16 90 98 105 580 19 89 110 125 540 18 85 89 69 480 19 87 89 55 490 28 86 89 98 560 20 89 86 52 590 27 57 85 120 400 27 98 115 105 600 25 87 59 125 560 25 25 120 130 354 26 48 98 69 700 20 89 87 87 450 20 89 86 87 560 23 131 120 110 600 24 123 158 120 770 28 89 87 160 900 35 59 87 86 500 25 84 58 15 400 26 112 113 105 650 38 115 105 187 600 28 120 115 128 640 27 98 102 100 400 21 105 90 80 428 27 58 95 65 580 29 69 87 82 600 19 154 112 84 780 18 112 113 105 890 37 90 130 154 250 26 78 140 86 540 24 81 87 89 360 39 96 58 59 720 21 68 69 54 870 25 75 84 82 963 35 56 105 25 400 19 65 89 87 350 32 25 54 85 260 16 78 69 65 258 21 120 114 105 248 43 79 84 89 875 27 48 58 95 589 36 105 112 41 600 26 109 85 98 400 25 89 87 87 401 28 89 84 80 415 25 53 24 82 360 26 89 110 102 400 25 160 130 54 450 18 145 112 101 650 26 47 84 100 300 25 87 126 89 890 24 48 150 109 700 23 87 45 102 400 25 125 130 90 125 25 105 116 120 125 19 140 115 126 895 17 141 125 116 548 21 117 89 98 125 19 169 25 163 650 26 105 114 115 125 38 105 128 115 258 21 118 169 125 308 28 125 112 140 390 19 102 116 115 411 25 136 105 89 450 28 87 69 52 890 18 125 112 115 780 26 105 102 105 658 25 148 158 69 842 25 148 115 112 268 29 147 87 63 486 26 54 56 54 685 36 115 116 89 589 25 169 148 125 890 25 148 120 118 100 29 140 120 100 160 21 123 105 118 105 24 119 118 126 114 21 157 98 69 211 24 158 115 89 858 26 123 158 159 687 23 148 115 63 584 25 128 142 98 890 23 98 100 89 750 20 120 115 100 450 12 105 114 115 456 22 115 112 103 128 20 140 105 120 405 22 130 89 119 552 26 190 160 145 568 22 100 87 59 300 18 128 105 115 655 Average 24 107.7377 103.877 98.03279 550.7213 SUMMARY OUTPUT Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.517538137 R Square 0.267845723 Adjusted R Square 0.249231631 Standard Error 28.63950608 Observations 122 ANOVA   df SS MS F Significance F Regression 3 35407.49213 11802.49738 14.38940594 4.73914E-08 Residual 118 96786.11443 820.2213087 Total 121 132193.6066         Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0% Intercept 31.90734676 12.40641802 2.571841987 0.011357203 7.339261743 56.47543 7.339262 56.47543 X Variable 1 0.460657992 0.096580555 4.769676391 5.32509E-06 0.269402202 0.651914 0.269402 0.651914 X Variable 2 0.186296524 0.092851427 2.006393756 0.047100897 0.002425421 0.370168 0.002425 0.370168 X Variable 3 0.017641224 0.011520237 1.531324693 0.128365754 -0.005171982 0.040454 -0.00517 0.040454 From the statistical model, a students’ decision to buy apple phone is given by: Apple phone (As ) =31.9073+0.46065 P.Sams+0.18629P.Other+0.01764D.Inc z-Test: Two Sample for Means   Variable 1 Variable 2 Mean 107.7377049 550.7213115 Known Variance 107.7377 550.7213 Observations 122 122 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 Z -190.6791472 P(Z Read More