ANALYSIS
OF
TIME SPENT
AND
Frequency of use of
SOCIAL MEDIA
BY
School grade
RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND SUBMITTED BY MARIST COLLEGE ASHGROVE WITH
ASSISTANCE FROM MOUNT SAINT MICHAELS COLLEGE ASHGROVE
Aim & Hypothesis
Aim:
To investigate how much time is spent on
social media throughout high school.
Hypothesis:
It is expected that as the year level of the
student increases, time spent on social
media and time spent per visit will
decrease. It is further expected that male
students will spend less time than female
students on social media.
Data Collection:
100 boys and 100 girls were surveyed across Years 8-12 to
determine the amount of time spent on social media, and the
frequency of visits.
The sample population was surveyed via SurveyMonkey.
The sample population was asked the following four
questions:
1)
2)
3)
4)
What gender are you?
What year level are you in?
How much time do you spend per week on social media?
How many times do you visit social media sites per week?
Results:
Table of Results
GIRLS
Grade Total Time (h) No. Visits Time/Visit (h)
8
13.25
82.75
3:50
9
8.69
19.1
10:55
10
16
67.25
5:42
11
12.18
76.8
3:48
12
16.4 46.33333
8:29
BOYS
Grade Total Time (h) No. Visits Time/Visit (h)
8
8.9
13.6
15:42
9
5.625
27.375
4:55
10
8.214
86.5
2:16
11
7.4
28.4
6:15
12
7.8 49.66667
3:46
Gender- comparative box and whisker plot of time spent on social media:
Time spent per week (hours)
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Girls
Boys
Results
Time spent using social media per
week - Boys
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Time spent per week (hours)
Time spent per week (hours)
Time spent using social media per week
- Girls
y = 0.979x + 10.367
8
9
10
11
12
Secondary school year
10
6
4
2
0
8
10
11
Secondary school year
12
Time spent per visit (minutes)
Time spent per visit (minutes)
9
10
11
12
Time spent per visit - Boys
y = 0.0091x + 0.2457
8
9
Secondary school year
Time spent per visit - Girls
12:00:00
10:48:00
9:36:00
8:24:00
7:12:00
6:00:00
4:48:00
3:36:00
2:24:00
1:12:00
0:00:00
y = -0.0425x + 7.7153
8
16:48:00
14:24:00
12:00:00
9:36:00
7:12:00
4:48:00
2:24:00
y = -0.094x + 0.5564
0:00:00
8
9
10
11
Secondary school year
12
Discussion
The results did not support the initial hypothesis of an increase in time per an
increase in year level. Instead, results revealed no definitive trend in time spent
using social media over the grades. However, it was revealed that for both boys
and girls, time spent on social media decreased in Year 11. This is consistent with
the significant increase in workload which Year 11 brings. Time spent on Social
media in Year 12 returned to Year 10 levels, possibly due to an increase in social
commitments during this year and adaptation to workload.
The results also proved that girls spend more time than boys on social media, by
margins of up to three hours per week. This is possibly a result of boys’
comparatively small interest in social developments.
Finally, the results proved that, for boys, time spent per visit to social media sites
decreased as grade increased. This suggests that as boys get older, the use of social
media changes from a form of long-term entertainment to a news source.
Improvements
In order to achieve maximum accuracy in future statistical summaries,
it is recommended that:
In order to achieve more representative results
• Sample sizes from all grades should be increased.
• Samples should be taken from many more schools.
In order to increase the scope of the survey,
• More qualitative data should be collected and analysed.
• Links should be drawn between time spent studying and
time spent on social media.
In order to increase the accuracy of the survey,
• All time data should be expressed in HH:MM:SS format
• Graphs should be enlarged and multiple data series should be compared
Conclusion
An investigation was conducted into the amount of time spent on social
media by boys and girls from Years 8 to 12. Although the results refuted
the initial hypothesis of increasing grade resulting in decreasing time,
various other observations were made, and accompanying inferences put
forward to explain the trends observed.
Overall, it was found that time spent using social media did not increase
or decrease as the result of one variable (schoolwork) as expected, but
rather as the result of many variables (social life, ability to cope with
work) interacting.
Considering this, it is recommended that future research and analysis be
conducted to better understand how socio-dynamics of the teenage world
can affect their prioritisation towards various factors of their lives.