Lab 5: Questions that matter
By: Sidney Rayba
College students sitting at library computers. (wix.com stock photo).
We live in an informational society. As long as society continues to advance on the basis of innovation and information, internet and computer access are essential means to survival.
Introduction
The technological renaissance has brought many advancements to how we live our lives today. From “smart” home appliances to the world in our pockets, the one constant that keeps these systems operating is... the internet. Having access to the internet, wifi, and software systems are no longer a leisure activity, but rather a necessity to keep up with the ever-moving and ever-changing pace of society.
As a college student, the internet has drastically changed the way I find resources, study, learn and in the past year, go to class. The internet has given options to the way we navigate work, school, and leisure time at home. That poses the question, how important is the internet in our day-to-day lives and how would we function without it?
The American Community Survey, conducted by Census.gov, offers a multitude of information and statistics regarding any factors deemed noteworthy. The "Data Profiles Geography Selector” allows for a breakdown of census information by nation, state, and county. Narrowing down the information to zero-in on Oakland County, Michigan, Census.gov statistics show that 90% of Oakland County residents have access to the internet and a computer.
The percentage of Oakland County residents who have access to the internet and a computer was no surprise to Daniel Carr and I, but we wanted to dive deeper into the subject matter… Why is the internet necessary in Oakland University students’ lives?
Crowdsourcing and Data
The easiest way to crowdsource our information was through a sharable survey link that was then posted to social platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). To make sure we were getting the most reliable information, we framed the survey in a way that was only targeting Oakland University students (by saying: “attention Oakland University students” ), in hopes that others who were not a part of Oakland University would click away purely out of disinterest. We asked four specific questions:
How much more difficult would your life be without access to the internet?
Do you think your computer is an essential item for you in the present and future?
A free-response question elaborating on those who answered ‘yes’ to question 2.
What is your age?
The basis of the questions provided are to get a general understanding of where Oakland University students found themselves on a scale of most to least difficult, in relation to questions 1 and 2. The third question allows us to dig deeper into the reasoning behind why students find the internet to be essential. The final question allows us to find our target audience and demographic, and allows us to shape the information provided off of the given answers.
Data Findings and Results
Results generated automatically from results collected inside Survey Monkey. The survey includes answers from 10 random Oakland County residents.
Out of 10 respondents, 70% found that their lives would be much more difficult without the internet, while only 10% believe their lives would be a lot less difficult. The remaining 20% were found to say that their lives would only be a little more difficult if internet access was not provided.
Following question two, 80% believe that having access to the internet and a computer is an essential item for the present and for the future.
The general demographic of all respondents landed in the 18-24 year-old range.
The overall consensus across all 10 respondents as to why the internet is an essential part of our lives, comes down to the conclusion that we live in an informational society. As long as society continues to advance on the basis of innovation and information, internet and computer access are essential means to survival.
Overall conclusion and critiques
While the data collected has been insightful and the means in which we crowdsourced was an effective first step, there are many things that I would like to do differently in the future. While Census.gov allows for a breakdown of state and county, Oakland University students are not subject to Oakland County. In order to be more accurate, crowdsourcing should have been done on-campus, and the questions provided should have included "hometown".
This way, we could further analyze the statistics of the majority counties provided and come to a more accurate conclusion surrounding the importance of internet usage by county, and by Oakland University students. I found the social media platforms to be somewhat effective. Our data consisted of 10 respondents; I feel that if crowdsourcing were to have happened in-person, we would have had much larger numbers to work with, and more accurate results.
Comments