Research Project on Internet Addiction and its Impacts

This research project explores the impacts of internet addiction on the health of individuals and ways to prevent it. It discusses the factors associated with internet addiction and provides solutions to address the issue.

Research Project
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC:.............................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Producing research aims and objectives......................................................................................3
Impacts of internet addiction.......................................................................................................4
Factors associated with internet addiction...................................................................................5
Ways to prevent people from internet addiction..........................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................6
FINDINGS and RESULTS..............................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
LIMITATION................................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................17
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................17
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TOPIC:
Identify issues related to internet addiction and their solutions.
INTRODUCTION
Internet addiction refers a compulsive behaviour which interferes with normal living and
causes stress on friends, users, their family and loved ones (Montag and Reuter, 2017). In the
context of Australia, it is stated that approximate 13.4 million Australians spend 18.8 hours per
day online. This internet addiction speed is increasing day by day. It is affecting their health and
other aspects of their lives. The internet is considered the latest vector for addiction in the same
way a mosquito is a vector for Malaria. It has several negative impacts on the mental as well as
physical health of people who are addicted and also on their family members to the great extent.
Initially they like to use internet and making friends online but after sometimes they feel that due
to this and making online friends they loose their real life loyal friends and family members as
well.
Background of the study
Internet addiction is one of the type of disease in which people become addicted of using
internet to the great extent. It is called disease because usage of internet for longer hours affect
health of people (Cerniglia and et.al., 2017). This study is going to show some consequences of
using internet or internet addiction. It will also show some factors which are making people
addicted of internet such as ease, busy life etc. Further, this study discusses some ways of
detecting this problem and preventing people against it. Research methodology also plays an
important role as it allows researcher in identifying the best approach and way of conducting
research and accomplishing goals.
Producing research aims and objectives
Aims and Objectives
Aim
“ To explore disorders and problems occur due to internet addiction and ways to solve them”.
Objectives:
 To identify impacts of internet addiction on the health of people.
 To explore some factors which are making people internet addicted.
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 To analyse some ways to detect and solve problems of internet addiction.
Research Questions:
 What are some impacts of internet addiction on people’s health?
 Which factors are associated with internet addiction?
 What are some ways to prevent people from internet addiction?
Rationale:
One of the main reasons of selecting this topic is to make people aware about
consequences of using internet for longer hours. To prevent people and improving quality of
their lives is the main purpose of developing research on the topic of internet addiction.
Nowadays at most people are using internet in different field and for completing any type of
work. They have become addicted of it which is making their health poor. Making people aware
about consequences of using internet to the great extent and its all negative impacts on their
health, lives is other main reason of conducting this research. So, overall, it can be said that
preventing them from this, this topic is being selected.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Impacts of internet addiction
As per the view of, Alaca, (2019) internet addiction is affecting mental health of people who
use internet for longer hours. It makes them depressed. Some people who feel lack of emotional
support they often make use of internet in order to fill this need. Due to internet addiction, people
become insomniac and lack of sleep makes them frustrated and depressed. When they become
frustrated than they find difficulties in focusing on their studies and other activities. It can affect
their future and career so, it can be said that internet addiction in very dangerous for children and
people. In the context of young adults and graduate students who try to get an effective job but
arte internet addict they also face several problems as they find difficulties in finding job and if
they find job than they find problems in concentrating.
On the other hand, Hsieh and et.al., (2019) stated that internet addiction causes some
physical problems which include; headache, back pain, weight gain and weight loss. People who
uses internet or computer for a very long period of time, often suffer problem of blurred vision
and severe back pain. It can be said that internet addiction does not only affect daily lives of
people but it also affects their mental and physical health to the great extent. Some disease which
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happen due to internet addiction like headache and back pain last for the long run due to which
people face problems in performing their other activities. People who are internet addict they
often perform their job role activities by making use of internet and too much surfing can lead to
decreased productivity and consuming a lot of time as well (Hsieh and et.al., 2019). One of the
main impact which it has on people who are addicted is they loss their loyal friends and also has
fewer interaction with family members. So, it can be said that it does not only affects people who
are addicted but affect the society, family members and friends as well.
Factors associated with internet addiction
There are several reasons and factors which make an individual addict of internet. Most
of the factors are in the control lance of people as they prevent themselves. One of the main
reason as why most of the children and young adults are becoming internet addicted is lack of
emotional support stated by Baturay and Toker, (2019). Due to this they make use of internet in
order to please themselves and fill emotional need. There is a reason behind this feeling which is
changing life style of people. In this context it can be said that parents and all people are
becoming busy in their lives as they do not spend time with their children. When children find
themselves lonely and no one with whom they can share their feelings than they use internet,
make online friends and share feelings with them. They do not have knowledge of identifying the
difference between the right and the wrong. So, it can be said that changing lifestyle, lack of
emotional support, loneliness is the main cause.
In addition, in this regards to Savci, M. and Aysan, (2017) stated that those people who
has past history of drugs, alcohol, gambling and other addiction they are more likely to become
internet addict The reason is for preventing themselves against drugs and other addictions they
take help of internet and it makes them internet addict. They want to keep themselves busy along
with happy and there is no doubt that internet is one of the way of making people pleased and
busy as well. One of the main other cause which are making young adults and children internet
addict is cybersex addiction. It involves online pornography, adult websites and others such
kinds of stuff. At this age and due to hormonal changes they become obsessed with these service
which can affect their real life.
Ways to prevent people from internet addiction
There are several ways by which people can prevent themselves against internet
addiction. One of the best ways is self controlling stated by Neverkovich and et.al., (2018). In
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this context they also said that other ways may be temporary but self controlling and self
willingness of preventing themselves against this addiction can be the best and it is the way by
which people can prevent themselves for the log run or permanently. For this they just need to
make a table in which they need to write time consumed in internet by them and with this
analysis having a willingness of preventing themselves against this can definitely help them out.
They can turn off their mobile, laptop and other gadgets in order to control themselves.
Exercising, meditation can help people to keep themselves feel relaxed because anxiety is the
main reason of internet addiction. So, it can be sad that choosing activities as per the reason of
internet addiction can prevent people.
On the other hand, Vondráčková and Gabrhelik, (2016) said that being busy in other
works can be the best way because it is identified that lack of emotional support and loneliness is
the main reason. So, by making themselves busy in studies, work and other social activities,
people not only make them busy but can also improve relation with others. When people take
participate in social activities, spend time with family members and hangout with friends than it
makes them feel happy and improve relationship. They can share their feelings with their family
members It is also important for parents to understand that how important it is to spend time with
their children and this changes can prevent families against internet addiction.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is one of the best and effective process which shows viewers that how,
when and where researcher conducted the whole study For example: it consists of research type,
philosophy, data collection and analysis which shows the form in which informations relevant to
the topic is gathered, what is the type of research, from where researcher collected data etc.
Research type: It is one of the main and first elements which needs to perform and
follow by researcher. Without performing this step, it is not possible for researcher to perform
furthers steps because further steps depend upon this. This step shows a form in which data are
being collected as whether they are in the form of numbers or in non-numerical or in words form.
Qualitative and quantitative are research types (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2020). Those
informations which are being collected in non numerical or words for is known as qualitative. On
the other hand, those informations which are being gathered in numbers form is known as
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quantitative. The type of this study is qualitative so, researcher has collected informations in
words or feelings form.
Research approaches: It is a framework or a plan which has several steps having braid
assumption of detailed method of gathering informations, analysing all gathered informations
and interpreting them. Inductive and deductive are known as research approach which is being
selected by researcher on the basis of the research type. Inductive approach is all about
developing a brand new theory for collecting, analysing and interpreting dta. This approach is
suitable for qualitative approach. Whereas, deductive approach is all about developing an
existing theory and it is suitable with quantitative research. This research is qualitative so,
researcher has used inductive approach. Other reason of selecting this approach is it increases
knowledge and skills of researcher regarding the topic.
Research design: It is an overall strategy which is being used to integrate different
elements of study in order to address the main research problem in an efficient manner. In this
context, it can be said that pilot test plays an important role (Stice and et.al., 2017). It is a type of
research design and a software testing which researcher has used in order to evaluate and
identifying risk, feasibility, cost and effectiveness of performance. Rather, this experimental and
descriptive are also research design which is also being used by researcher according to the
nature of the research and the main research problem.
Data collection: It is one of the main elements because it allows researcher to collect
data relevant to the topic and accomplish the main goal for which the whole study is being
conducted. It can also be said that it shows that from where data are being collected. There are 2
types of collecting data such as primary method and secondary. In the primary data collection,
researcher gets first hand data which can help him out in making the study successful. On the
other hand, in secondary type, scholar gets second hand data which may be used before as they
are published already (Prada-Ramallal, Takkouche and Figueiras, 2017). Some sources of
primary data include: questionnaire, survey, interview etc. Sources of secondary data include:
internet, articles, blogs, books and journals etc. For this researcher has used both data.
Data analysis: After collecting data it is important for researcher to make it appropriate
which it can use in the study in an effective manner, researcher believes that people do not give
accurate informations all the time as there is requirement to make changes in collected data. For
making data appropriate, accurate, researcher analyse them by using effective tools. Selection of
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tools between qualitative and quantitative depends upon the main type of research as whether it
is qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative tools are being used to analyse non-numerical or
qualitative data. This study is qualitative so, researcher will use thematic data analysis for
analysing data. On the other hand, with the help of statistics and other tools researcher can
analyse numerical or quantitative data.
Sample: Sample refers target people or a group of people which are being selected by
researcher as participators in this study. The process of selecting people or sample is known as
sampling. There are 2 types of sampling or methods in which researcher can target people which
is known as random and non random. In non-random type, researcher target people on the basis
of some factors or specific criteria such as education level of people, age of them, gender, race
etc. Researchers generally do not prefer to use this type because it de-motivates people who are
not being selected (Puy and et.al., 2018). It also shows way of conducting research. Whereas, in
random type, scholar target people randomly as there is no criteria is being fixed. For this study
also, researcher has used random sample in order to make sample feel valued. 30 sample or
people who are addicted of internet are being taken.
FINDINGS and RESULTS
Theme 1: Internet affecting overall health of people
Question 1: Do you think internet is affecting overall health of people?
Options Respondents
Strongly Agree 14
Agree 10
Disagree 4
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
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Figure 1 Internet affecting overall health of people
Interpretation: From the above graph it has been interpreted that, 30 out of 14 respondents
strongly agree that internet is affecting overall physical health of people, 10 people agrees to the
question. Whereas, 4 of them completely disagreed to the fact and rest of the 2 participants
strongly disagreed. From the interpretation it has been analysed that addiction of internet does
affect overall health of people, this is mainly because today internet today has become one of the
major parts of today’s social life. People today are getting continuously engaged in using internet
because of which they do not focus on their overall health. For people who lack emotional
support, internet has become one of the main way of passing time.
Theme 2: Ways in which health of people are getting affected because of internet
Question 2: In what ways do you think health of people are getting affected because of internet?
Options Respondents
Lack of sleep 12
Increasing frustration and depression 7
Headache and pack pain 6
Decreased productivity 4
Others 1
Total 30
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Figure 2 Ways in which health of people are getting affected because of internet
Interpretation: From the above graph it has been interpreted that, 30 out of 12 respondents days
that lack of sleep is one of the main way in which overall health of people is getting affected
because of internet addiction, 7 of them says that internet addiction is increasing frustration and
depression among people, 4 people says that it is decreasing productivity of people but only one
respondent said that there are many other ways in which internet addiction is affecting overall
health of people. From the interpretation it has been analysed that it is important for people to
focus on reducing their overall internet addiction because it can impact upon their health in many
ways.
Theme 3: Main reasons because of which internet addiction among people is increasing
Question 3: What are the main reasons because of which internet addiction among people is
increasing?
Options Respondents
Lack of emotional support 15
Easy way to connect with others 10
History of other addictions 4
Others 1
Total 30
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Figure 3 Main reasons because of which internet addiction among people is increasing
Interpretation: From the above graph it has been interpreted that, 30 out of 15 says that lack of
emotional support is the main reason because of which addition for internet is increasing among
people, 10 people says that it is one of the best way of connecting within people, 4 respondents
says that due to history of other addiction, internet addition in people is increasing and only one
respondent said that there are many other reasons because of which addiction for internet is
increasing
Theme 4: Internet addiction can be prevented among people
Question 4: Do you think internet addiction can be prevented among people?
Options Respondents
Strongly Agree 10
Agree 14
Disagree 4
Strongly disagree 2
Total 30
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Figure 4 Internet addiction can be prevented among people
Interpretation: From the above graph it has been interpreted that, 30 out of 10 respondents
strongly agree that addiction of internet can be prevented, 14 of them agrees to the question.
However, 4 of them disagreed and 2 of them strongly disagreed. So from this interpretation it can
be said that internet addiction among people can be prevented with the help of various ways so
that its negative impact upon people and their health can be reduced.
Theme 5: Internet addiction can be decreased.
Question 5: Ways by which internet addiction can be decreased?
Options Participants
Self-control 12
Meditation and exercise 8
Social activities participation 6
Others 4
Total 30
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Figure 5 Internet addiction can be decreased
Interpretation: From the above data it is interpreted that, 12 or majority of selected people
believe that self control is one of the best way which can protect them against internet addiction.
8 people said that exercising and meditation changes their behaviours and they feel better which
helps them out to prevent from all negative things. On the other hand, 6 people said that by
taking participation in social activities they can feel valued and pleased so they will not require
to use internet and 4 people stated other ways among all this like being busy, working all the
time etc.
Theme 6: Internet a barrier in connecting with family members
Question 6: Is internet a barrier in connecting with family members?
Options Participants
Yes 26
No 4
Total 30
Figure 6 Internet a barrier in connecting with family members
Interpretation: From the above graph it can be said that internet addiction is one of the main
barrier in communicating and interacting with close friends and family members. In this
question, 26 or majority of people said that they strongly believe that internet addiction keep
them far away from their family members because they spent their a lot of time in internet and
forget to communicate with family members. On the other hand, 4 people said that they do not
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think that it is the only reason as internet addiction is not a barrier in connecting with family
members.
Theme 7: Internet addiction is affecting mental health
Question 7: Define as how internet addiction is affecting mental health?
Interpretation: In open ended question of knowing intensity and ways as how internet addiction
affecting mental health of people, all target were given a fair chance to share their feelings. In
this question, some people interpreted that due to internet addiction, people spend their a lot of
time in internet and it leads sleeping disorders. Due to changes in sleep, they become frustrated
and it also leads several other mental health related problems like depression, continuous
headache etc. So, in this manner it affects mental health. In addition, rest people said that internet
addiction alters the volume of the brain and it shrinks brain’s gray as well as white fibres which
leads to changes in emotional processing and make people frustrated to the great extent.
Theme 8: Internet addiction leading people towards negative things
Question 8: Is internet addiction leading people towards negative things?
Interpretation: In this open-ended question, all sample or target people were being given equal
chance to share their feelings as what they actually think about internet addiction. Most of the
target people were those who have become internet addicted and face several problems. So, in
this regards, some people stated and said that they think that internet addiction is one of the bad
addiction which creates several problems. They said their experience and said that sometimes
this internet addiction and watching ways of how to commit crimes and other stuff influence
them to do such kind of things. They become frustrated when they do not use internet for only
few hours and they become abusive towards others. Whereas, rest people said that internet
addiction creates problems but due to this addiction, people do not commit crimes.
CONCLUSION
From the above research it has been concluded that addition for internet is continuously
increasing especially in middle aged and young adults which is impacting overall physical and
mental health of people. For many continuous hours people are engaged in surging internet
because of which not only their health is getting degraded but their overall performance is
getting affected. More number of people are getting into depression and becoming insomniac.
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This addition is especially dangerous for children as it can impact upon their mental level
stability. Most commonly this addiction is affecting weight loss, back pain, headache, weak
eyesight of people. It has been analysed that there are many factors because of which people are
getting addicted to internet. One of the main reasons is loneliness or lack of emotional support.
Internet is working as a gap filler so that loneliness within people can be reduced. With the help
of internet people can connect other others and share their emotions. From this research it was
also identified that people who had addition to other things such as drugs, alcohol etc. are mostly
the one’s who are addicted to internet. It has also been analysed that there are many ways
through which addiction of internet among people can be reduced through which this addiction
can be prevented among people.
LIMITATION
There were various kinds of limitations that were faced by the researcher in this research
project. One of the main limitation was primary data collection through survey as it was quite
time consuming but collection of primary data helped in increasing effectiveness of answering
research questions. Lack of previous research studies was another research limitation but
conduction of literature review helped in building a base for the research because of which
researcher was also able to conduct primary research easily.
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REFERENCES
Books and journal
Alaca, N., 2019. The impacts of internet addiction on depression, physical activity level and
trigger point sensitivity in Turkish university students. Journal of back and musculoskeletal
rehabilitation, (Preprint). pp.1-8.
Baturay, M.H. and Toker, S., 2019. Internet addiction among college students: Some causes and
effects. Education and Information Technologies, 24(5), pp.2863-2885.
Cerniglia, L. and et.al., 2017. Internet Addiction in adolescence: Neurobiological, psychosocial
and clinical issues. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 76. pp.174-184.
Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A., 2020. Qualitative research methods. SAGE Publications
Limited.
Hsieh, W.H. and et.al., 2019. An Ensemble Classifier with Case-Based Reasoning System for
Identifying Internet Addiction. International journal of environmental research and public
health. 16(7). p.1233.
Montag, C. and Reuter, M., 2017. Internet addiction (pp. 143-150). Springer International
Publishing.
Neverkovich, S.D. and et.al., 2018. Students’ Internet Addiction: Study and Prevention. Eurasia
Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. 14(4). pp.1483-1495.
Prada-Ramallal, G., Takkouche, B. and Figueiras, A., 2017. Diverging conclusions from the
same meta-analysis in drug safety: source of data (primary versus secondary) takes a
toll. Drug safety. 40(4). pp.351-358.
Puy, G. and et.al., 2018. Random sampling of bandlimited signals on graphs. Applied and
Computational Harmonic Analysis. 44(2). pp.446-475.
Savci, M. and Aysan, F., 2017. Social-emotional model of internet addiction. Psychiatry and
Clinical Psychopharmacology. 27(4). pp.349-358.
Stice, E. and et.al., 2017. Pilot test of a novel food response and attention training treatment for
obesity: Brain imaging data suggest actions shape valuation. Behaviour research and
therapy. 94. pp.60-70.
Vondráčková, P. and Gabrhelik, R., 2016. Prevention of Internet addiction: A systematic
review. Journal of behavioral addictions. 5(4). pp.568-579.
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
1. Do you think internet is affecting overall health of people?
a. Strongly Agree
b. Agree
c. Disagree
d. Strongly disagree
2. In what ways do you think health of people are getting affected because of internet?
a. Lack of sleep
b. Increasing frustration and depression
c. Headache and pack pain
d. Decreased productivity
e. others
3. What are the main reasons because of which internet addiction among people is
increasing?
a. Lack of emotional support
b. Easy way to connect with others
c. History of other addictions
d. Others
4. Do you think internet addiction can be prevented among people?
a. Strongly Agree
b. Agree
c. Disagree
d. Strongly disagree
5. What are the ways through which internet addiction among people can be reduced?
a. Self- control
b. Exercise and meditation
c. Participating in family or social activities
d. Others
6. Is internet a barrier in connecting with family members?
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a. Yes
b. No
7. Define as how internet addiction is affecting mental health?
8. Is internet addiction leading people towards negative things?
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