Research Paper: Digital Media's Impact as a Distraction

This research paper investigates "Digital Media as a Distraction," exploring its societal impact. The paper begins with an introduction that outlines the topic's importance, tracing the evolution of digital media and its influence on human behavior. The discussion section analyzes various sources, including a PBS documentary and a study by MIT, to highlight the distractions caused by digital devices. The research section provides additional sources, discussing the credibility, relevance, accuracy, and unbiased nature of the selected materials. The paper includes findings from studies on classroom digital device use and media multitasking, referencing several scholarly articles. The paper concludes with a comprehensive list of references, adhering to APA formatting guidelines. This paper offers a detailed overview of the digital media's distracting effects, supported by research and analysis.

Running head: RESEARCH PAPER
Research Paper
Name of the Student
Course Name
Section Number
Semester
Instructor’s Name
Digital Media as a Distraction

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Research.....................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The topic that has been selected for the study is “Digital Media as a distraction”.
The selection of the topic is based on its importance on the society. With time,
technologies appeared to be one of the most inevitable part of the society and of its primary
members that is humans. Technology has surpassed all of the boundaries and now all of the
sections that a human is associated with has a technological attachment. Among all these,
media has its influence from distant past. With the digitalisation of the world, the digital
media has become powerful as well as influential. People now lean more towards the digital
content than the other formats. As time passes, the attraction for the digital media among the
people is increasing and consequentially this attraction is transforming into a distraction.
Users are less aware of their surroundings and are more concerned and rely on what is
available in the digital format. This social change is a vital impact and needs to be researched
on for discussion and remedies.
Discussion
The reference material that are used for the topic selected primarily discusses about
how digital media serves as a distraction for the new generation or in other words the modern
generation. The read source discussed about the differences between the mass media, mass
communication and its effect on the culture. The difference between the mass communication
and mass media has been done using their primary definition. The mass communication has
been defined as an instance when a particular information is being transmitted to a large
population. Whereas a mass media is the means of spreading that information through a
design that could reach a huge population. These two parameters are combined and its effect
over the culture of the society is discussed. This given piece of reference also provides a

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framework that would help to understand the issues better in a critical manner (M Libraries,
2019).
On the other hand, the watch reference that has been provided for the study comprises
of a video that has been focussed on how it is like to grow when humans are equipped with
electronic gadgets that opens the door to the digital paradigm. The video is about a study that
took place by at Massachusetts Institute of Technology or commonly known as MIT. The
video starts with a woman making a video where she stated that all the members of her
family are either engaged in a laptop or mobile phones playing games being in the same
room. What she stated was that despite all of them were in the same room, none of them are
actually busy with each other but with their own tasks in their personal gadgets. Later, the
video focusses into how wired the students of MIT remain throughout the day. Unlike other
universities, MIT allows its students to carry laptops inside the class as the teachers often
teach from the study materials that are present as a PowerPoint presentation. It is seen that
inside the class the students are checking their own mails, or are busy at some social media
website, replying to their messages, tweets and found to be Googling some random topics
which are remotely related to the subject of the class. All of such instances are known to the
professors of the MIT, but it is expected that they are brilliant enough to handle multiple
tasks at once. Even the students are convinced about themselves that they are capable of
executing multi-tasking. However, there are no authorities or studies that has declared of their
ability to do multi-tasking. It is the self-declaration made by the students for themselves that
they are capable of multi-tasking. Besides, it is also seen that there is a certain feeling of
superiority comes by being convinced about their ability of multi-tasking (Growing up
Online, 2010).
The topic that has been selected for the study is highly relevant to a course on digital
and social media. The reason behind the relevancy lies within the interconnection between

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the digital and social media and personal lifestyle of people. The addiction towards the digital
media is increasing and people are less bothered about personal interactions. While studying
a course on digital and social media it is an important aspect to study about the impacts that it
has on daily lifestyle of common people. Considering the technical aspects, it is important to
study about the social impacts on any technology as well so as it could be implemented better
and could make lives better.
Research
The additional sources that are found relevant to the topic of the study are listed
below:
1. Digital distractions in the classroom phase II: Student classroom use of digital devices
for non-class related purposes by B.R. McCoy, published in 2016.
2. Media multitasking, attention, and distraction: a critical discussion. Phenomenology
and the Cognitive Sciences by J. Aagaard, published in 2015.
This section of the study will deal with few qualities of the sources that has been
considered as additional resources for the topic of the study. The qualities or the
characteristics are as follows (Conners, 2019):
a. Relevant
b. Credible
c. Accurate
d. Unbiased
The justification for both of the selection will be done based on these characteristics
mentioned above.

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Relevant – The topic considered for the study – Digital Media as a distraction, deals with the
ways how digital media is becoming an addiction for the millennials and hence, proving to be
a distraction among them. The additional sources that are collected are also dealing with the
same topic. The first source did a survey on the millennials on how much time they spent on
the digital devices during a class for non-class purposes. Besides, the study also aimed to
study the number of times they access to their digital devices in an entire day at school or
universities. Whereas the second selected source did a study on the concept of media
multitasking. They challenged the existing concept of media multitasking and provided a
scope for future studies. Hence, it can be said that there is a direct relevance of the additional
sources with the topic of the study (Samant et al., 2015).
Credible – The credibility of the sources can be justified by the publisher as well as the
source from where the journals were collected. The two additional sources for the study have
been collected from Google scholar. It is nothing new to the ones having knowledge about
the source that all of the sources that are published are credible. Although, the reputation of
the source should not be the only justification behind the credibility of the journals. The
credibility of the sources can be also justified by the number of references they have used in
their study. Any of the inf0ormation that were collected from other sources is are cited in the
study which makes the authenticity of the study validated (Bartee, 2017).
Accurate – Accuracy is relative of the topic and the type of data collection process that is
conducted. The first journal is a collection of primary data from the respondents (millennials)
through a survey questionnaire. It can be assumed that the information that the respondents
had provided might not be 100% accurate as there is a scope to lie on the answer. On the
other hand, the second source is a concept and understanding based study where an existing
concept is challenged and further scope is provided so that the concept can be researched

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further. Hence, there will be no much issue with the accuracy as the first source provided all
of ted data collected and used in the study (Samadi et al., 2016).
Unbiased – The primary characteristic of any study is its unbiasedness. No study should take
a side particularly and degrade the other side. The decision for whose side is heavier is to be
absolutely decided by the readers. The sources that are selected conducted their study in such
a manner that the results are the only thing the authors presented and left the task for deciding
the verdict to the readers. The first one presented primary data and the second one produced a
debatable situation between two faces of the same concept. Hence, none of them could be
termed as biased (Harrison et al., 2019).
The first source by McCoy (2016) was done over the digital engagement of the
millennials that are of non-class purpose. He conducted a survey on the students and
collected data on how much time they spent on their digital devices in their class that are not
related to the topics taught in the class. The result that he established through his survey that
the respondents spent an average of 21% of the time allotted for the class on their digital
devices. Besides, the study also revealed that on an average a student uses their digital
devices for 12 times in a school day. The second study by Aagaard (2015) conducted their
study on media multitasking and the way it is perceived. The author challenged the existing
understanding of the topic and aimed to provide another form of understanding for the
subject. Findings revealed that multitasking has negative impacts over the educational
practices. Later, the study concludes with the statement that post phenomenological approach
ensures the everyday study of the effects of the media use on everyday educational practices.

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References
Aagaard, J. (2015). Media multitasking, attention, and distraction: a critical discussion.
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 14(4), 885-896.
Bartee, L. (2017). Using Credible Sources. Principles of Biology: Biology 211, 212, and 213.
Conners, J. (2019). What is a Credible Source? How to Evaluate Web Resources. [online]
WhoIsHostingThis.com. Available at:
https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/credible-sources/.
Davids, M., Kane, M. S., Wolfe, L. A., Toro, C., Tifft, C. J., Adams, D., ... & Boerkoel, C. F.
(2019). Commentary VOLUME 206, APRIL 2019 Unbiased glycomics: a powerful
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Growing up Online. (2010). [video] Directed by R. Dretzin. Massachusetts: Frontline.
Harrison, A. L., Taylor, N. F., Frawley, H. C., & Shields, N. (2019). Women with gestational
diabetes mellitus want clear and practical messages from credible sources about
physical activity during pregnancy: a qualitative study. Journal of physiotherapy,
65(1), 37-42.
Jagsi, R., Rivkees, S., & Opipari, V. P. (2019). An unbiased view about bias: Not yet.
Pediatric research, 1.
M Libraries (2019). 1.2 Intersection of American Media and Culture. [online]
Open.lib.umn.edu. Available at: https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/1-
2-intersection-of-american-media-and-culture/

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McCoy, B. R. (2016). Digital distractions in the classroom phase II: Student classroom use of
digital devices for non-class related purposes.
Patten, M. L., & Newhart, M. (2017). Understanding research methods: An overview of the
essentials. Routledge.
Samadi, M., Talukdar, P., Veloso, M., & Blum, M. (2016, February). Claimeval: Integrated
and flexible framework for claim evaluation using credibility of sources. In Thirtieth
AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
Samant, S., Jiang, X. L., Peletier, L. A., Shuldiner, A. R., Horenstein, R. B., Lewis, J. P., ... &
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