Statistics Project on Internet Use by Undergraduate Students, Malaysia

This statistics project investigates the extent of internet usage among undergraduate students. The project begins with an introduction to the topic, discussing the background and justification for the study. A literature review synthesizes existing research on internet usage, particularly among students, and identifies key themes and gaps. Based on the literature, the project formulates research objectives and five testable hypotheses. The research employs a quantitative methodology, collecting primary data through a survey administered to 50 undergraduate students using a random probabilistic sampling technique. The data collection instrument is a questionnaire comprising both open-ended and closed-ended questions. The project then presents frequency distributions of key variables and conducts hypothesis testing using t-tests, ANOVA, and regression analysis to examine relationships between internet usage, gender, social media consumption, educational website use, and academic performance. The findings reveal insights into the students' internet usage patterns and preferences.

Project

Contents
Task 1: Introduction.........................................................................................................................1
Topic:...........................................................................................................................................1
Introduction and background of the topic....................................................................................1
Justification of the investigation..................................................................................................1
Task 2: Literature review.................................................................................................................1
Task 3: Research objectives and hypotheses...................................................................................3
Objective......................................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................3
Task 4: Data Source.........................................................................................................................3
Research methodology.................................................................................................................3
Data collection.............................................................................................................................3
Sampling technique.....................................................................................................................4
Task 5: Hypothesis testing...............................................................................................................4
Frequency distribution.................................................................................................................4
Hypothesis testing........................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................14

Task 1: Introduction
Topic:
“To investigate the extent of Internet use among undergraduate students.”
Introduction and background of the topic
Internet is a global system which inter connects computer networks by using an internet
protocol suite of (TCP /IP) that allows users of those systems to form a communication chain.
Internet is used for various purposes which includes communication, online shopping, education,
research, gaming and many more. This project is developed against the completion of
assignment for statistics. The purpose of this assignment is to investigate the extend at which
Internet is used by undergraduate students. This project is based on a primary research survey
which is limited to the undergraduate students only.
Justification of the investigation
Internet is a technology which has created a networking infrastructure by interlinking
millions of devices globally. This technology has been developed over years and has provided
multiple services. Due to ease in communication and its cost effectiveness, internet is used by
undergraduate students at a great extent. Considering this extend, the topic of internet used by
undergraduate students has been selected as it is believed, that the investigation on this topic can
provide interesting insights about does undergraduate students of Malaysia use internet to a great
extent and if they do then what are the reasons of using internet.
Task 2: Literature review
According to Afful and Akrong, (2020), Internet is a worldwide system of digital devices
that helps to build a networks by which users can communicate with each other. From the point
of views of Zhou and et. al., (2019), Internet is a cost effective way of communication due to
which it is highly used by students which lacks in having monetary funds. Along with cost
reliant, this technology also provides a reliable communication mode. Considering that students
are the major users of internet, the major uses of such technology is a crucial topic of argument.
According to Rajasekhar, Veena and Kumar, (2018), students spends half of their day while
using internet as it helps them in study as they can procure study material from internet and can
join online classes. But on the other hand Ali and et. al., (2019), stated in its investigation that it
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is true that students spend half of their time using internet but the percentage of time which they
use to surf educational websites is low as internet provides various services such as social media
and online social that distracts students from their studies. The analysis gained from the literature
review of the articles and journals, few hypotheses are gained which can be tested in this
research; these hypothesis includes undergraduate students use internet for at least 3 hours a day,
as this hypothesis will help in analysing that whether the extend of using internet is higher or not.
The normal hours of using internet is considered as 3 hours. The literature above also assisted in
developing a hypothesis that there is no relationship between the time spend by a student using
internet and their educational grades. Another hypothesis gained from the literature is that the
time spend on using social media is different and higher from the time used on educational
websites.
From the opinions of Balhara and et. al., (2018), there are various factors which results in
variance of using the internet, these factors include gender, age, employment status, annual
income and more. Considering the review of Guraya and et. al., (2018), a hypothesis is
developed that the time spend on internet is different for male and female students. This
assumption will help to test the review finding of the author that gender can be factor of varying
time spend on internet. With this review, Kumar and et. al., (2019) further added that the factors
of gender, age and others does not only impact the time spend on internet but it also impacts the
mind set of believing that which service is the best use of internet. For this review finding as
well, a hypothesis has been developed assuming male and female students has same mind set
when it comes to choosing appropriate use of internet.
The views of Nwosu, Ngozi and Eberechi, (2018), stated that people of Malaysia are
continuously growing when it comes to use internet as the number of internet users are kept on
rising in this nation and especially its students. From investigating the literature of Opsenica-
Kostić and et. al., (2018), it has been observed that there are various ways by which internet can
be assessed or used and these ways includes smartphone data plans, WIFI systems and fibre
cables. All these tools of using internet are the carriers that helps to have a strong network
connection but the most secure tool of using internet is cable fibre. The review of Patchin and
Hinduja, (2019), stated that the most appropriate way of using internet is through the Wi Fi as it
helps in having a wireless connection and also is cost effective for students. Considering this
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finding of Patchin and Hinduja, (2019), the most appropriate tool to use internet will be
investigated from the university students of Malaysia.
Task 3: Research objectives and hypotheses
This section will include the main research objective which reflects the purpose of
conducting this particular investigation. Furthermore, 5 research hypothesis are developed which
will be checked that if they are true, through this research.
Objective
To examine the extent of Internet use among undergraduate students.
Hypothesis
1. Undergraduate students use Internet for at least 3 hours a day. (one sample t test)
2. There is a significant difference in time spend on Internet between male and female
students. (T-test Independent sample)
3. There is a significant difference in time spend on social media platforms and on
educational websites. (Paired t test)
4. The mind set about most appropriate use of Internet is same for male and female students.
(One Way ANOVA)
5. There is no relationship between using internet and average grades of students.
(Regression)
Task 4: Data Source
Research methodology
Methodology of conducting a research is the method using which data collected in an
investigation is analysed. There are widely two types of methodologies including qualitative and
quantitative. In present research, the method of quantitative is used which will assist in
computing descriptive statistic of each response and will help in test the hypothesis using
inferential statistics of t test, ANOVA, regression analysis and more.
Data collection
In order to analyse the data using quantitative method, it is first important to collect the
data for analysis. The data for this research will be collected from primary data collection
method in which a survey will be conducted with university students. These students will act as
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respondents and their response will be gained using a primary data collection tool of
questionnaire.
The questionnaire developed for this investigation is a combination of open ended and
close ended questions and will comprise total of 8 questions. The strategy behind developing the
questionnaire is to first include demographic questions and then questions related to the internet
using habits. A questionnaire having 8 questions is attached in Appendix
Sampling technique
Sampling technique is the tool of selecting a small sample from the entire population. For
conducting present research, the sampling technique which will be used is random probabilistic
sampling. Under this technique, 50 university students are selected from the entire university
randomly which resulted in an accurate non biased set of respondents.
Task 5: Hypothesis testing
Frequency distribution
Question 1: Specify your gender.
Male 25
Female 25
Other 0
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Interpretation: The above frequency distribution analysis represents the clear findings
that among 50 university students, there are 25 male and 25 female students. This equal
proportion of gender will help further in inferential statistics to effectively analyses variations
between male and female students.
Question 4: How much time do you spend on social media platforms?
0 to 1 hour 5
1 to 2 hour 27
2 to 4 hours 17
4 hours or above 1
Interpretation: Question 2 and 3 are open ended questions and does not have specific
frequencies due to which they are not included in this analysis of frequency distribution. From
the above analysis for question 4, it has found that the majority of the population spends 1 to 4
hours using social media platforms. Among 50 students, only 1 has responded to use social
media platforms above 4 hours and 5 students has responded to use social media platforms for
less than an hour.
Question 5: How much time do you spend on educational websites?
0 to 1 hour 25
1 to 2 hour 20
2 to 4 hours 5
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4 hours or above 0
Interpretation: The above frequency distribution assists in analyzing that majority of the
students that is 25 out of 50 use internet for educational purposes for less than an hour. There is
not even one student who spends more than 4 hours on educational websites. This analysis
provides a finding that on an average, a student uses internet for social media platforms more
than they use internet for educational purposes. In order to evidence this analysis, hypothesis will
be tested further.
Question 6: According to you, what is the most appropriate use of Internet.
Communication 20
Gaining educational knowledge 10
Social media 10
Online shopping 10
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Interpretation: Above frequency distribution represents that according to the 50 students
which represents entire population of Malaysian university students, the most effective use of
internet is communication as the network of internet enables students to communicate their
friends, family and educational experts. Apart from communication, gaining educational
knowledge, shopping through online platforms and social media are also few effective uses of
internet.
Question 7: According to you, which way is most appropriate to use
Internet.
Wi-Fi 30
Cable fiber 2
3G/4G mobile networks 18
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Interpretation: The research results attached above provides an interpretation that
according to 30 out of 50 students, Wi Fi is the most appropriate way to use and assess internet
as it is cost effective and provides the ability to be connected with world wide network using a
wireless network. Another suitable way to use internet according to 18 university students is
3G/4G mobile networks.
Question 8: On the scale of 1 to 5; 5 being the most effective, how to
describe your educational grades?
1 2
2 8
3 15
4 20
5 5
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Interpretation: Out of 50 students, 20 consider them as above average students and as
provided themselves a “4” grade. Only 2 out of 50 and 5 out of 50 has graded them as 1 and 5
which represents low grader and high grader.
The above frequency distribution has helped in analyzing every response of university
students.
Hypothesis testing
This is the most crucial section of this investigation which will help in test the hypothesis
that whether they can have accepted or required to be rejected.
Hypothesis 1:
This hypothesis is tested to check whether average hours of using internet by university
students is more than the normal limit of 3 hours or not for which one sample t test is conducted
using Microsoft Excel below:
One sample t test
Specify time that
you spend in
hours using
Internet
Mean 3.88
Variance 0.72
Observations 50
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
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