Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Diversion as a Gratification Factor Influencing Mobile Phone Technology Use by Public University Students in Nairobi, Kenya

Onyango Christopher Wasiaya, Sikolia Geoffrey Serede, Mberia Hellen Kinoti

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i11/7787

Open access

This study investigated diversion as a gratification factor influencing mobile phone technology use by public university undergraduate students in Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of the study was to assess the influence of diversion on undergraduate university students’ use of mobile phones. The study employed the uses and gratifications theory and media technological determinism theory. The target population was 246,871 undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya. The study design used was quantitative design. The research used self-administered questionnaires as data collection tools. The sampling technique that was employed in this study was purposive sampling to get a sample size of 573 undergraduate students. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics and then processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Findings revealed that mobile phone technology has become essential in diversion activities among undergraduate university students. The study concluded that the higher the need for diversion, the higher the need for mobile phone technology use among undergraduate university students. The study recommended, first to software developers that they could develop a specific mobile phone software for university students to use for diversion. Since this study focused on undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya, the researcher recommends that another study could be carried among post graduate students and also among private universities to find out the gratification factors influencing mobile phone technology use.

Campbell, S. (2006). Perceptions of mobile phones in college classrooms: Ringing, cheating classroom policies. Communication education, 55(3) 280-294 conference paper in procedia – social and behavioral sciences, world conference on technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Chandler, D. (1995), Media technological determinism, Media documents
Crandall, A., Otieno, A., Mutuku, L., Colaco, J. Grosskurth, J., Otieno, P. (2012), Mobile Phone Usage at the Kenyan Base of the Pyramid, iHub Research/Research Solutions Africa
Creswell, J. W., & Clark, P. V. L. (2011). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, C.A. Sage
De Gouveia, N. G. (2013). Exploring Adolescents’ Perception of Risky Behavior Using the Mobile Phone, North-West University, South Africa.
Dominick, J. R. (1993). The Dynamics of Mass Communication, New York: McGraw Hill.
Economides A. A., and Grousopolou, A. (2008). Use of Mobile Phones by Male and Female Greek students, International Journal of Mobile Communications (IJMC), Vol. 6, No. 6s
Ezemenaka, E. (2013). The Usage and Impact of Internet Enabled Phones on Academic Performance among Students of Tertiary Institutions: A study at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), Vol. 9, pp162 – 173
Gardiner S. (2015). The student cellphone addiction is no joke. Dealing with the distractions of cellphone misuse/use in the classroom – a case example. Competition forum. Vol.35 Issue 29, Pg. 23-25
Ishii, K. (2011). Examining the Adverse Effects of Mobile Phone Use among Adolescents, Keio Communication Review, No.33
Jiantti, P. (2015). The Usage of Social Media among Young Adults Living in Nairobi, Kenya. Unpublished Master’s Thesis
Kihwele, J. E., & Bali, T. A. L. (2013). The Perception of Teachers, Parents and Students on the Effects of Mobile Phone Use on Student Learning in Tanzania, Journal of Education and Practice, Vol.4,No.25
Kolb, L. (2008). Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education
Kolb, L. (2011). Cell Phones in the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Educators in USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Nunnaly, J. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill..
Pinch, T., & Bjiker, W., The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other, Social Studies of Science 14, 3, pp 399-441
Robson, C. (2002). World research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner-researcher, Oxford: Blackwell publish.
Rogers, E. M. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations. New York: The Free Press.
Santos, J. R. A. (1999). Cronbach’s alpha: A tool for assessing the reliability of scales. Journal of extension, 37(2), 1-5.
Tessa, J. (2014), Students’ Cell phone Addiction and their Opinions, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communication, Vol. 5, No. 1
West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2000), Introducing communication theory – Analysis and application, Mayfield publishing company, London
West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2014), Introducing communication theory – Analysis and application, Mayfield publishing company, London

In-Text Citation: (Wasiaya, Serede, & Kinoti, 2020)
To Cite this Article: Wasiaya, O. C., Serede, S. G., & Kinoti, M. H. (2020). Diversion as a Gratification Factor Influencing Mobile Phone Technology Use by Public University Students in Nairobi, Kenya. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 10(11), 141-155.