Mobile Phone: Tips for Addicts

May 28, 2019

Metro, a UK tabloid, reported about a study conducted at the University of Washington. The idea the researchers probed related to “triggers” which keep a person glued to his or her mobile device. “How to Resist the Four Triggers Which Keep You Addicted to Your Smartphone” reveals the tricks. The sample was 39 people aged from 14 to 64. Now I don’t want to get mathy, but the sample would get some frowns from an online Statistics 101 adjunct professor from a no name school in North Carolina. At a juicier institution, like the University of Washington, the sample is right sized.

With this cutting edge research, the secrets have been revealed; to wit:

An unoccupied moment, the smartphone is there for you and me.
As a break when one is working on a difficult task such as calculating or looking up in a table the sample size for a research project into “hooks” used to addict a person to a mobile phone.
As a deflection action when an actual human who has taken several classes in statistics wants to engage a person like a researcher in a conversation about sample sizes.
When one anticipates an email or other communication from an academic institution eager to hire a cracker jack researcher and data wrangler.

From my reading, I have gleaned some other information about the ways to make a person 14 to 64 become an addict. I offer these to suggest that the Metro’s summary of the research does not capture the scope of the subject. Here are some other addictive tricks:

Approval from perceived “friends” or “persons whom one wishes to be a pal”
Sex hook ups, images, etc.
Rewards delivered via gameification
Sex hook ups, images, etc.
Desire to expand one’s contacts when looking for a job in statistics.
Sex hook ups, images, etc.

Perhaps the team form the University of Washington will expand their research. On the other hand, why bother? A sample of 39 is just so right.

Oh, and the secret to breaking the addiction? Turn off the gizmo.

Stephen E Arnold, May 28, 2019

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Mobile, News, Statistics

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.