Definitions:

"Fuzzy" = a student focused in the humanities area
"Techie" = a student focused in the sciences and engineering areas
"Both" = a student who views him-/herself as a mixture of a techie and a fuzzy

Accidental Sampling:

Our accidental sampling yielded 236 Stanford undergraduate students that were 55% male, 45% female. There were about 20% freshmen, 26% sophomores, 25% juniors, and 29% seniors (or fifth years). Surprisingly, 43% of students surveyed identified themselves as techie and fuzzy (both), while 34% said they were techie, and only 22% said they were fuzzy.

Average daily internet usage: 3.46 hours/day = 24.22 hours/week

Average daily internet usage per class, discipline, and gender. We found that seniors used the Internet almost an hour a day more than the other classes. Techies used the Internet most, followed by "both," followed by fuzzies. Males reported using the Internet more than females (but this may also represent the fact that there are more techie males than females currently at Stanford).

Freshman

3.22 hr/day

Sophomore

3.19 hr/day

Junior

3.16 hr/day

Senior

4.12 hr/day

   

Fuzzies

3.01 hr/day

Techies

3.92 hr/day

Both

3.33 hr/day

   

Males

3.65 hr/day

Females

3.21 hr/day

Percentage over 10 hr/week on the internet: 87.5%


Despite the fact that techies had higher Internet usage, they used chat software less. Also, they visited friends and talked on the phone the least. Fuzzies spent the most time on the phone and visiting friends, and slightly less time chatting than fuzzy/techies.

 

Fuzzies (hr/week)

Techies (hr/week)

Both (hr/week)

Weekly phone time

4.72

2.94

3.09

Weekly Chat/AOL IM/ICQ time

3.05

2.69

3.20

Weekly time visiting friends

11.29

8.93

10.43


Weekly Chat/AOL IM/ICQ time

We found that freshmen used chat software the most, and seniors used it the least.

Freshman

4.89 hr/day

Sophomore

2.64 hr/day

Junior

3.38 hr/day

Senior

1.66 hr/day


" I use the internet to procrastinate."

Overall, a large majority of the students surveyed agreed with this statement. Freshmen and seniors had slightly lower percentages.

 

% Yes

Freshman

84.78

Sophomore

91.80

Junior

96.61

Senior

85.29

Total

89.74


People who play games on the internet.

By far, the students who played the most games online were freshmen. Seniors played the fewest games onilne. Techies also had a high percentage compared to fuzzies/both.

 

% Yes

Freshman

41.30

Sophomore

27.42

Junior

31.03

Senior

14.49

 

 

Fuzzy

22.64

Techie

37.04

Both

21.78

 

 

Total

27.23


"I spend most of my free time in my room."

More than half of techies agreed with this statement, while slightly more than 1 in 3 fuzzy/both students agreed with this.

 

% Yes

Fuzzy

35.85

Techie

51.85

Both

37.62

Total

42.13


People who have felt depressed or isolated by the internet.

An astounding 1 in 4 student surveyed agreed that the Internet has made them feel depressed or isolated. The numbers did not vary significantly across techie/fuzzy/both.

 

% Depressed/Isolated

Fuzzy

24.53

Techie

26.25

Both

26.47

Total

25.96


People who think the internet has an isolating effect on people in general: 38.84%

Although only 25% of students actually reported feeling isolated, almost 40% of people thought that the Internet made other people feel isolated.


People who say:

 

% True

Internet HAS made me feel depressed
Internet does NOT have an isolating effect in general

8.40

Internet has NEVER made me feel depressed
Internet DOES have an isolating effect in general

17.42


People who use the internet more than they sleep: 11.21%


"I have friends who I feel more comfortable emailing or IM-ing rather than calling or visiting."

Overall, 55% of students agreed with this statement. Though there were no significant differences across field ofstudy, there was a surprisingly large gender gap, where 50% of males agreed with this statement, and 64% of females.

 

% Yes

Fuzzy

56.6

Techie

53.09

Both 57.84
   
Male 50.39
Female 64.15
   

Total

55.93


The amount of time people visit friends correlated with their average daily internet usage.
Note: avg = 3.46 hours

 

Avg time visiting friends (hr/week)

lowest 25% Internet usage

10.16

next lowest 25% Internet usage

10.5

next highest 25% Internet usage

9.59

highest 25% Internet usage

8.57

 


The amount of sleep people get correlated with their average daily internet usage.
Note: avg = 3.46 hours

Sleep | internet usage (hr)

Sum of hours

Number of people

Avg sleep (hr/night)

sleep | 0<=x<0.5*avg

345.5

49

7.05

sleep | 0.5*avg<=x<avg

631.5

95

6.65

sleep | avg<=x<1.5*avg

378.5

56

6.76

sleep | x>=1.5*avg

174.842

28

6.24


The percentage of ICQ/IM/Email time out of total internet usage time correlated with their
average daily internet usage.
Note: avg = 3.46 hours

% | total internet usage (hr)

  Avg % of (IM/ICQ/Email) / Total internet time

% | 0<= x < .5*avg

50.83

% | .5*avg<= x < avg

57.57

% | avg <= x <1.5*avg

48.50

% | x > 1.5*avg

43.26


The amount of time people spend on the phone correlated with their average daily internet usage.
Note: avg = 3.46 hours

 

Avg phone hours/week

Phone hours | 0<= x < .5*avg

3.47

Phone hours | .5*avg<= x < avg

3.43

Phone hours | avg <= x <1.5*avg

3.24

Phone hours | x > 1.5*avg

3.63


The percentage of people who play internet games correlated with their average daily internet usage.
Note: avg = 3.46 hours

 

Yes

No

% Yes

Play Games | 0<=x<0.5*avg

7

43

16.28

Play Games | 0.5*avg<=x<avg

26

69

37.68

Play Games | avg<=x<1.5*avg

18

40

45.00

Play Games | x>=1.5*avg

11

17

64.71