1. Foundation in Natural & Built Environments
Group Members :
Yee Algel 0315890
Siau See Sing 0315926
Thun Shao Xun 0315919
Ooi Kai Yang 0315663
Egbert Chin Haw Hoong 0315115
Subject : Mathematics (MATH 0103)
Title : Survey on Smartphones
Lecturer : Miss Ann See Peng
Date : 14 May 2014
4. Introduction
In this assignment we needed to do a survey on smartphones users in Taylor’s
University Lakeside Campus. We had a total of five members which were Ooi Kai Yang,
Siau See Sing, Thun Shao Xun, Yee Algel and Egbert Chin Haw Hoong. It was our second
and notably our final group assignment which focused on statistics.
In this topic, we were required to apply all of our knowledge that we had learnt from
Miss Ann regarding statistics and its application in our survey. It all involved collecting data
from all the fill-out hand out and rearranging it and form out the different types of data
collecting to see which one fits our data.
We, as a group started to print out a total of 100 copies of the hand-outs. Then we
would be randomly distributing the hand-outs to any passer-by we met on that day. Soon after
that was done, we started collecting the data and organizing it in Microsoft excel form so we
could have an idea of which types of data collecting tools to use that suited our calculation.
After that was done, next up was formulating an A2 board showing all of info graphic work
and finally, a report.
5. Objectives
The objective of our survey was to compare the usage of smartphones and their
applications based on the different demographical age groups in Taylor’s University Lakeside
Campus. The reason why we chose smartphones as the main subject of our survey was because
as of now our generation is very technology and media based, our phones, or smartphones,
being a very important part of our daily lives. Likewise, the reason why we chose age as a very
defining factor is because we wanted to show the comparison of the usage between age groups,
as the amount of time, money and interest invested into smartphones is increasing as we get
closer to the younger generations. As of such, we thought it would be a subject that many
people can relate to and can easily understand. We did this comparison by asking and selecting
between specific age groups between the ranges of 18 to 23, and we focused on the amount of
money spent, brands of smartphone, time as well as specific applications that we deemed
reasonable for these age group ranges.
We will be representing these ideas in the form of tables and charts, as well as
explaining the data in forms of paragraphs, since we believe that this method would make it
more functional and easier for anyone to read and understand, to gather data without extensive
background knowledge on what we did and how we did it.
6. Analysis
In our survey, over 100 students between age group 18-23, there are 39 females and 61
males. Besides, young adults aged 21 is the modal class. The 22 age group is the least in the
data which only has 8 persons.
Age f F X2
fx FX2
18 10 10 324 180 3240
19 20 30 361 380 7220
20 20 50 400 400 8000
21 26 76 441 546 11466
22 8 84 484 176 3872
23 16 100 529 368 8452
Median class = age 20
Mean =
𝑓𝑥
𝑛
=
2050
100
= 20.5
Mode= age 21.
Therefore, we have actually assigned the ages into two specific groups, which are Teenagers
(18 to 20 years old) and Young Adults (21 to 23 years old).
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
18 19 20 21 22 23
Age Group
Male Female
7. Question 3: Which types of keypad phone did you use previously, before switching to a
smartphone?
Figure above shows the brand of mobile of each age group before they started to use
smartphone. They are too many types of mobile phone brands and so, the ‘others’ is the
highest in the bar chart. From the bar chart, the most welcomed mobile brand is Nokia and
the least welcomed mobile phone brand is Motorola. However, the number of young adults
who have used Motorola are obviously greater than teenagers.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Teenagers Young Adult
Nokia Motorola Samsung others
8. Question 4: Which brand of smartphone do you prefer?
Figure above shows the type of smartphone used by the teenagers and young adults
which consists of Sony, Nokia, HTC Samsung and Apple. It is obviously that Apple is the
most welcomed brand among all the smartphones, because about 52% of people are using it.
Then, followed by Samsung which has 29% of people using it. Comparing both age groups,
both group prefer to use Apple then follow by Samsung. However, Sony is more preferred by
teenagers than young adult.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Teenagers
Young Adult
Type Of Smartphone
others sony nokia htc samsung apple
9. Question 5: In general, how long does your phone battery life last?
Human need energy to work and therefore, smartphones need battery to function.
Figure above shows the battery life of the phones they have. The conclusion that can be made
is these people do not really charge their phones often due to the long battery lives.
Therefore, power banks in this scenario, are not really necessary. A smartphone’s battery life
usually lasts for 5-7 hours, as you can see from the bar chart above.
Teenager
f x CF FX X2
FX2
2-4hour 7 3 7 21 9 63
5-7hour 22 6 29 132 36 792
8-10hour 21 9 50 189 81 1701
Modal class = 5-7hour
Mean=
𝑓𝑥
𝑛
=
21+132+189
50
= 6.84hour
Young Adult
f x CF FX X2
FX2
2-4hour 11 3 11 33 9 99
5-7hour 24 5 35 120 36 864
8-10hour 15 6 50 90 81 1215
Modal class= 5-7hour
Mean=
𝑓𝑥
𝑛
=
33+120+90
50
= 4.86ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
2hour-4hour
5hour 7hour
8hour-10hour
Battery Life
Young Adult Teenagers
10. Question 6: How many times do you charge your phone a day?
Based on the figure above, most people here charge their phones once per day. This is
common and logic because if we relate this question to the previous question, number 5, we
can conclude that the long battery lives of their smartphones causes them to charge not that
often. However, some people still need to charge often due to the frequent usage for
important purposes such as doing assignments.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 2 3
Charge How many time perday
Teenagers Young Adult
11. Question 7: How many smartphone do you have?
Based on above, it clearly shows that people usually have a smartphone rather than 2
or 3. This is because, with just one, we can already do a lot of things and it’s more than
enough. People who have 2 or 3 smartphones must really be big fans of them and they always
tend to change their smartphones often.
40
8
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1 2 3
Teenagers Young Adults
12. Question 8: Which functions do you use the most on your smartphone?
Smartphones are awesome devices that give us entertainment. Based on the figure,
many people like to use their smartphones to surf social apps. This is because the main
benefit of a smartphone is to be able to surf the internet social sites conveniently without
computer. Also, features such as camera, games and music can be run better in DSLRs, Play
Stations and iPod. Therefore, with these alternative, it’s no wonder out that they don’t really
use them on their smartphones.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
social app camera games music
Teenager Young Adults
13. Question 9: Which social media do you use the most on your smartphone?
As we know, Facebook is the most popular social site in the world, created by Mark
Zuckerberg. As on 3rd
October 2013, there were 500 Million People use Facebook, and that’s
a huge amount of people! Therefore, people usually use Facebook the most on their
smartphones due to its popularity.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Facebook Twitter Instagram Whatapp Wechat
Teenagers Young Adults
14. Question 10: Which feature of the smartphone is the most important to you?
Based on the figure, we can know how important the features of Internet and the ability to
surf the social medias among other features on smartphones. Usually people won’t use the
camera because they have their alternatives such as DSLRs, compact cameras and many
more. Besides that, number of people that play games on the phones is lesser. This is because
the alternatives, such as PS3, XBOX, PSP and many more would give better performance in
gaming.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Camera Internet Social Media Game Other
Smartphone Feature
Teenagers Young Adult
15. Question 11: What age did you start to use a smartphone?
Most people in this scenario are so fortunate and great, because they got their very first
smartphones at the age of 15, when they were middle school students. However, smart
phones may bring many benefits, but they must not abuse it. Some parents are worried of
getting a smartphone for their kids at a young age due to their maturity. At the age of 16,
student might have exam, so the number of the smartphone will drop. On the age of 17, the
number of smartphone that the student have increased dramatically due to the rewards from
their parents after SPM. There is a slight drop in 18 years old due to students started their
university life.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
15 16 17 18
Teenagers Young Adult
16. Question 12
Based on the bar chart, it’s obvious that the Young Adults prefer to use voice message rather
than typing. Perhaps these people prefer to socialize and chat with their voices. It is a good
sign for the young adults because if we chat with our voices, we would hear the other
person’s voice and expression, rather than chatting using words and emoticons that do not
feel realistic.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Type Voice Message
Type or Voice Message
Teenagers Young Adult
17. Question 13: Preference in operating system (OS)
Based on the bar chart, it is obvious that people prefer IOS and Android over Windows. This
is because these two operating systems (OS) are the oldest operating systems for smartphones
and meanwhile, Windows is new in developing smartphone operating systems. It is highly
possible that they prefer older companies over the others because of the experience they have
got.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
IOS ANDROID WINDOW
Teenagers
Young Adults
18. Question 14: How you take pictures using your smartphone
Based on the above figure, it shows that most of the teenagers (18yrs-20yrs) and young adults (21yrs-
23yrs) tend to use their phones to take selfies rather than asking someone else to take it for them.
This is because most of the selfies that are taken involves only one individual. On the other hand, we
will only ask someone help when we are with our friends and such. Also, there is a song named
“Selfie” sung by The Chainsmokers actually promotes and gives the idea of taking selfies awesomely.
Therefore, it’s no wonder out that they prefer taking selfie since this is a “culture” and that’s what
everyone’s been doing!
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Selfie Ask Others
Teenagers
Young Adults
19. Question 15: Duration you take to change your phone
Based on the above figure, it clearly shows that most of the students that ranges from teenagers to
young adults tend to change their phone after two years.
This is due to the fact that they might have misused or poor handling of their phones. Other than that
it is quite normal for them to change their phones after three to four years as the software tend to be
downgraded over the phones causing a few problems to the users.
While on the other hand, it is quite rare for them to change their phones after one year as their phones
are still in good conditions. So this results in a few changes for the one year period as it is most
probably caused by poor judgement when buying the phone of their choice.
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years
Teenagers
Young Adults
20. Question 16: How much do you spend on your phone every month?
Based on this figure, students tend to spend RM 1 – RM 50 and RM 51 – RM 100 more. This is
because students don’t usually spend so much money on their smartphones compared to the people
who work, such as businessmen. Businessmen usually spend money on their smartphones when
they’re in another country because they need the mobile network to make urgent and crucial phone
calls, it is called ‘rooting’ which is extremely expensive!
0
5
10
15
20
25
Rm1-Rm50 Rm51-Rm100 Rm101-Rm150 Rm151-Rm200
Teenagers Young Adults
21. Question 17: What size of smartphone do you prefer?
Based on above, these students prefer small phones rather than large phones. This is because they may
think it’s lighter and convenient to bring. People who are older, such as the “Aunties and Uncles”
would prefer to use larger phones because as they grow older, they’re sight become worse and that’s
why they need a larger phone.
62%
38%
Teenagers
Small Large
58%
42%
Young Adults
Small Large
22. Question 18: How many smartphone cases do you have?
Smartphone cases are important if you want to protect your phone. Technically, 1 is enough.
Therefore, most people have one. Some people, however, like to change cases as their hobbies and
likes. This is common among people who is a big fan of smartphones and cases.
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 2 3 4 5
Teenagers Young Adults
23. Question 19: What features do you look for while buying a new phone?
Based on the graph above, operating system is the main criteria for Young Adults.
This is because different operating systems affect the productivity of the smartphone. Where
else young adults focus more on hardware. Hardware also plays and important role, different
hardware will produce different qualities software of the phone. Nowadays camera like
DSLR are heavy and inconvenient for the people. All thanks to the technology, smartphones
now can take picture with high quality resolutions. Smartphone cameras can also take
different kinds of picture and you can directly edit the picture without using your laptop or
computer. In price wise, 6 teenagers and 1 young adult did care about the price of the
smartphone. This shows that price does not matter, because the higher the price, the better the
functions and qualities.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Camera Os Hardware Price
Teenagers Young Adult
24. Question 20: What service line do you use?
In this chart above, we can see that maxis has got the highest rate of teenagers and young
adult who are using it. This is because Maxis provides better services and network coverage.
Where else Digi has the second highest rate compared to the other 2 companies. Digi
provides cheap plans but does not provide better services due to the poor network coverage.
U-mobile has more teenager that’s using it compared to young adults. U-mobile does provide
good service but the plan is too expensive compared to the others. Celcom has the lowest rate
among the other 3 companies. This is because Celcom’s plan is too expensive but they do
provide good network coverage.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Digi Maxis Celcom U-Mobile
Teenagers Young Adult
25. Question 21: The need for power bank when going out
Based on the above figure, it shows that most of our teenage students tend to bring out their
power bank more than their young adults counterparts.
This is because the teenagers (18 yrs – 20 yrs) tend to use more of their phones for works,
assignments, checking out their notifications, chatting or just for playing games. This results
in them using a lot of power from their phones. So in order to solve this problem, a power
bank is a must for them when going out.
On the other hand, it is not such a serious case for the young adults as they have their iPads
and laptops along with them if their smartphones run out of power. What if their smartphones
are in low battery? They can actually charge them via a cable connected to their laptops.
23
23.5
24
24.5
25
25.5
26
26.5
YES NO
Teenagers
Young Adults
26. Question 22: Do you have a data plan on your smartphone?
Based on figure, both teenagers and young adults have same opinions regarding the usage of
mobile data plan. Mobile Data Plan is really important to those who are always busy and
need to travel everywhere , such as businessmen, they may need to be able to access the
internet to read their emails, make video calls or even surfing the internet for urgent
information’s and news.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
YES NO
Teenagers
Young Adults
27. CONCLUSION
In this assignment, we learned the study of statistics. This assignment required us to
compare the survey of the age between 18-20 and 21-23. In this assignment, we had to
distribute 100 copies of survey form to the people to fill in the form. We had to analyse the
data according to the survey form that we distributed. Based on what we went through, I
think that different people have got different choices, just like what Walt Disney has said :
“The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.”
Nevertheless, the different age’s group of 18-20 and 21-23 may not be obvious, but
there are tremendous differences when they are making decisions and even what they like and
dislike. After doing this survey, we could understand more about the students’ thoughts.
As a conclusion, no matter what, there isn’t such thing as ‘better choice’ or ‘you have
no taste’. In the end, everyone is different and have got different choices. We have got to
learn how understand and acknowledge their decisions. However, there’s a saying: “The
more the people have it, the greater the product” It may be true, but still, totally up to you!
