Running Head: FIELD STUDY PAPER

COM 421 Field Study Paper

Emma Gotsch
University of North Carolina at Wilmington

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Literature Review
It is said that forty percent of people socialize through networking sites over face-to-face
communication (Pham, P., 2014). Another shocking statistic is that the average person checks
their phone 110 times a day. Thats an average of 9 times hourly (Claudio, 2014). These are just
two of the numerous surprising statistics out there on general cell phone use.
It is apparent that people around the world are using their cell phones a lot more than they
used to. Whether it is walking around town, on a school campus, a shopping center, airport, at
work, or even when it is time to sit down and eat with family, friends, or a romantic partner;
there is bound to be one or all members looking down glued to their smart devices. It seems
smart phones have taken over face-to-face interaction and people would rather want to know
what is going on in the social world somewhere else, over what is happening right in front of
their faces. On the flip side, cell phones are not all evil and like the article from MediaShift
states, cell phones can be used in emergencies, running late somewhere, using the music app to
listen while exercising, playing games to pass the time on an airplane (Glaser, M., 2007).
An interesting excerpt I read from this article by Glaser was his outside research, his
personal experiences and his internal thought analysis. He made an intelligent comparison or
rather a diagnosis of the rising cell phone use; a dissociative disorder (Glaser, M. 2007). The
dissociative disorder according to the National Alliance on Medical Illness is defined as a
disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory (NAMI, 2016). This is
being too focused on our phones we miss what happens right in front of our faces in the moment
we are in. It is much like if you have ever drove or walked somewhere and have been so dazed
on something else or just in your thoughts and you forget how you arrived to your destination.

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This isnt to say that the author Glaser is saying we will all soon develop the dissociative
disorder, but he is making a clear connection and warning that it could be possible.
The most interesting piece of literature I came to find intrigued me because of its title;
10 Terrifying Statistics on Your Cell Phone Addiction. The ten statistics that it names off is
what you would think is common sense but when placed all in order as such, is quite astonishing.
Here are a few; 1 in 5 people aged 18-34 have used their smart phones during sex, 84% of
worldwide phone users cant go a single day without their mobile device in their hand, 38%
check their work email at the dinner table, 40% of Americans check their phones while on the
toilet, 60% of professionals with smartphones claim 72 hours of job-related contact every week
these numbers stood out the most to me (Claudio, 2014).
Having a phone nearby, without even checking it once can harm a personal relationship
(Lin, H., 2014). A study performed by Przybylski and Weinstein stated that after placing one
couple of strangers in a room with a notebook on the table and the other couple of strangers with
a random cell phone on the table there were major differences in the quality of the relationship
and the closeness of the pair (Lin, H., 2014). This is important to note to further in the study that
will later be performed. The study found that the strangers who had the phone placed on the table
nearby had lower relationship quality and closeness, while the other strangers with just a
notebook had greater relationship satisfaction and closeness.
There can be some controversy over this study as it is just one, so this team performed a
second study to prove even more evidence of how cell phones affect a connection between
people. This study offered each of the couple of strangers a casual topic or a meaningful topic to
talk about along with the cell phone or notepad on the table nearby. They answered a series of
questions after the discussion again like the first experiment and found that the cell phone had no

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effect on relationship quality, trust, or empathy in the casual topic. However, they noted that
there were greater differences in the meaningful topic discussion, having the subjects feeling that
their partner was lest trustworthy and had less empathy when a cell phone was present. (Lin, H.,
2014) This study reinforces that they hypothesis of this study is valid and the study itself is
notably valid.
An article that looked specifically on cell phone use at the dinner table and performed
two studies on it stated that even if your cell phone is not in your hand but on the table nearby,
like the study performed by Lin, it can still cause harm to the relationship. The results of the
study determined that the presence of a cell phone affected interpersonal relationships (Telegraph
Media Group, 2012). This article was much of the same information from the Lin study, however
it stated things that Lin did not and described more of the why in the study.
One study was a string of difference from the intimate setting that has previously been
discussed in the other articles and studies. This article looked at families and the use of cell
phones. What they found after observing families and talking with them was that 29% of social
media users are on a social networking website while eating or drinking at home, 32% of us text
or socialize on a mobile device at meal time, specifically with the age range of 18-34 year oldsTwitter, Facebook and texting during mealtimes are at a higher rate of 47% (Smith, 2012).
The last article that was looked at is from TIME Magazine, and talked about a survey by
Pew Research Center and this study found that 88% of respondents believe its generally not
OK to use a cell phone during dinner and that eighty-two percent of people who completed the
survey said that using a phone in social places hurts the conversation, but that it didnt stop
people from using their phones, as there were eighty-nine percent of people that said they still
take their phones out in various places (Luckerson, V., 2015).

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These few pieces of literature alone all have similar ideas that cell phone usage has gotten
out of hand, people are relying more on their smartphones than face-to-face interaction, and it
can be assumed they predict it to be getting worse.
Throughout this literature review it is noticeable that most of these studies have been
completed in the past and are not updated to this years relevancy; this is due to the fact that it
takes more than just a couple days or months to gather this type of information for a study such
as this. Noting that however, it will allow for comparison and contrasting between each of these
pieces of literature to hopefully predict more future findings.
Since it is evident that there is a wide-spread issue with cell phone use and the lack of
face-to-face communication, this study will look more in depth at the issue itself and I will also
discuss how my first hand observations went; how people tend to engage in their cell phones
more than engaging in the person sitting in front of them. My observations for this study will be
specifically directed towards relations in restaurants. I will observe the subjects nonverbal
behaviors, their tendencies of checking their phones, and how often they communicate verbally
to try and test out if in fact it is true or false that cell phone use greatly affects relationships in a
restaurant setting.
I personally know I am guilty of checking my phone or quickly responding to a message,
but I have noticed it is only when the person I am eating with checks theirs first which is what I
will discuss briefly near the end of the methodology section with restaurant twos observations.
If I have this problem I can assume that there are many others who feel the same way, but in
order to get the most out of the cell phone checking epidemic, more research needed to be done
and there will need to be more after which will help justify this study.

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The purpose of this study is to determine if the hypothesis that cell phones affect
interpersonal relationships at an eating session. We already know it affects daily interactions with
people and with ourselves, but I wanted to know specifically about the dinner table, since I have
before witnessed this distraction taking away from my own dinner and friends.
Methodology
The two restaurants that I observed were Bluewater Waterfront Grill in Wrightsville
Beach and Charlie Macgrooders in Leland. These two places have a variety of food choices and a
bar inside; I chose these two because both were on the opposite spectrums of the city of
Wilmington and because of the wide selection and causality of the setting. I hypothesized that
these two places would carry the most diverse group of individuals having a range of ages and
since the food selection is semi-large there would be a greater crowd to please each individual,
giving me a better chance of observation and notes to use in my study.
I chose to arrive around six-thirty on a Wednesday evening for the start of Trivia Night at
restaurant one-Charlie Macgrooders; I have been a part of this fun night a couple times before
and knew it would be a perfect night to observe for my assignment. As I arrived with my parents
there were already a number of people there enjoying their meals; I sat down with the group I
always do and took out my notepad to take notes. I would have used my phone to look a little
less odd at the dinner table with a notepad, however due to the rules of Trivia Night, cell phones
are not allowed. This you may think would be an issue, but not everyone in the restaurant plays
trivia so those were the ones I would observe.
I started out by casually took my eyes around the room and jotted down a few notes about
what I was seeing from the time I was there, jotting down my random thoughts about what I took
out of the relationships that I was observing. I stayed for the entire trivia game which lasted close

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to two and a half hours but only observed for roughly thirty minutes; however if I happened to
notice anything notable I would quickly write it down. At the end of the evening I took my
notepad home and re-read over my notes and held onto them to compare to the next restaurant I
would visit.
For restaurant two-Bluewater Waterfront Grill I chose to arrive close to the same time as I
did in Leland, around six in the evening but on a Friday because I knew the beach would be
busier than earlier in the week. I arrived alone and sat at a table away from the busier parts of the
floor plan, but close enough to where I could see what was going on in order to get solid
observations. I wanted to have as much consistency as possible with my observations so like my
first setting, I took my notepad in and jotted down my thoughts and what I was seeing throughout
the time I was there. Unlike the first setting, I did not sit for as long but stayed for about thirty
minutes to be sure I got enough information while not to overload myself.
Results
What I found was pretty interesting and quite surprising; for the most part at restaurant
one, Charlie Macgrooders, there were a low number of individuals that were glued to their
phones. I noted that there were four tables that all had about three to five people at their tables in
the area that I was working with, so in all there were fifteen individuals. Their ages ranged
roughly from 25-50 from what I could tell. These tables did not contribute to trivia therefore they
were allowed to use their cell phone which was why I was able to observe them. Out of the four
tables there was one table that checked their phones for only a brief second, only two tables that I
noticed used their phones for more than two minutes and only one table that did not check their
phones at all the entire time they were in the restaurant.

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From the gatherings of my observations I noted that there could have been some variables
that inhibited a true test. For instance; the age group could have affected the results because most
of the individuals were grouped in an older generation who didnt grow up on smart phones, the
small number of tables that I was able to observe, and the fact that these were the only tables
allowed to use their phones.
The results I gathered from restaurant two, Bluewater, were much more relatable to the
hypothesis that cell phones affect interpersonal relationships at an eating session. I was able to
observe eight different tables all ranging from two to eight people at a table and their ages ranged
from twenty-two to forty, roughly.
Observing these tables I found that out of the eight tables, six of them did look at their
phones at some point of the night. Of those six, two tables who had three and four individuals
only looked at their phones briefly for under a minute, three tables whos numbers ranged from
two people to four had one or more individuals looking at their phones every five minutes for
close to thirty seconds at a time, and one table which was full of eight individuals eating
consisted of mostly twenty-something year olds who all checked their phones at some point in
the night.
What I noted that I found most interesting throughout these trials was that the table of
eight at Bluewater had a domino effect of checking their phones, and at one brief moment they
were all looking down at their phones or taking pictures of themselves or each other. One person
would pull out their phone for whatever reason and another would notice so they would pull out
theirs and so on. This was similar to another table at restaurant two where there were two people,
male and female, at a table both somewhere in their twenties. Once the male would pick up his
phone, his companion would soon after (fifteen seconds) pick up her phone. From what I

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gathered, she felt as if there was nothing else to do since her date wasnt focused on her so she
might have felt the need to look at her phone also. I can justify this feeling as I have been in a
close to exact situation, which is why I am able to come to an assumption of what was going on
thirty feet away from me.
Conclusion
For this short study the hypothesis was that cell phones would affect individuals and their
eating experience and was determined to be somewhat true. Since the observation at restaurant
two had a few variables that inhibited accurate results, it was close to argue the hypothesis to be
wrong. However the second restaurant concluded the hypothesis to be accurate because of its
variables working with the study.
The purpose of this study was to find out if the hypothesis could be tested and if it could
be answered with evidence. In restaurant one the observations showed that the older generation
(forty to fifty) in this study were not addicted to checking their phones and werent
uncomfortable to have actual conversation and even some silence. In restaurant two the
observations showed that the younger generation of the study (twenty-somethings), did in fact
check their phones periodically and it gave the assumption that they felt the need to; quite like an
addiction which is what the study discussed in the literature review above from Glaser was
hinting at.
Of course with any study, but this study in particular, has its number of limitations.
Restaurant one needed more subjects to study in order to get a variety of observations and
accuracy. Restaurant two needed more diversity in the age groups. Both restaurant studies could
have been studied for longer than the time period chosen to gain a more variety. And of course
the age differences had a role in the accuracy of the observations but would be a hard variable to

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change due to the natural settings of the studies. Future research should be done; it would be
interesting to try and control the age variety and test out the times of the observers arrival. The
last astonishing statistic I will leave this paper with is from Nick Russo, and states that ninety
percent of Americans say they always have their phone with them and only one percent of adults
will never carry their cell phone (Russo, N., 2015).

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References
Anderson, Monica. "6 Facts about Americans and Their Smartphones." Pew Research Center
RSS. Pew Research Center, 01 Apr. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.pewresearch .org/fact-tank/2015/04/01/6-facts-about-americans-and-theirsmartphones/>.
Claudio. (2014, May 21). 10 Terrifying Statistics On Your Cellphone Addiction. Retrieved April
06, 2016, from http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/lifestyle/10-terrifyingstatistics-on-your-cellphone-addiction/?view=all
Dissociative Disorders. (2016). Retrieved April 04, 2016, from https://www.nami.org/LearnMore/Mental-Health-Conditions/Dissociative-Disorders
Glaser, M. (2007, October 22). How Cell Phones Are Killing Face-to-Face Interactions.
Retrieved April 04, 2016, from http://mediashift.org/2007/10/how-cell-phones-arekilling-face-to-face-interactions295/
Lin, Helen Lee. "How Your Cell Phone Hurts Your Relationships." Scientific American.
Scientific American, 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.scientificamerican .com/article/how-your-cell-phone-hurts-yourrelationships/>.
Luckerson, Victor. "Everybody Hates When You Use Your Phone at Dinner." Everybody Hates
When You Use Your Phone at Dinner. Time Magazine, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Apr.
2016. <http://time.com/4010146/smartphones-dinner/>.
Pham, P. (2014, January 04). 10 Interesting Facts about Social Networking. Retrieved April 01,
2016, from http://borgenproject.org/10-interesting-facts-social-networking/
Reporters, Telegraph. "Putting a Mobile Phone on the Restaurant Table Will Ruin Your

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Meal." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 05 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9589232/Putting-a-mobilephone-on-the-restaurant-table-will-ruin-your-meal.html>.
Russo, Nick. "8 Facts About Cellphone Usage That You Probably Don't Know." 1003 The Bull.
The Bull, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Apr. 2016. <http://thebull.cbslocal.com/2015/08/26/8facts-about-cellphone-usage-that-you-probably-dont-know/>.
Smith, Jeremy. "Teens & Tech: Smartphones at the Dinner Table - ChurchMag." ChurchMag. 03
Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://churchm.ag/teens-smartphones/>.