ASSESSING UiTM STUDENTS' BEHAVIOR

TOWARDS INTERNET SURFING:

A CASE STUDY IN FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND
QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES (FTMSK),
UNIVERSITITEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM), SHAH ALAM

TASSHA HILDA ADNAN

2001498145

A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCES (HONS.) (STATISTICS)

FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND QUANTITATIVE

SCIENCES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM

MAY 2004
 SUPERVISOR'S APPROVAL

Name : Prof. Madya Dr. Mohd. Alias Lazim

Signature :

Date -^t^ .0^,0^

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that everything in this project is done by myself, except for quotes and

summary that each of which their sources are mentioned.

May 2004. C

Tassha Hilda Adnan

2001498145

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Assalamualaikum w.b.t.

In the name of Allah, the most gracious and most merciful. Alhamdulillah, firstly I wish

to express my warmest thanks to God for letting me complete this project paper. 1 am

deeply grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Mohd. Alias Lazim for his advice, guidelines and

brilliant ideas to make this project paper better. '}

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Dr. Yap Bee Wah, a

lecturer from Faculty of Information Technology and Quantitative Sciences, UiTM Shah

Alam who also indirectly cooperated in this project paper.

Lastly, I wish to express my thanks to my family, fellow friends and all those direct or

indirectly involved during the preparation of this project.

Wassalam.

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 ABSTRACT

This study investigates the factors affecting the attitude tow/ards Internet surfing of Universiti

Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam. The attitude can be categorized as against (mean attitude

< 2.5), undecided (mean attitude between 2.5 and 3.5) and in favor (mean attitude > 3.5). The

data set consists of 211 observations of diploma students in Faculty of Information Technology

and Quantitative Sciences (FTMSK), UiTM Shah Alam that is obtained from the stratified

sampling technique. Statistical analyses involved are the chi-square test of association, z-test

and f-test for two independent samples and one-way ANOVA. Multiple linear regression analysis

was also carried out. It is found that the attitude of the students is significantly associated with

gender and program, f-test indicated that there is a significant difference in the average attitude

between male and female students. This study also found that there is a significant difference in

proportion between male and female students having in favor attitude towards Internet surfing.

One-way ANOVA indicated that the average attitude of students differ significantly between

diploma programs. It is found that the attitude of students is significantly associated with the

Internet usage among the students who use and do not use the Internet at the faculty. However,

West indicated that the average attitude does not differ significantly. There is also no significant

difference in proportion of in favor attitude between students who use and do not use the

Internet at the faculty. This study also found that gender, hobby of Internet surfing and average

monthly cost spend for Internet access affect the attitude of students towards Internet surfing.

Carrying out factor analysis on the perception of the impact of Internet surfing, this study also

covered that three factors can be considered. The first factor is "impact on social life", the

second factor is "impact on academic performance" and the third factor is "impact on financial

status".

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 CONTENTS

Acknowledgment 1

Abstract ii
Contents iii
List of Tables vi
List of Figures viii
List of Appendix X

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Research Questions 4
1.4 Research Objectives 4
1.5 Scope of the Study 5
1.6 Significance of the Study 5
1.7 Layout of the Report 6

CHAPTER 2 SOME ISSUES ON INTERNET SURFING

2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Internet Surfing 7
2.3 Some Negative Impacts on Internet Surfing 11

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 15

III

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 3.2 Research Design 15
3.3 Sampling Design 16
3.4 Process of Data Collection 18
3.5 Research Instrument 18
3.6 Data Analysis Methodology 19
3.6.1 The Chi-Square Test of Association 20
3.6.2 The z-test for Two Independent Samples 22
3.6.3 The Mest for Two Independent Samples 22
3.6.4 One-Way ANOVA 23
3.6.5 Multiple Linear Regression 24
3.6.6 Factor Analysis 26
3.7 Conclusion .^ 28

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 Introduction 30
4.2 Respondent's Profile 30
4.3 Internet Usage Level 33
4.4 The Perception on the Impact of the Internet 38
4.5 Assessing the Assumption of Nomiality 44
4.6 The Chi-Square Test of Association 49
4.7 Test of Equality of Proportions 51
4.8 Test of Equal ity of Means 53
4.9 Model Building 56
4.9.1 Building the Multiple Linear Regression 57
4.10 Factor Analysis 65

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION
5.1 Introduction 70
5.2 Summary of Findings 70
5.3 Conclusion 74

IV

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REFERENCES 75
APPENDIX 77

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 LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 3.1: The number of respondents according to program 17

Table 3.2: ANOVA Table 23

Table 3.3(a): Summary of Hypothesis and Statistical Method 28

Table 3.3(b): Multiple Linear Regression and Factor Analysis - 29

Table 4.1: Frequency distribution of respondent's CGPA 32

Table 4.2: Frequency distribution of total credit hour for current semester 33

Table 4.3: Frequency distribution of number of times spend on the Internet 36

per month

Table 4.4(a): The perception regarding academic output 38

Table 4.4(b): The perception regarding missed the class 39

Table 4.4(c): The perception regarding missed the next day class 39

Table 4.4(d): The perception regarding submitted the assignments 40

Table 4.4(e): The perception regarding the sleep pattern 40

Table 4.4(f): The perception regarding personal relationships 41

Table 4.4(g): The perception regarding the time to go out 41

Table 4.4(h): The perception regarding time spent with the others 42

Table 4.4(i): The perception regarding the financial status 42

Table 4.4(j): The perception regarding the time spent for social events 43

Table 4.4(k): The perception regarding the time spent for study or revision 43

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Table 4.4(1): The perception regarding negative consequences to Internet Use 44

Table 4.5(a): Contingency Table of Attitude and Gender 49

Table 4.5(b): Contingency Table of Attitude and Program 50

Table 4.5(c): Contingency Table of Attitude and Internet Usage in Faculty 50

Table 4.5(d): Summary of the Chi-Square Test of Association 50

Table 4.6(a): SPSS Results of Descriptive Statistics of Mean Attitude of 53

Respondents According to Gender

Table 4.6(b): SPSS Results of/-test for Two Independent Samples 53

Table 4.7(a): SPSS Results of Descriptive Statistics of Mean Attitude 54

According to Program and Levene Test ;

Table 4.7(b): SPSS Results of One-Way ANOVA 55

Table 4.8: SPSS Results of/-test for two Independent Samples 55

Table 4.9: SPSS Results of Multiple Linear Regression Analysis 59

Table 4.10: Correlation Matrix 60

Table 4.11: Classification Table 64

Table 4.12: The items in Section D 65

Table 4.13: Skewness and kurtosis statistics to check the normality assumption 66

Table 4.14: SPSS output for Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling 67

adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity

Table 4.15: Rotated Factor Loadings 67

Table 4.16: Summary of the findings on factor analysis 69

vii

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 4.1: Gender of respondents 31

Figure 4.2: Number of respondents according to program 31

Figure 4.3: Number of respondents according to semester 32

Figure 4.4: The distribution of respondents who like to surf the Internet 34

Figure 4.5: The places where respondents surf the Internet 34

Figure 4.6: The non-academic purposes of surfing the Internet 35

Figure 4.7: Hours spent every time the respondents go online 37

Figure 4.8: Part of the day/night when the respondents usually go online 37

Figure 4.9(a): Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CSl 10 44

Figure 4.9(b): Box Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CS110 44

Figure 4.10(a): Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CS 111 45

Figure 4.10(b): Box Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CSl 11.' 45

Figure 4.11 (a): Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CS 112 46

Figure 4.11(b): Box Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CS 112 46

Figure 4.12(a): Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CS 113 47

Figure 4.12(b): Box Plot of Mean Attitude for Program CSl 13 47

Figure 4.13: Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Male Respondents 48

Figure 4.14: Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude for Female Respondents 48

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Figure 4.15(a): Q-Q Plot of Mean Attitude 58

Figure 4.15(b): Box Plot of Mean Attitude 58

Figure 4.16(a): Q-Q Plot of Residuals 61

Figure 4.16(b): Plot of Residuals against Predicted Values 61

IX

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 LIST OF APPENDIX

Page

Appendix 1: Verifying the Sample Size 77

Appendix 2: Reliability Analysis 81

Appendix 3; The Chi-Square Test of Association 83

Appendix 4: Multiple Linear Regression 86

Appendix 5: Factor Analysis 91

Appendix 6: Questionnaire 98

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 CHAPTER 1

Overview of the Study

1.1 Introduction
The Internet has many important and necessary benefits. It is fast, ecologically sound,

convenient and informative. It provides a new medium of communication that enables us

to access vast amounts of information across a breadth of topics. With computing

technology increasing so rapidly there is no limit as to where we can go.

We like to think of the Internet as an engaging hobby, but some people think that the

Internet is highly addictive. They are concerned that people who get involved with

Internet surfing tends to spend too much time on it. The symptomatic behaviors includes

academic or work or interpersonal problems, neglecting friends, family, and job or

personal responsibilities, withdrawal when away from the Internet, irritability when

attempting to stop using the Internet, staying online more than originally intended, lying

or concealing how much time you spend online, and drastic lifestyle changes in order to

spend more time online. In general, decrease in physical activity, disregard for one's

health as a result of Internet activity, and sleep deprivation or a change in sleep patterns

in order to spend time on the Internet. Other symptoms include thinking about the

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Internet while offline, anticipating future time online, and spending large of amounts of

money on Internet time and other such expenses. The person spends less time doing

otherwise pleasurable activities than before the condition began. What used to be fun is

no longer enjoyable. A further complication arises when the person eventually isolates

himself or herself from friends, in favor of friends online. They sometimes have sense

of guilt about their online use. They often lie to their friends about how much time they

spend online, and consider their Internet use a secret to others. While they understand

that what they are doing is not entirely socially acceptable, they cannot stop. They had

no desire to cut down the amount of time they spent on-line, unsuccessful attempts to cut

down the amount of time they spent on-line, restrict their usage to the prescribed time

limits and felt unable to live without the Internet for such an extended period of time.

This results in a diminished self worth and further symptoms of Internet addiction.

Although the Internet can be a powerful tool for both academic study and personal

communication, for some people Internet access can prove to be a temptation that is hard

to resist. Pathological or problematic use of the Internet is a behavior pattern that

appears to be affecting more and more people, including students. The Internet provides

us with so many positive things and is definitely going to be part of our lives for future

generations. However, along with all the positive things the Internet does, we must also

pay attention to the negatives impact that it might bring in our life, such as it affects the

sleep pattern, the financial status and the personal relationships with others.

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1.2 Problem Statement

The aim of this study is to research UiTM students' behavior and attitude towards the

Internet surfing.

In the information age, we now have another activity with potentially addictive

properties, which is the Internet. Previously, surfing the Internet might have been one

kind of a hobby, but since the Internet are widely used for various purposes nowadays, it

has attracted many people to spend long hours to the activity. Unfortunately, they did

not seem to realize whether this habit of spending long hours is only a hobby to fulfill

their leisure time or they have become in favor attitude towards Internet surfing.

College students, who, as a whole, proportionally spend a greater amount of time online

as an investigative tool, might be susceptible to Internet addiction. They surf the World

Wide Web, playing online games, downloading files or chatting with people all over the

world and so forth.

This study will also point out the various online activities that can become problematic,

from chat room to computer gaming. Continuous habit of this nature could affect the

students' life in a negative way when they start neglecting their health, relationship,

academic and other responsibilities.

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1.3 Research Questions

This study is conducted to answer thefollowingresearch questions:

1. Is Students' attitude towards Internet surfing associated with gender, diploma

programs and those who use or do not use the Internet at the faculty?

2. Is there a significant difference between the attitude towards Internet surfing and

gender, diploma programs and those who use or do not use the Internet at the

faculty?

3. What factors contribute to attitude towards Internet surfing of students?

4. Can we describe the impact of Internet surfing in termS-of a few factors?

1.4 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study are identified s follows.

1. To detennine the students' behavior towards Internet surfing.

2. To compare the attitude towards Internet surfing with gender and diploma

programs taken in UiTM and those students who use or do not use the Internet at

the faculty.

3._
' __ To identify the factors contribute to attitude towards Internet surfing.

4. To detennine some primary impact of Internet surfing on student's life.

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1.5 Scope of the Study

The target population of this study comprise of diploma students at the Faculty of

Information Technology and Quantitative Science (FTMSK), Universiti Teknologi

MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor from Semester 2 to Semester 5. A sample of

students was taken from this population and being researched. The study does not cover

the whole population of students in UiTM Shah Alam due to the time and money

constraints.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study is focused on UiTM students' behaviour towards Internet surfing. From this

study, we can identify whether the Internet surtmg still remains as a hobby which the

students pursue during their leisure hours or it has become in favor attitude to some

segments of the students. Incidentally, most college students, sadly to say, do not

recognize the symptoms of becoming dependent on the Internet which might have some

impacts on their life, especially in their academic performance. Since this study is on the

Internet usage among students in UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, therefore, its outcome

should be able to help the university to anticipate the consequence on the students if the

issue becomes a problematic in the future.

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1.7 Layout of the Report

The problem statement, research questions, research objectives, scope of the study and

the significance of the study are discussed in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, some previous

studies related to Internet surfing are given. The methodology used in this study is

explained in Chapter 3. The data analysis and findings are discussed in Chapter 4. The

summary of conclusions is given in Chapter 5.

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 CHAPTER 2

Some Issues on Internet Surfing

2.1 Introduction

In the mid 1990's, people became fascinated with the Internet. All of a sudden,

information was available on any topic imaginable. With so'much information at our

fingertips, it is an astonishing phenomenon that some users couldn't seem to get enough.

The number of Internet users grew exponentially, and it is definitely going to be part of

our lives for generation to come. Some people are experiencing a negative impact in

their lives because of their compulsive use of the Internet.

This chapter gives an overview of some issues related to Internet usage of students.

Section 2.2 discusses some of the issues of Internet surfing. Some negative impacts of

usiflg the Internet are explained in Section 2.3.

2.2 Internet Surfing

It was not until the I990's that the Internet became readily available to people. The

Internet acts as a central database, which is full of information regarding any topic or

subject imaginable. It allows us to accomplish so many things that have limited us in the

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past. With computing technology increasing so rapidly there is no limit as to where we

can go. The Internet is a tool of great value whether it is used for educational purposes

or for entertainment. The Internet provides us with so many positive things and is

definitely going to be a part of our lives for generations to come. However along with all

the positive things the Internet does, we must also pay attention to the negatives like

people becoming addicted to it.

The Internet is an amazing information resource. For example, students, teachers and

researchers use it as an investigative tool; physicians use; it to learn more about

unfamiliar diseases and the latest medical developments; ordinary folks use it for

shopping, banking, bill-paying and communicating with family and friend. People all

over the globe use it to connect with individuals of other countries and cultures. Even

journalists use it to find information for journalistic articles.

Internet usage has tripled in the last three years with continuing growth is expected. The

Internet is becoming more easily accessible with schools, colleges, and public libraries

all going online. Many employees now use the Internet as part of their workday. In

addition, the cost of computers is becoming more affordable so the number of home

computers is on the rise. With such ease of access, the Internet has become an integral

part of our lives (Huang & Alessi, 1997). With these changes, it is anticipated that the

number of those who excessively use the Internet will also continue to increase.

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The Internet provides a new medium of communication that enables us to access vast

amounts of information across a breadth of topics. There are several technologies and

applications that people have become addicted to on the Internet. Although the merits of

the Internet make it an ideal research tool, students surf irrelevant web sites, engage in

chat room gossip, converse with Internet pen pals, and play interactive games at the cost

of productive activity. Shapira, Goldsmith, KeckJr, Khosla and McElroy (2000)

indicated that the nonessential use occurred in the following domains: chat forums, e-

mail, website surfing, multi-user domains, miscellaneous uses including games and

designing web pages, pornography, news or current events, newsgroups, file transfers,

music, shopping or buying, card catalogs and political uses. Online games are more

popular to the Internet addicts as they present more time consuming and challenging.

Men tend to seek out dominance and sexual fantasy online, while women seek out close

relationships, romantic partners, and prefer anonymous communication in which to hide

their appearance. Virtual online games are one of the attractions to the male addicts

because online games tend to give the men the satisfaction to be able to dominate and its

nature of violence (Men, Women, and the Internet: Gender Differences, 1998 [Online]).

Bellamy and Hanewicz (2001) discovered that women who are sociable are more

attracted to electronic communications where they find that it is easier to communicate

in electronic environments than in face-to-face situations, and that people are more

accepting of them within Internet environments than face-to-face. It also revealed that

women participate less than men within computer mediated discussion groups. Bellamy

and Hanewicz also found that individuals within the particular sample reported using

Internet chat rooms primarily when they are bored and looking for someone to talk to.

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Also, slightly more than 50% of the respondents indicate that they use chat rooms for

meeting people and recreational purposes.

Although the Internet can be a powerful tool for both academic study and personal

communication, for some people Internet access can prove to be a temptation that is hard

to resist. Pathological or problematic use of the Internet is a behavior pattern that

appears to be affecting more and more people, including students. Use of the Internet on

college campuses has increased dramatically in recent years, leading to pathological use

for some students (Kandell, 1998). Considering the widespread growth of the Internet,

various aspects of Internet use across demographic groups is an area of relevant research

interest. However, one group, the college student population, may be particularly

susceptible to problems related to Internet use, and more specifically - excessive Internet

use. It has been shown that 28% of all Internet users are full-time college students

(Anderson, 2000). Another observation the researchers (Chou & Hsiao, 2000) made was

that some college students flunked because they spent too much time on the Internet

rather than on their studies. Some students remain connected to the Internet virtually the

whole day as long as they are awake. They also stated that college students as a group

appear more vulnerable in developing a dependence on the Internet than any other

segment of society. Many students have turned to the Internet as a way to escape from

problems or to relieve mood such as guilt, anxiety and depression. As the activities

online provide a means to escape from reality and is less threatening than real-life

relationships, they develop an emotional attachment to these activities, be it chatting,

playing games or simply surfing the Internet (Devi, 2003).

10

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2.3 Some Negative Impacts of Internet Surfing

Online computer use is widespread and growing. A person may start out using the

Internet as a hobby and before they know they will be spending all of their time on-line.

People become so fascinated with the Internet that they cannot get enough of it. With the

growing importance of the Internet in everyday life, more and more people are accessing

various online resources each day. The Internet has many important and necessary

benefits. It is fast, ecologically sound, convenient and informative. In many ways, it can

make our lives much simpler or more complex. Computer technology provides

innumerable time-saving techniques, resources, improvement in work quality and the list

continues. The Internet has become an integral part of that technology. One reality does

exist, that is problems and consequences are occurring directly related to an individual's

excessive use of the Internet. The nature of the computer medium and the sense of

control experienced when engaged in computer activities can also contribute to the

potential for problematic Internet use (Kandell, 1998).

The Internet should not be viewed as a negative resource, nor should it be vilified. On

the_contrary, the Internet is an exciting new medium that is constantly evolving into an

essential part of daily living. However, we must be aware of the negative consequences

of overuse of the Internet, and understand the behavior of people who use it in a

pathological way. Computer use is clearly a negative addiction when it significantly

affects a person's daily life in a negative way. When obsessive computer use interferes

with family, friends, school, or employment, causing financial, relationship, or physical

problems, and continuing despite efforts at control, then it is a serious problem.

II

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