(Extra) Project 2: Public Space Observation

 

Hello, we're Seyeon Park and Yeonsu Lim majoring in media and social informatics at Hanyang university erica campus. 

We are going to proceed with the presentation in the order of methodology, findings, and analysis.

FIrst, our observation topic is "What media do people use to study in the study lounge?". We aim to observe what medium they use to study in the study lounge frequently used by students like us. 

The observation was conducted by the two of us, Seyeon Park and Yeonsu Lim, taking turns one day each. And we observated the students at the study lounge on the second floor of Hanyang University's Erica Campus's College of Communication. There are three such study lounges at the University of Communication. The reason why we chose the lounge on the second floor among them was because we thought students would use it the most and have various space configurations, so we could see various observations. 

The study lounge is accessible in terms of access to anyone in our school, and it is a social place because we can meet many others. Here, people can do various activities such as team projects, study, and personal tasks. Also, the subtle lighting and interiors here give people a sense of security, and there are chairs and sofas so that people can sit and relax freely.

The observation period was two weeks from October 19 to November 2, and the weekend was not observed due to the difficulty of entering school spaces. We observed it every weekday for three hours from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the study lounge.

The media used by the observers was categorized into papers, laptops, and tablet PCs. The papers are defined by including all the printed materials, including major books, prints, and personal notes. Laptops are included regardless of brands and models such as Apple, Samsung, LG, and HP. Tablet PCs are typically electronic devices such as iPads and Galaxy Tab, including wireless keyboards or wireless mouse connections.

If one person used two or more media at the same time, all used media were recorded.

Also, the same person's return on another day was also added as a new observation. Because we don't know everyone's information and we have limitations in dealing with duplicate information.

Data records were recorded manually at the time of observation, collected using Microsoft Excel program after observation, and published statistics. All observed persons were treated anonymously and classified by numbers, with variables arranged as 'gender', 'used media' and 'number of media used at the same time'.

In this way, a total of 171 observations were recorded after two weeks of observation. We were able to identify unique patterns about people's media use through this. According to statistics on our observations, the most frequently used media was laptops. The laptop recorded 134 usage. Tablet PC usage was 60 and paper usage was 97. In addition, two or more media were often used at the same time. Men often used one media, and women used more than one medium at the same time. Women, in particular, recorded much higher than men in tablet PC usage.

We think the reason most people use laptops is related to the classroom situation caused by Covid-19. It is expected that about 80 percent of people would have used laptops because most of the classes are online and there are many tasks that require laptops. There was also a lot of use of electronic devices, and study lounges provide numerous outlets for the convenience of users, which we think may have induced people to use electronic devices. We think the reason why nearly half of the people used a lot of paper is related to the nature of the study lounge space. The lighting in this space would have made it easier to use paper because it made people's eyes comfortable.

This is end of our public space observation presentation. Thank you~