Mobile communication experience of students in exchange programs between Indonesia and the Philippines

The use of technology and mobile communication became prevalent with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, where activities such as student exchange between two universities can be conducted virtually. Mobile communication, in this case, is related to communication using cellular devices based on computer technology, but also the characteristics of mobile communication itself, which is mobility or its ability to be used anywhere and at any time. The study aims to examine the lived experiences of mobile communication on undergoing student exchange programs between Indonesia and the Philippines. The study was conducted using the qualitative method with in-depth interviews as data collection. The research's informants are students from universities in Indonesia and the Philippines. Data were interpreted through a thematic analysis. The research found that mobile communication positively affected the students' learning and experience, mainly how it helps them continue their education despite being disrupted by the pandemic. However, poor connection, English skills, and language barriers affect their academic performance. Recommendations are put forward for further studies to focus on how the language barrier affected students' learning and behaviors on mobile communication. Another further study that can be done is to explore mobile communication through theories in virtual exchange. They are polymedia and affordance theories. Academic institutions should help and monitor students’ understandings that would help and allow the students to understand and learn more

The content analysis methodology. Uses and applications in communication research on Spanish-speaking countries

Based on a conceptual review of the content analysis research method, this article identifies meta-research studies that confirm the relevance of this technique in the atomised field of communication sciences. In light of the empirical evidence, this study is based on an analysis of 262 papers that use this tool and were published in major Spanish-language journals between 2013 and 2017. At instrumental level, bibliometric exploration is combined with content analysis itself, considering 18 categories, such as authorship, funding, sampling method and reporting of intercoder reliability. The results indicate that there is a steady annual growth in the number of papers produced by researchers affiliated to Spanish universities. These papers have more than two authors on average and often lack additional financial resources. As for the implementation of the content analysis method, it is generally applied to non-probabilistic samples and does not involve any intercoder reliability assessment and reporting. A series of recommendations are offered for researchers in Spain and in Latin America to meet international standards.Tras efectuar una panorámica conceptual sobre el análisis de contenido, se identifican algunas metainvestigaciones que atestiguan la relevancia de esta técnica en el atomizado campo de las ciencias de la comunicación. Habida cuenta de las evidencias empíricas detectadas, se examinan 262 artículos que se sirven de esta herramienta, publicados en las principales revistas del ámbito hispánico durante el quinquenio 2013-2017. A nivel instrumental, se combinan la exploración bibliométrica con el propio análisis de contenido, reflejados en una plantilla de 18 parámetros tales como: la autoría, la financiación de los estudios, la estrategia de muestreo empleada o el reporte de la fiabilidad intercodificadores. A la luz de los resultados, se aprecia un incremento anual constante del número de manuscritos publicados a cargo de académicos procedentes, a menudo, de instituciones universitarias españolas. Estos estudios, firmados por más de dos autores de media, suelen carecer de recursos financieros adicionales. En cuanto a la implementación del método, es precedido por el diseño de muestras no probabilísticas y, tras la codificación, los analistas prescinden, el común de las veces, de cualquier indicador sobre confiabilidad. En último término, se proponen unas recomendaciones para que la futura producción, tanto en España como en Hispanoamérica, se adecúe a los estándares internacionalmente exigidos

Meta Analysis of Smartphone Usage for Gratifications Obtained (2016-2019)

Smartphone is mostly used medium today in all age groups. Current study contributes by analyzing the research methodology in context of smartphone usage studies. The population of the study is the “Uses and Gratifications” researches related to smartphone usage published between 2016 and 2019. The research articles were selected by the key words of “smartphone AND gratifications” on Google Scholar and 25 articles were selected for meta-analysis to explore the objectives of approach to uses and gratifications theory, the sampling procedures, the data collection and analyses in the previous studies. It is found that smartphone is a multidimensional construct and scholars have researched them by using the holistic and the reductionist approaches. 64% studies have been found to utilize the quantitative approaches. Both mediated and offline methods are used for data collection in the previous studies. Most of the studies have used survey method. It is recommended to use the validated scales in the context of Pakistani culture

A Test of the Mobile Phone Appropriation Model: A Comparison between Chinese and US Samples

The published version is being made available with the permission of the publisher.The mobile phone appropriation (MPA; Wirth et al., 2007, 2008) model is an integrative model that seeks to explain attitudes and behaviors related to mobile phone usage from a communication perspective, proposing a dynamic loop of metacommunication, evaluations, and usage patterns. Following a previous study (Lee & Cioena, 2023), the current research tests the MPA model with a Chinese sample collected through an online survey (N = 510) and compares it with the U.S. sample (N = 501) collected by Lee and Cionea (2023) using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling. Although the core structure of MPA model was shown to be tenable cross-culturally, the results of comparative analysis reveal some noticeable cultural differences in mobile phone appropriation and call for further model revisions. Noticeably, relational and social implications of mobile communication penetrate more aspects of mobile phone appropriation with greater strength in the Chinese sample, potentially due to the collectivistic Chinese culture, and the results demonstrate a paradox between perceived affordability and usage. The more Chinese participants evaluated the cost of mobile phone usage as a restrictive factor of MPA, corroborate the more they used it for relationship maintenance and daily schedule management. In addition, the results indicate some tensions between instrumental purposes and entertainment and symbolic usage unique to the Chinese context

Tendencias de los artículos académicos sobre TIC y web social en el período 2013-2017 = Trends in academic articles on ICTs and social web in the 2013-2017 period

Este trabalho visa perceber o modo como as TIC e a web social, elementos estruturantes na atual sociedade digital, foram tratados nos estudos de natureza acadêmica. O intuito é, portanto, fazer um balanço da pesquisa publicada nas revistas espanholas e hispano-americanas com maior impacto no quinquénio 2013-2017, indexadas ao Scimago Journal & Country Rank na categoria de Comunicação. Para isto, a pesquisa bibliométrica e a análise de conteúdo foram trianguladas metodologicamente, o que permitiu considerar aspetos como a autoria ou o financiamento dos artigos, bem como identificar os objetos de estudo, as teorias ou as metodologias mais utilizadas nos 425 artigos da amostra. Considerando os resultados obtidos, pode-se afirmar que a produção científica registra um crescimento permanente no período analisado. O padrão modal da autoria dos trabalhos, que costuma carecer de financiamento adicional, é de 3 autores; um fato que denota o carácter colaborativo desta pesquisa. Do ponto de vista instrumental, os estudos mais habituais são empíricos e estão focados na análise de conteúdo das mensagens. Por último, no que diz respeito à comparação entre artigos incluídos nas revistas espanholas e hispano-americanas, observam-se diferenças significativas em função de parâmetros como o fator de impacto, o uso de métodos quantitativos ou qualitativos e os paradigmas epistemológicos em que se enquadram os artigos.This paper aims to understand the way in which ICTs and the social web, main agents of the current digital society, have been studied in academic articles. The goal is, therefore, to make a balance of the research published in the Spanish and Latin American journals with the greatest impact, indexed in Scimago Journal & Country Rank in the category of Communication, during the five-year period 2013-2017. To do this, we methodologically triangulated bibliometric research and content analysis, which allowed to consider aspects such as the authorship or the articles' funding, as well as to identify the objects of study, theories, and the most used methodologies in the 425 manuscripts of the sample. In light of the results, it is possible to state that scientific production experiments permanent growth throughout the time series analyzed. The modal pattern of the works' authorship, which usually lacks additional funding, is up to three authors, something that denotes the collaborative nature of this investigation. From an instrumental point of view, the studies are mostly empirical and centered on the analysis of messages. Finally, regarding the comparison between the manuscripts included in the Spanish and Latin American journals, there are significant differences in terms of parameters such as the impact factor, the use of quantitative or qualitative methods, and the epistemological paradigms in which the articles are included

SOCIAL MEDIA-BASED COMMUNICATION RESEARCH: PRIMARY TOPICS, THEORIES, METHODOLOGIES

Today, social media research occupies an important place in the communication discipline. The most likely reason for this is that with the increasing prevalence of social media, communication scholars have turned their attention to this area. This study focuses on social media research in the communication discipline. The aim of the study is to reveal research trends and patterns of social media-based communication research. To achieve this, the study analyzes 120 articles published between 2011 and 2020 in academic journals indexed in Web of Science and with a high number of citations. By using qualitative content analysis technique, each article was examined and coded under six categories: (i). primary topic of the study, (ii). use of theories or theoretical models, (iii). types of sample, (iv). research methods, (v). social media platform, (vi). research area/locations. The findings help to understand general research trends and patterns in social media research conducted in the communication discipline.</div