LMThapar School of Management

new India starts here!

TITLE

Submitted by
DIVY KRISHAN GUPTA 401007009
ABHISHTA 401007002
NIKHIL AGGARWAL - 401007015
Under the Guidance of
Dr. RudraRameshwar
Assistant Professor
LM Thapar school of management
April 30, 2014

Acknowledgement

The splendour and exquisiteness that accompany the successful accomplishment of any task
would not glorify if there is no expression of gratitude to the people who made it possible. So
with due humility, reverence, veneration and honour we acknowledge all those whose guidance
and motivation have marked the triumph and attainment of the project.

To Dr. RudraRameshwar, who willingly took us as trainees under him and guided
us throughout our project titled A Demographic Analysis: Internet Users. He motivated us to
explore the minute technical details about every aspect of my research. We are highly grateful to
him for all the knowledge and experience he shared with us when we were working under him.
Without his guidance it would have been impossible for us to complete the project.
We owe a debt of gratitude for all you have done for us.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Objectives

Literature Review

Hypothesis

Methodology
Data collection
Primary Data
Secondary Data

Questionnaire Design

Data Collection

Analysis

Key Findings

Hypothesis Testing

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Inferences and Conclusion

11

Appendices

Introduction
Over the last five years, the revolution in information technology (IT) has resulted in
innovations that are having increasingly visible effects on the life of the average Indian. These
developments affect not only how people work, but where they work, how much they work, or
with whom they interact face to face or electronically. Will future workers continue to share
physical proximity with their colleagues, or work largely alone wedded to digital devices with
occasional electronic mail or voice communication? What will these changes mean for social
trust and social life beyond the family? Will the growing trend of working at home with the aid
of IT help strengthen the family or add to the intrusion of the workplace into the home? Will it
reduce the hours people work, or increase them by infusing work into every sphere of life,
devouring leisure-time and family-life? And how will the Internet affect the role and use of the
traditional media?
These same IT innovations are revolutionizing information and entertainment delivery,
affecting their production and consumption, transforming our social life and behavior, even our
political institutions and the role of citizens within them. Some argue that the new technology of
e-mail, on-line discussions, on-demand information, and web-powered information diffusion and
interest aggregation will lead to a more informed, engaged, and influential mass public. Will we
live in a better informed and connected, more engaged and participatory society - or in a society
of lonely ex-couch potatoes glued to computer screens, whose human contacts are largely
impersonal and whose political beliefs are easily manipulated, relying on the icons of a wired or
wireless society?
The human meaning of these changes remains unclear at present.
developments with euphoria, others warn of dire consequences.

Some greet these

The truth is likely to be

somewhere in the middle: Some of the social/political changes will be liberating, some will have
little social effect, but others may be harmful or even socially and politically explosive; some
may even be perverse--and the most critical ones may well be unanticipated by everyone. For
answers to these questions, we must move from ideological claims to empirical evidence. Our

study is an attempt to do just that.

Objectives
Objective 1: To compare the demographics of people accessing Internet in India and rest of the
world.
Objective 2: To study the popular activities on Internet.
Objective 3: To study the amount of time spent by regular bloggers on the blogs.
Objective 4: To identify the most popular blogging websites.

Literature Review
As Internet use grows, Americans report they spend less time with friends and family, shopping
in stores or watching television, and more time working for their employers at home - without
cutting back their hours in the office. These are the major preliminary results of a new study that
is the first assessment of the social consequences of Internet use based on a large, representative
sample of American households, including both Internet users and non-users. The study was
conducted by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQSS) and released
today. The sample was of 4,113 adults in 2,689 households. A key finding of the study is that
the more hours people use the Internet, the less time they spend with real human beings, said
Stanford Professor Norman Nie, Director of SIQSS and principal investigator of the study along
with his co-investigator Professor Lutz Erbring of the Free University of Berlin. This is an
early trend that, as a society, we really need to monitor carefully.
While a number of commentators have speculated about how the Internet might change people's
daily lives, and some studies have looked at the use patterns of non-representative groups of
Internet users, only a sample representative of household nationally allows analysts to make
projections about future Internet usage and its likely consequences, the researchers say. They
worked with InterSurvey of Menlo Park, Calif., to develop a unique Internet-based method for
conducting surveys with a national probability sample of the general population, including both
Internet users and nonusers.
Some of the preliminary findings are:
People spend more hours on the Internet the more years they have been using it.

 A quarter of the respondents who use the Internet regularly (more than 5 hours
a week) feel that it has reduced their time with friends and family, or attending
events outside the home.
A quarter of regular Internet users who are employed say the Internet has
increased the time they spend working at home without cutting back at the
office.
Sixty percent of regular Internet users say the Internet has reduced their TV
viewing, and one third say they spend less time reading newspapers.
The least educated and the oldest Americans are least likely to have Internet
access, but when they do use the Internet, their use is similar to others.
About two-thirds of those surveyed who have Internet access said they spend fewer than five
hours a week on the Internet, and most of them did not report large changes in their day-to-day
behavior, the researchers said. But the other 36 percentwho use the Internet five or more hours a
week do report significant changes in their lives. The largest changes are reported by those who
spend more than 10 hours a week on the net - individuals who currently account for only 15
percent of all Internet users but are likely to be a much larger fraction in the future. "As of today,
heavy Internet users are still a small fraction of the total population",
Nie said, "but that fraction is steadily growing. "Moreover," Erbring added, "time spent on the
net also grows with the number of years a person has been connected."
Nie and Erbring emphasized that their analysis is preliminary, and SIQSS plans to conduct
follow-up studies on at least an annual basis.

Hypothesis
Based on the objectives the following hypothesis were created
1. Equal number of males and females use internet
2. Facebook is the most widely used social networking sites
3. Majority of internet users are students of the age group 20 30.
4. English is the global language spoken by all.
5. Almost everyone today is involved in social networking

6. E Shopping has grown in stature and now people are shifting towards it.

Methodology
The study is based on data collected using a revolutionary new methodology developed by
Surveymonkey to conduct surveys over the Internet.

Unlike surveys of Internet users or

households, which suffer obvious sample distortions and preclude generalizing results, this new
survey methodology allows you to fill the survey only once. This prevents data fudging. The data
for the study were collected in April, 2014. Questionnaires were completed independently by the
participants. To avoid contamination of results due to the fact that the study was itself conducted
over the Internet, the results on Internet use presented in this study are based ONLY on the
responses of participants who had Internet access.

Data Collection
The data used in our analysis is of two kinds:

1. Primary Data
Primary data is a term for data collected from a source. Raw data has not been subjected to
processing or any other manipulation, and are also referred to as primary data. Primary data can
be input to a computer program or used in manual procedures such as analyzing statistics from a
survey. The term can refer to the binary data on electronic storage devices such as hard disk
drives.
Primary data has been taken from people from all over the world. Most of the responses are from
India and hence we will be taking it to evaluate the Internet usage behavior of Indian citizens.
2. Secondary Data
Secondary data is data collected by someone other than the user. Common sources of secondary
data for social science include censuses, organizational records and data collected through
qualitative methodologies or qualitative research. Primary data, by contrast, are collected by the
investigator conducting the research.

Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting data and,
particularly in the case of quantitative data, provides larger and higher-quality databases that
would be unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on their own. In addition, analysts of
social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is impossible to conduct a
new survey that can adequately capture past change and/or developments.

Sources of secondary data

As is the case in primary research, secondary data can be obtained from two different research
strands:
Quantitative: Census, housing, social security as well as electoral statistics and other related
databases.
Qualitative: Semi-structured and structured interviews focus groups transcripts, field notes,
observation records and other personal, research-related documents.
A clear benefit of using secondary data is that much of the background work needed has already
been carried out, for example: literature reviews, case studies might have been carried out,
published texts and statistics could have been already used elsewhere, media promotion and
personal contacts have also been utilized.
This wealth of background work means that secondary data generally have a pre-established
degree of validity and reliability which need not be re-examined by the researcher who is reusing such data.
The secondary data has been taken by mining data from the Facebook page interactions of the
users. The data will be used to evaluate the Internet usage behaviors of world as a whole.

Questionnaire Design
This questionnaire has been designed so as to evaluate responses from people from all over the
world. The questionnaire has the following objectives:
1.

To compare the demographics of people accessing Internet in India and rest of the world.

2.

To study the popular activities on Internet.

3.

To study the amount of time spent by regular bloggers on the blogs.

4.

To identify the most popular blogging websites.

Instrument:
1. Are you male or female?
I.
Male
II.
Female
2. In what country do you currently reside?
I.
India
II.
Other (Please Specify)
3. Which category below includes your age?
I.
17 or younger
II.
18-20
III.
21-29
IV.
30-39
V.
40-49
VI.
50-59
VII.
60 or older
4. In what languages can you speak fluently? (Please select all that apply.)
I.
Arabic
II.
Cantonese
III.
Mandarin
IV.
English
V.
French
VI.
German
VII.
Korean
VIII. Russian
IX.
Spanish
X.
Tagalog
XI.
Vietnamese
XII.
Other (please specify)
5. Are you currently enrolled as a student?
I.
Yes, full time in graduate school
II.
Yes, part time in graduate school
III.
Yes, full time at a four year undergraduate college/university
IV.
Yes, part time at a four year undergraduate college/university
V.
Yes, full time at a two year undergraduate college/university
VI.
Yes, part time at a two year undergraduate college/university
VII.
Yes, at a high school or equivalent
VIII. No, I am not currently enrolled as a student
6. Which, if any, of these activities did you do on the Internet in the last 30 days? (Select all
that apply.)
I.
Authoring blog posts
II.
Downloading or Listening to music, podcasts, internet radio
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III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.

Downloading or Watching movies, tv shows, or other videos

Managing money
Online dating
Playing games
Shopping
Social networking
None of the above

7. In a typical day, about how much time do you spend writing posts on blogs?
I.
Hours
II.
Minutes
8. Which of the following blogs do you use? (Check all that apply)
I.
fuelmyblog
II.
Tumblr
III.
Posterous
IV.
Blogger
V.
Blog Catalog
VI.
LiveJournal
VII. WordPress
VIII. Other (please specify)
9. Which race/ethnicity best describes you? (Please choose only one.)
I.
American Indian or Alaskan Native
II.
Asian / Pacific Islander
III.
Black or African American
IV.
Hispanic American
V.
White / Caucasian
VI.
Multiple ethnicity / Other (please specify)
10. Which of the following social media buttons drives the most internet traffic to your
company's website?
I.
Pinterest
II.
Facebook
III.
LinkedIn
IV.
Twitter
V.
Google+
VI.
Blogger
VII.
YouTube
Questions 1,2,3,4,5 and 9 are related to the demographics of the people who are filling the
survey. Questions 6,7,8 and 10 are related to the Internet usage habits of the people.

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Data collection
As mentioned earlier, primary data was collected through surveymonkey.com and we got a total
of 100 responses. For general trend analysis, total survey response i.e. 100 was used and for
factor and descriptive analysis 50 responses were studied. The secondary data has been taken by
mining data from the Facebook page interactions of the users. The data will be used to evaluate
the Internet usage behaviors of world as a whole. A total of 2455 responses were gathered
through data mining.

Analysis
Primary data analysis
Q.1 Are you male or female?

Almost 84% percent of the respondents were male.

Q.2 In what country do you currently reside?
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Although this survey was circulated all around the globe, almost all the respondents were
Indians( 97%).

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Q.3Which category below includes your age?

90% respondents lie in the age group of 21 29. Therefore it can be easily concluded that these
are the major users of the internet.

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Q.4 In what language can you speak fluently?

Almost all the respondents believe that they can speak English fluently. This further strengthens
the stature of English as a global language. This also proves that the entire internet using
population is literate.
From those who also answered others, all wrote Hindi as the language. This result is in line with
what we believe and in correlation with the earlier question which proved that majority
respondents were from India. And Hindi being the mother Tongue of India, they are ought to be
fluent in it.
Q.5 Are you currently enrolled as student?

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60% respondents are enrolled in full time 4 year undergraduate programme. 27% are registered
in full time graduation programme.

Q.6 Which, if any, of these activities did you do on the internet in the last 30 days??

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Most of the respondents spend their time social networking, listening to music and watching
movies. Other favourite activities were shopping and playing games.

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Q.7In a typical day, about how much time do you spend writing posts on blogs?

On an average, respondents spend 20 25 minutes blogging every day.

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Q.8 Which of the following blogs do you use

The most popular blogging sites are Blogger, Tumblr and Wordpress.

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Q.9 Which race/ ethnicity best describes you?

As majority of respondents are Indians it is easy to say that they mostly belong to Asian
ethnicity. Even the responses further reinforces our hypothesis.

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Q.10 Which of the following social media buttons drives the most internet traffic to your
companys website?

Facebook is the most famous and common social networking site.

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Secondary Data Analysis

When we analysed the data gathered through data mining, it was found that globally almost three
fourth of the bloggers are female. This falsifies our hypothesis that blogging is irrespective of the
gender.

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Key findings
Direct results
1. Almost 84% percent of the respondents were male.
2. Almost all the respondents believe that they can speak English fluently
3. 90% respondents lie in the age group of 21 29. Therefore it can be easily concluded that
these are the major users of the internet.
4. 60% respondents are enrolled in full time 4 year undergraduate programme. 27% are
registered in full time graduation programme.
5. Most of the respondents spend their time social networking, listening to music and
watching movies. Other favourite activites were Shopping and Playing games.
6. On an average, respondents spend 20 25 minutes blogging every day.
7. Facebook is the most famous and common social networking site.
8. Globally, more number of females are involved in blogging than males

Results

found

through

factor

analysis

and

correlations
1. Indians have high correlation coefficient with English speaking population 0.8
2. Asians have high correlation with Facebook using population.

Hypothesis testing
Before starting the research, 6 hypothesis were formulated.
1. Equal number of males and females use internet
It was proposed that internet usage is unaffected by the gender and equal number of males and
females use the internet and are involved in blogging. But this hypothesis was p[roved wrong
both by the primary research as well as the secondary research. Indian blogging is dominated by
males whereas the global blogging stage is held by females
2. Facebook is the most widely used social networking sites

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This hypothesis was created based on common knowledge and interest and it was proved right
also by the responses of the survey as 3 quarter of the respondents use facebook as the primary
social networking site.
3. Majority of internet users are students of the age group 20 30.
Majority of internet using population are teenagers and young adult. This hypothesis was proved
correct as 90% of the respondents were of the age group 21-29.
4. English is the global language spoken by all.
English is the most common language and spoken globally. This hypothesis is supposed to be
correct and even the survey concluded that all the internet users are fluent atleast in English.
5. Almost everyone today is involved in social networking
90% of internet users are involved in social networking. Therefore, our hypothesis was true.
6. E Shopping has grown in stature and now people are shifting towards it.
Not many years have passed since the emergence of E - shopping. But it has grown in popularity
among student population. Survey also showed that 50% of students now prefer E shopping as
it is easier and more convenient.

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Inferences and Conclusions

Social networking is by far the most common Internet activity, with 90% of all Internet
users claiming to be involved in social networking on a daily basis

For the most part, the Internet today is a giant public library with a decidedly
commercialtilt. The most widespread use of the internet today is as an information search
utility forproducts, travel, hobbies, and general information.

Virtually all users

interviewed respondedthat they engaged in one or more of these information gathering

activities.

A little over a third of all Internet users report using the web to engage in entertainment
suchas computer games (such as online chess, role games, and the like). Thus, the current

Internet is also emerging as an entertainment utility. Consumer to Business transactional

activity- purchasing, stock trading, online auctions, and e-banking- has emerged as a new
segment of Internet users, with almost 50% agreeing that they reporting that they make
purchases online. Despite all of the sound and fury and security issues, business to
consumer commercial online transactions have grown multifolds.

Myth and Reality of the 'Digital Divide':

There are some demographic differences in Internet access. Differences in Internet access
can be explained by demographic factors. By far the most important factors facilitating
or inhibiting Internet access are education and age, and not income - nor race/ethnicity or
gender, each of which account for less than 5 percentchange in rates of access and are
statistically insignificant. By contrast, a college education boosts rates of Internet access
by well over 40 percentage points compared to the least educated group, while people
over 65 show a more than 40 percentage point drop in their rates of Internet access
compared to those under 25. Age really reflects generational differences, and thus shows
what to expect in the future.

There are few demographic differences in Internet use.

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The results from primary and secondary data are contrasting. Survey concluded that
almost 85% of internet users and bloggers are Male whereas secondary study shows that
75% of bloggers are female. This difference can be explained using other results from the
survey. As majority of survey respondents were Indians, we can say that Indian blogging
stage is male dominated whereas if we talk globally, Females contribute more through
their blogging.

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Appendices

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