• There are several major weaknesses to our study. Because we conducted a survey, non-response bias had a major impact on our results and might have skewed our results. Our results, thus, might not be completely accurate. Another problem is that the surveys were not given to all the students at the same time and all the students might not give the exact values of the amount of texts they got/sent last month. At different times of the day, different students might be more willing to provide accurate answers. Furthermore, some students might have actually checked the amount of texts they sent/received last month while other students might have provided a generalized ballpark answer. There are also several confounding variables that could have affected our study. Based on their ethnic and family background, certain type of students might have a tendency to text more or less. Family income and the personality of the person might also impact the amount of texts a person sends.
  • If our results had to be extrapolated, the results could probably be applied to all high school students from suburbs on the west-side of Cleveland. Demographically speaking, these areas are the most similar. The different proportions of ethnic groups and family backgrounds are probably similar. Families in these cities are in general middle-income and the type of students (personality and belief wise) most likely mirror each other the closest in these areas. Because these cities are all very close to each other and belong to the same concentrated region, other unaccounted extraneous factors (weather, local events, sports teams, etc.) will most likely not drastically skew the results. Further extrapolation would be dangerous and unwarranted because socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic make-ups, regional opinions and beliefs, student behaviors, and other factors are not the same in different regions of the state and country.
  • Since our study was small and revolved around North Olmsted High School, expansion of the study could yield more useful information. Large random samples of high school students across the country would yield a more representative pattern of different texting patterns among high school students. Further stratification of the study (and in the survey) could reveal other texting patterns both within a High School or regional differences in texting patterns.
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