Gender differences in handheld cellular phone use while driving

Inferential Statistics

Cellular phone use while driving has been linked to increased driver distraction and motor vehicle accidents (Strayer, Drews & Johnston, 2003). As a result, many states and provinces have created legislation to outlaw the use of cellular phones while driving. Despite the introduction of these laws, they are not widespread across the country, nor do all individuals choose to abide by the laws where they do exist (McCartt, Hellinga, Strouse & Farmer, 2010). It seems that many individuals do not believe that the dangers of using a cellular device while driving apply to them. Although some research has linked any type of cellular phone use to increased distraction and accidents, including hands-free phone operation, it seems that actually holding the phone seems to be seen as the most dangerous of activities involving cellular phone use. While implanting legislation to make cellular phone use while driving a vehicle illegal can help by providing a legal deterrent, the best way to prevent this behavior is to convince people of its dangerousness. An important aspect in being able to change people's opinions is to know exactly who to target, thus, this study was designed to determine which gender is most likely to use a cellular phone while driving.

Importance:

Preventing accidents can save lives. In order to prevent cellular phone use while driving, it is important to provide interventions that will be able to change the opinions of individuals. An important feature in determining how to design an intervention is to know who to focus the intervention towards. By determining which gender is more likely to use a cellular phone while driving, an intervention can be tailored to the specific interests and needs of the more-often offending gender.

Potential Gain:

The results of this study will help those designing interventions to prevent cellular phone use to determine which gender should be targeted.

Population:

The population being studied will be car drivers who go through the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue on the corner of the UCLA campus.

Research Question:

Are men or women more likely to use a hand held cellular phone while driving?

Hypothesis:

It is hypothesized that men will be more likely to use a hand held cellular phone while driving.

Method

Observations of drivers at the intersection of Sunset and Hilgard will be made over a period of 5 days. Monday through Friday during a single week between the hours of 4pm and 6pm each day, observations will be made of each car that turns left onto Sunset Blvd from Hilgard Avenue. A systematic method of sampling was used whereby observstions were made of everynfourth car to go through the intersection. When every fourth car went by, the gender of the driver was recorded as well as whether or not the driver of the vehicle was using a hand held cellular phone.

Conclusion

The results of this study show that men driving through this particular intersection are more likely to use a hand held device while driving than the women who drive through the same intersection. This information can be useful in creating an intervention aimed at reducing handheld cellular phone use while driving. In particular, those creating an intervention may want to focus on advertising techniques most likely to be successful with men. Despite that fact that that the results of this study technically showed that men were more likely to use cellular phones than women while driving, a high number of women were still observed using cellular phones while driving through this intersection. As such, the results of this study are a good example of how a statistically significant difference does not necessarily translate into a clear plan of action. The large number of women who were observed using cellular phones while driving indicates that an intervention only aimed at men might miss out on reaching these women, thus, it may be more advisable to create an intervention that would be equally appealing to both men and women given that the difference between the two genders was rather small.