1. Multitasking
in Young
Adults
Madelyne Wimberley
LIBR 285-18: Research Methods in Libraries
and Information Science
Professor Suellen Adams
November 16, 2011

2. Introduction
 What’s the Question?
 How and why do young adults multitask?
 Initial Study done the Summer of 2011 showed teens
ability to multitask with digital media.
 The initial study will be
expanded and reformed to
try and give insights to how
and why young adults multitask.

3. Initial Study
 Focus
 How teens interact with digital resources such as
blogs, library databases, cell phones, etc.
 Methodology
 Observation
 Observed three teens girls hold a conversation while listening to
music, eating, and reading a magazine
 Surveys
 Online survey of 14 questions revealed digital multitasking
while filling out the survey

4. New Study Participants
• 30 people for interviews
• Randomly chosen
• Both male and female
• Ages 15 to 18 yrs old
• From 6 public schools spaced
throughout the same city

5. New Study Methodology
 Observation
 A minimum of three hours of observation time for each
school will take place in school study areas and or media
centers.
 Qualitative Interviews
 Interviews will not have a specific structure but will have
similar focuses.
 What does multitasking mean to you?
 How do you multitask?
 How does it effect your school and social life?

6. Conclusion & Data Analysis
 Interviews to be recorded and
transcribed verbatim
 Interviews and observation
notes to be coded by
independent researcher
 Both open coding and axial
coding will be used
 QDA Program such as NVivo
will be used to help narrow
categories core concepts