Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

Research Proposal
Inclusion 1:
Barnett, Lynn A. How do Playful People Play? Gendered and Racial Leisure Perspectives,
Motives, and Preferences of College Students. Leisure Sciences 33.5 (2011): 382-401.
Academic Search Complete. Web. July 25, 2016.
Jankovi, Branka, Milan Nikoli, Jelena Vukonjanski, Edit Terek. The impact of Facebook and
smart phone usage on the leisure activities and college adjustment of students in Serbia.
Computers in Human Behavior 55 (2016): 354-363. Academic Search Complete. Web.
July 25, 2016
Barnett attempt[s] to build upon the scant research on playfulness in adults and to extend
[related] literature by examining relationships with leisure and free-time (382). Barnett also
seeks to answers the question on how do leisure perspectives, motives, and preferences differ
between more and less playful individuals (385). As a result of her research, Barnett finds that
individuals who [are] highly playful [do] not have different preferences for types of leisure
activities compared to their less playful peers (390). Barnett observes that playful people [are] .
. . less prone to experience boredom in their free time, which . . . [is] attributable to their ability
to entertain themselves regardless of the features of the environment (394). Barnett then
concludes that there is a higher level of awareness of leisure resources among playful people,
suggesting rather that the environment may play a greater role in determining . . . playful
expression, which supports the idea that environmental factors interact with personality in
influential ways regarding leisure choices and expression (395). In the article, Jankovi et al.
give an insight on how Facebook and smart phone usage affect the leisure activities and college
adjustment of students and whether gender or race have a direct relationship with the previous

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

(356). Jankovi et al. discovers that on average students spend eleven hours a day on their
smartphones and Facebook which could imply that such a significant use of Facebook and
smart phones is partly due to the low standard of living in Serbia . . . people do not have enough
money to travel, engage in certain hobbies, [or] go out frequently (359). Jankovi et al. also find
that social media has a positive effect on academic life when they state that while
communicating on Facebook and smart phones, students increasingly interact with colleagues
and teachers, are better informed about particular academic obligations . . . [and] spend more
time together and get to know each other better (360).

Inclusion 2:
Barnett drawing a definition from Csikszentmihalyi states that an autotelic personality . . . [is a
trait] of individuals who are able to find interest and enjoyment in almost everything they do;
such people are able to create leisure-like experiences in unleisure-like circumstances (383384). How may becoming more autotelic, if possible, be achieved? What consequences may it
give rise to?
Jankovi et al. imply that economic capital is a factor in ones choice of leisure when they
mention that a significant use of Facebook and smartphones is partly due to the low standard of
living in Serbia . . . people do not have money to travel, engage in certain hobbies, and go out
frequently Does the absence of money prevent UBC students from enjoying their free time?
How?
Inclusion 3:
How do UBC students choose to spend their free time? So what?

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

Inclusion 4:

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso, English 112, JL2

How UBC students choose to spend their free time
Undergraduate students of the University of British Columbia
Individuals to survey: 8
Questionnaire handout and email
Professor Duff Roberts

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

Reasons for the Triumph of Virtual Entertainment Over Outdoor Activities, and the
Consequences of Virtual Entertainment in Students Social Life

This survey is intended to gather information about how UBC students spend their free time. The
data gathered will be used in a Scholarly Paper that I am writing for English 112 (Strategies for
University Writing) at the University of British Columbia. Your participation in this survey is
entirely voluntary, and all information you provide will be treated as confidential. Thank you for
your assistance with this project.

1. Describe the activities that you enjoy doing the most during your free time. Why do you
like them so much?
Wang et al. state that students spend high amounts of time on virtual entertainment. However, the
researchers lack knowledge of the reason why students do so. The question differentiates the
people that truly enjoy virtual entertainment than those who would prefer doing other activities
in their free time.

2. Think of the activities you answered in question #1; what things stop you from doing
them and why?
The purpose of the question is to find out which factors are involved in the students choice
of leisure, and whether this factors have led them to the use of virtual entertainment.

3. Which things do you dislike the most about both outdoor activities and virtual
entertainment? Why?

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

4. Well-being is defined as a good and satisfactory condition of existence; a state

characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity. How do your leisure activities relate to
your well-being?
5. Do you spend more time on relationships online than offline? Why? If you could, would
you reverse that situation? Why?
The question demands analysis on students social life. It provides information on what students
value in their social life and why, but also it may give a reason on why students choose virtual
entertainment.

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152

July 28, 2016

Inclusion 5:
I tried really hard with come up with the 5 questions but I could not do it. I believe the four
questions that I have answer my research questions (according to me). I do not know if it is my
high school mind talking, but I feel that I would need to know more about the topic in order to
elaborate my questions more complexly and obtain better results. What can I do?

Ricardo Rivera Cardoso

Student ID: 49707152
Inclusion 6:

July 28, 2016