Assignment 2: Analyzing Rhetorical Devices of the Authors of Research Articles
As we are in the Modern age, smartphone use is an incredibly large part of our lives. With the requirement of social distancing during the COVID-19 lockdown and technology advancements, smartphone use has been greater than ever. Especially for adolescents and teenagers, this increased smartphone use can heavily disturb their development. They scroll for hours through social media. They’re spending countless hours a week watching minute-long videos, myself included. This excessive use of our cell phones is raising concerns about bigger effects down the road in young adults. An article from the National Library of Medicine, “The Relationship between Cellphone Usage on the Physical and Mental Wellbeing of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study” by Muhammad Daniyal and “Smartphone Addiction: How Technology Affects Public Health and Social Relationships” by the researchers at University of Nevada, Reno, we analyze the declining effects of smartphone addiction in young adults. To convey their messages, the authors use rhetorical strategies like logos and ethos often. Muhammad Daniyal uses logos with their many statistical formulas based on their findings from their surveys while the researchers at Reno focus less on logos, but give greater focus on visuals to give their audience a more eye-appealing read and analyzing a synthesis of other different articles.
Beginning with “The Relationship between Cellphone Usage on the Physical and Mental Wellbeing of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study” by Muhammad Daniyal, Daniyal and his group of researchers center around a more statistical and mathematical approach (logos) in their article. They surveyed a sample size of four hundred respondents and use a confidence level of ninety-five percent. They divided their respondents into two categories: low cell phone users (LCPU) and high cell phone users (HCPU). He includes demographic characteristics such as gender, age, education status, duration, daily smartphone usage time, and purpose of smartphone use to assist in categorizing and as potential variables. These characteristics demonstrated the association between the two groups to symptoms such as neck pain, back pain, mood disorder, and depression. With these results, they found the test statistic results as well as the p-value results to find potential errors. The results conclude that high cell phone usage did significantly correlate with neck pain, eye strain, back pain, weight gain, and depression. On the other hand, low cell phone usage correlated with loneliness more compared to its counterpart. The researchers proved this conclusion with a number of tables, graphs, and formulas. They showed every step of the studying and solving process to provide readers with a better understanding of their decisions. This also shows their form of ethos where they prove the credibility and legitimacy of their claims and outcomes. The choices in rhetorical devices they made in constructing this research article all assist in bringing readers to the central argument of how high cell phone usage results in a wide range of negative outcomes in individuals’ physical and mental well-being.
An article with a similar claim: “Smartphone Addiction: How Technology Affects Public Health and Social Relationships” by the researchers at Reno, takes on a different approach for their claim of the unhealthy effects of high cell phone usage. One example is their vibrant photo visuals. These images leave readers intrigued by giving a more casual read and help with representing ideas for easier comprehension. There was also the connection to a photo of an MRI scan of a brain that reveal “lower gray matter volume in insula and temporal cortex”. Younger audiences are also assisted in keeping track of the claims being made. Whereas the other article provided complex vocabulary, formulas, and bar graphs that could easily overwhelm readers with information. Continuing to contrast the two articles, Reno takes on a more qualitative approach where the group researches how and why. They take already existing research to analyze the how and why phone usage connects to other psychological effects like the fear of missing out (FOMO) and attachment. An example is how they mentioned Cogent Psychology talking about how users must regularly check their phones to stay up to date on current news and social media platforms or else users might feel disengaged from their group of friends. With qualitative research, the ideas and theories continue to develop and change with the inclusion of other topics and connections. But in Daniyal’s quantitative approach, these extra steps of analysis are not made. Daniyal’s group has a more scientific objective where they test a central hypothesis with reliance on numeric data and variables.
Although both articles have different methods of obtaining and using data, ethos, and logos remain very prevalent in both articles. Both articles consistently prove the credibility (ethos) of their sources. Muhammad Daniyal and his group of researchers are from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. They take readers step by step through their studying process and mention the reasons for their decisions. They introduce their topic and slight background research by citing other sources within the National Library of Medicine. This is similar to how the researchers at Reno, University of Nevada cite many sources from scientific journals and psychiatric research centers. This use of ethos allows readers to trust that the authors are specialized in their fields and can provide accurate information. Also with the use of facts and statistics, logos fortifies both articles’ arguments. Researchers at Reno emphasize that 65% of Americans admit they sleep with their phones and that many teens and tweens spend more than seven hours a day on their phones makes it clear to see that there is a large problem at hand. Daniyal’s data shows that the number of respondents who experience neck pain and weight gain is more than four times greater in the high cellphone usage category compared to the low cellphone usage respondents. As mere readers, one can see an apparent correlation between the results of high cell phone usage.
Smartphones are part of our daily lives. We use it to stay in touch with others and need it for our jobs. Both articles from The Relationship between Cellphone Usage on the Physical and Mental Wellbeing of University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study” by Muhammad Daniyal and “Smartphone Addiction: How Technology Affects Public Health and Social Relationships” by researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno prove that if this usage becomes excessive and unhealthy, many faults come into play. Although they have different methods of analyzing data, presentation, and rhetorical strategies: ethos and logos, they both articulately display their conclusion of the drawbacks. Both articles prove that moderation and self-care are key.