Internet addiction: metasynthesis of 1996-2006 quantitative research.
This study reports the results of a meta-analysis of empirical studies on Internet addiction published in academic journals for the period 1996-2006. The analysis showed that previous studies have utilized inconsistent criteria to define Internet addicts, applied recruiting methods that may cause serious sampling bias, and examined data using primarily exploratory rather than confirmatory data analysis techniques to investigate the degree of association rather than causal relationships among variables. Recommendations are provided on how researchers can strengthen this growing field of research.
Byun
Sookeun
S
College of Business Administration, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea.
Ruffini
Celestino
C
Mills
Juline E
JE
Douglas
Alecia C
AC
Niang
Mamadou
M
Stepchenkova
Svetlana
S
Lee
Seul Ki
SK
Loutfi
Jihad
J
Lee
Jung-Kook
JK
Atallah
Mikhail
M
Blanton
Marina
M
D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015983:Selection Bias