Details on MMF Research Programs
Social Research Program
Mobile telephony and health: Public perceptions in Great Britain
The MMF, the GSM Association and the UK Mobile Operators Association co-funded this study by UK market and public opinion research agency MORI.
Questions about the safety of mobile telephony have been extensively covered in
the UK media for many years and, in this project, MORI undertook an investigation of how public perceptions in the UK regarding the issue have changed since 1998.
Among its detailed findings, MORI found that people are more concerned regarding base stations than handsets. However, concerns regarding mobile phones and base stations are not a top of mind issue for most people and concerns regarding handsets are trending downwards.
An assessment of the social impact of mobile telephony in Brazil
One of the first studies of this kind to be undertaken in South America, the Edumed study will investigate the impact of using mobile phones on the wellbeing, health and security of Brazilians in a number of cities.
The researchers will address two principal questions, namely:
- What role do mobile phones play in emergency situations?
- Does the impact of the availability of mobile telephony differ according to the size of the city where a user is located?
The study will involve approximately 2,000 people from cities in the north and south of Brazil. The populations of the cities to be studied range from 25,000 to 14 million inhabitants, which should highlight different patterns in the impact of mobile phones.
The potential health impacts of increased mobile phone use for contacting emergency services in life threatening situations
Many in health services refer to the golden hour following the onset of an emergency and the health benefits of receiving treatment during that period.
The specific questions being addressed in this study are:
- Do mobile phones allow patients to receive faster treatment during this critical period?
- If so, does it lead to better health outcomes?
The MMF, the GSM Association and mobile operators in the United Kingdom are co-funding a pilot study involving researchers and medical practitioners from the University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxfordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS to investigate this question.
Specifically, the three-month pilot study will investigate whether the use of mobile phones has resulted in shorter incident-to-call times and, accordingly, more timely receipt of health care in emergency incidents.
Using mobile phones to communicate and keep safe: A qualitative study of young people and their families
The TSA project aims to better understand the role of mobile phones in family life, with a particular focus on how mobile communications are used to help keep children safe.
Previous TSA research has identified that parents view mobile phones as central to keeping their children safe. The current study will further investigate several important issues, including:
- How parents and young children use mobile phones to communicate and the type of communications that take place
- What factors influence how mobile phones are used in family communication
- How parents use mobile phones to keep young people safe.
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