The Lived Experiences of the Graduate School Students in using Off-Campus Internet Facilities as an Alternative Source for Research Activities: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine and explore the lived experiences of the graduate school students who frequently used off-campus internet facilities for their research activities. It utilized the qualitative method by means of phenomenological inquiry. A total of 21 participants were interviewed, ten for in-depth and eleven for focus group discussions. Use was made of research questions carefully formulated to elicit more responses from the interviewees. Both positive and negative aspects of their experiences were highlighted in this paper's findings. The accessibility to all websites, availability, longer use of the internet, and comfort in using facilities and gadgets emerged as favorable while expensive facility services; noisy, crowded and unsafe environment; unreliability of information; vulnerability of computer units to viruses that could infect flash drives; susceptibility to power interruption; and lack of privacy appeared to be their unfavorable experiences. These results implied the urgency of creating a deeper study on the lived experiences of the students to include the actual conditions of the university on-campus internet facility as a sequel to this investigation.