A study of 267 college students investigated the impact of smartphones on student connectedness and out-of-class involvement.

Source: Liu X, et al., “The Impact of Smartphone Educational Use on Student Connectedness and Out-of-Class Involvement,” The Electronic Journal of Communication (2016).

One finding showed that students reporting a higher perceived usefulness of smartphones in educational settings used their smartphone a higher number of times to send or read email for class purposes than students reporting a lower perceived usefulness of smartphones in educational settings.

a. Does the study suggest that perceived usefulness of smartphones in educational settings and use of smartphones for class purposes are positively correlated or negatively correlated?

b. Do you think that there might be a cause-and-effect relationship between perceived usefulness of smartphones in educational settings and use of smartphones for class purposes? Explain.