 <p>This</p> <pre><code> R.id.enterHours </code></pre> <p>returns an <code>int</code>. That's why when you initialize a <code>View</code> you do it like</p> <pre><code>TextView mTextView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.newHours_Value); </code></pre> <p>The <code>(TextView)</code> casts it to a <code>TextView</code> so you can call its methods on it like <code>getText().toString()</code>. So what you probably want is</p> <pre><code>TextView hourValueTV = (TextView) findViewById*R.id.enterHours); //assuming its a TextView and not EditText String hourValue = hourValueTV.getText().toString(); </code></pre>