Does texting on iPhones use data?

I just got an iPhone 5c a couple of days ago after having a "dumb phone" for two years. Today I noticed that every time my 3G was turned off and I didn't have Wi-Fi my texts took a long time to send, or they didn't send at all. I'm aware that iMessages only work with Wi-Fi, but what about regular texting? Does regular texting need/use data? This probably makes me sounds really stupid. I'm sorry

Normal texting via messages don't require Wi-Fi or cellular network. Although, when having the iMessage function on, your iPhone will automatically send your text through the Wi-Fi or network.

Hope this helps;)

Texting is so small it doesn't even matter whether it does or doesn't.

No. Texting does not require data.

For the record iMessage (which would fall under I'm (instant messaging. Can also work with data connections as well & as you said will require an internet connection.