Sociology (Social Media effects on people)

Ulyana Shirokova

Paper #4 Measurement Paper

Social Media effects

Social Media is human communication of sharing information about yourself on the internet. It is

the biggest element in our lives at this moment. We can get any kind of information we want to

now about the other person. In the past decades friendships, dating, childhoods have been

evolving in very unexpected ways as a result of technological advances. In which ways does

social media/technology affect mental health of its user?

The theoretical framework that I will be using is Symbolic-Interaction Approach. I chose it,

because it analyzes society by stating their personal opinions and wha they believe, even though

it might not be true or correct. That is exactly what I need during this research, because we will

be discussing a very important topic - mental health. I chose quantitive analysis due to me

wanting to know the answers of people in different states in America, different genders, different

racial backgrounds, ages 15-25.

I will be using proportional quota sampling, because if I would chose something more random, I

wouldn't have control over the study, and because I can get 10 same people with same opinions,

and I would like to avoid that by choosing different states, genders, backgrounds… The strength

of this design is, the control the researcher has over it. If it wants to research black males from

18-25 years old, he can. Other types of sampling have their strengths in different ways.

My study population will be from 4 different states: California, Illinois, Florida, New York. 40

people from each state which are: Latinos, Whites, Blacks, Asians. 5 people of each gender of

each state will participate, ages 15-25. The two studies that would describe my study population

would be the study “Social media addiction and how it affects our lives” (Tunc-Aksan and

Akbay 2019). These are college students, ages (18-23). The two finding of the study are: first

cause of addiction to social media is the addiction to smartphones; the second result showed us,

the “fear of missing out”.

I will be collecting my own data because, I am very passionate about this topic, and want to

create and analyze answers myself. I will submit IRB application to collect data on human

subjects. The reason why I would make my own question is answered below, this subject

interests me a lot, and with my questions I want the participants to realize the amount of time

they spend on social media and change their lives for the better.

My ten questions will be:

1. When did you get your first smartphone?

2. When did you create your first social media account? What was it?

3. How many hours do you spend on social media in a day?

4. Are you satisfied with your social media usage?

5. How many times do you check your phone in one hours?

6. How do you feel when you use social media?

7. How long would you be able to put your phone down for?

8. How many of you friends don't have social media accounts?

9. How many people do you know that deleted social media accounts?

10. How many Instagram-stories do you post per-day?

I will try to find someone online and ask them if they can talk over the phone or Skype,

answering a couple of questions for a study. These question will take you maximum 10 minutes

to answer.

Quantitative research is considered more reliable than qualitative study. This is because a

quantitative approach aims to control or eliminate extraneous variables within the internal

structure of the study, and the data produced can also be assessed by standardized testing. (Duffy

1985).

Quantitative research in validity might be a little weaker because, “strength of qualitative

research is proposed in the claim that there are fewer threats to external validity, because subjects

are studied in their natural setting. (Sandelowski 1986). Where quantitative is not studied in their

comfortable natural setting, which makes it a little harder for the researcher

The strength of my study is: This is the generation of the “future” and “technology”, which is

very important moving forward. The biggest strength of my study is the questions that have been

asked during the survey, there were straight to the point, without the participant giving an

uncertain answer. (Shirokova, paper 3).

My future study will be worldwide, analyzing different countries and their differences in this

field.

Citations

paper 3

Punyanunt-Carter. 2019. IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN MODERN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS.

S.l.: LEXINGTON BOOKS.

Paper 2

Min Shin, K., S.-M. Cho, Y. Mi Shin, and K. Soon Park. 2016. “Effects of Early Childhood Peer Relationships on Adolescent Mental Health: A 6- to 8-Year Follow-Up Study in South Korea..”

Hawi, N. and M. Samaha. 2016. “The Relations Among Social Media Addiction, Self-Esteem, and Life Satisfaction in University Students..”

Aksoy, M. E. 2018. “A Qualitative Study on the Reasons for Social Media Addiction..”

Tunc-Aksan, A. and S. E. Akbay. 2019. “Smartphone Addiction, Fear of Missing Out, and Perceived Competence As Predictors of Social Media Addiction of Adolescents..”

Paper 1 Shin, Kyoung Min, et al. July 2016 “Effects of Early Childhood Peer Relationships on Adolescent

Mental Health: A 6- to 8-Year Follow-Up Study in South Korea.”