Social Tech Essay

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civics in the digital age: the role of social media in student disengagement" and Scialdone's "Understanding the use and impact of social media features on the educational experience of higher education students in blended and distance learning environments." The qualitative methods employed by Daley (2012) involve "time use diaries, interviews, and screen capture analysis" (p. 4). The qualitative methods that Scialdone used involved a series of case studies of nine students. These cases studies were conducted by utilizing qualitative research methods such as "observation, digital artifacts, and interviews" (Scialdone, 2011, p. 20).

In comparing and contrasting the qualitative methods employed by each of these dissertation authors, the most prominent point of comparison is that both authors chose to utilize interviews. Interviews are extremely common means of data collection in qualitative studies, partially because they grant unequivocal insight into the experience of the subjects, who respond to queries specifically designed by the researchers in order to answer their research questions. Another fairly important commonality in the methods used to collect data between the researchers (especially given the similarity of their subject matter) is that they both analyzed the actual social media usage of their subjects. Scialdone did so by analyzing digital artifacts, whereas Daley did so via screen capture analysis. The principle difference in their data collection methods was Daley's use of time diaries (to record how much time users interacted with social media) whereas Scialdone utilized observation of his subjects. These differences possibly attest to the fact that Scialdone was more familiar with his subjects (who were comfortable with his observation) whereas Daley was less so.

The primary research question I will attempt to answer in my dissertation is why do people use social media? In many ways this technology is so pervasive that this simple question largely goes unnoticed amidst all of the hype surrounding the usage of instant connectivity with the world at large.

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However, I believe that this question should be fundamentally answered in order to reveal some very important aspects of humanity at this particular phase in time. Additionally, it is worth noting that all of the obvious answers to this question will be eschewed. Those that involve the usage of marketing, working, and networking for jobs will not be considered. There is a difference between social networking and social media -- the focus of this particular dissertation will be on the latter, not the former.

After analyzing the pair of dissertations in this document, I believe it would be prudent to organize a series of interview questions (even though this may be time consuming) (Foss and Water, 2007, p. 50) that I will ask my subject to clarify the reasons why they feel compelled to use social media. I also think it would be valuable to monitor their habits while actually on the computer. It would probably be more advantageous to do so while using screen capture analysis, which provides a degree….....

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