The Impact of Social Media Conducting Independent Enquiry About Social MediaPart B(3 lesson-version)

sociology.hku.hk/impact-social-media

Updated: July 2018

Sharing about…1. What issue am I going to study?

2. Why is my issue significant?

3. What are my enquiry question and focus questions?

Part B: Relevant Concepts and Knowledge Facts / Data

What concepts and methods are relevant to your IES?

1. What is a Concept? Example: What is gender?

Gender is biological. Men and women have different bodies from birth.

I disagree, gender is social. We learn how to act like a man

or a woman as we grow up.

A “key concept” speaks about an important idea that a number of different people, normally experts, might agree on. Not everyone will agree on a particular concept, though, and different people may suggest different understandings of a key concept.

• Make abstract concepts measurable so they are concrete enough to observe.

2. How Do You Operationalise a Concept?

Enqu

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: H

ow d

oes

soci

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ffec

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ucat

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How do teachers and students use social media?

How useful do parents from various socio-economic classes see social media in terms of their children’s

formal and information education?

How do teachers develop school policy to regulate the use of social media in school?

Define the Key Terms of Your Enquiry Question and Focus Questions!

Operationalization: How Do You Make these Abstract Concepts Measurable?

7

Social media

Education Formal education

Socio-economic classes

positivist

hawthorn effect consent

Informal education School policy

Example: Let’s Define and Operationalize Social Media (p.12-14)

8

What do you think social media is? Do you find it difficult todefine social media? Why?

Example: Let’s Define and Operationalize Social Media (p.12-14)

• How do the researchers of the Why We Post Project define social media?

• How is their definition different from the definition of previous studies?

• Why do they define social media in ways different from other researchers?

They define social media as a place within which people socialize and asthe contents people posted on social media platforms.

The researchers do not define social media as platforms for people tocommunicate with each other.

If social media is defined as platforms, then a comparative study of social media is not possible. There are no regional variations in how social media

platforms work. However, what people post on social media does haveregional variations. They define social media in different ways to suit theneeds of their research.

Example: Let’s Define and Operationalize Social Media (p.12-14)

3. Choosing Your Research Method• Choose and justify the method you use to collect data

Secondary Data• Search through academic journals, government reports,

and research papers etc.

Video Watching: Questionnaire VS Interviews (P.19)

Watch this video at: https://youtu.be/1_Q9EkKYUk0

Video Watching: Questionnaire VS Interviews (P.19)

Kahoot: Which methods are suitable?

• What do you think is the best way to define social media in your IES?

• How is your definition of social media useful to your analysis?

• How would you operationalise (to make measurable) the concept social media?

• What are the other key concepts in your enquiry question and focus questions? How would you define, operationalise and explain them?

sociology.hku.hk/social-media-concepts

For those who are interested in social media studies:

Your Turn…… P.15 of Student Pack

• Which methods would be most suitable for and why?

• Who would you wish to research as your questionnaires respondents or interviewees? Why?

• What sorts of skills might you need?

• How would you record and analyse your results?

• What have you learnt from this activity about the challenges of researching the impact of social media? How can you overcome those challenges?

Your Turn…… P.21 of Student Pack

What to do after collecting data?

Upcoming…