Qualitative research methodologies and approaches in social science

¶ … 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. 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 of technological sophistication that surpasses that of merely observing people while they use social media. Additionally, the latter method might impact how they use it and it would be ideal to analyze them using social media in an environment that is native to their own as possible. I think that screen capture analysis will provide me with enough metadata to help determine the particular uses that people have for this technology. It appears that people like to use it for the attention that social media provides them.

Part One

An analysis of both of these dissertations proves that the one authored by Daley was significantly more effective than that authored by Scialdone. There are a couple of fairly substantial reasons why this fact is true. The data collection and the resource performed by Daely was on the whole more thorough than that performed by her counterpart. Daley dedicated three entire chapters of her dissertation data analysis -- which demonstrates the sheer amount of data she collected and processed for this project. Scialdone, on the other hand, utilized a case study with only nine students. Although the author was able to do so in a way in which he got a substantial amount of data that was available for analysis to help him demonstrate his findings, those nine case studies were not as effective as the multiple chapters' worth of data analysis that Daley performed. Moreover, there was less of a relationship between Daley and her subjects, whereas Scialdone had a greater relationship with his (due in part to his observation methods) which lessens the objectivity of his research.