MOD006472 Research Methods and Ethics Assignment Sample
Module code and Title: MOD006472 Research Methods and Ethics Assignment Sample
1. Introduction
1.1 Title
Impact of using social media for kids from a young age to keep children away from the family involvement and other outdoor activities.
1.2 Research Topic
The research topic is about depicting the increasing social phenomenon of using social media for the kids which started from a young age and its contemporary influence on social isolation, detachment from the family involvement and outdoor activities. Social media is advantageous in breaking the barriers of geography and culture and making it fit the globe within the virtual sphere to stay connected with friends and families across the globe.
However, kids in or above the age of 10 are experiencing social media with the use of smartphones and devices where the unrealistic perception of beauty and materialistic possessions are gaining attraction and influence young minds to compare personal outfits with others (Youth First., 2022). The research proposal also evaluates the heavy use of social media leading the young minds towards increased depression, low self-esteem, and mental illness through the experience of cyber-bullying and leakage of privacy.
More on that, the high time use of social media is linked with poor sleep, weak academic performances, online harassment and poor social perception (Kelly et al., 2022). The research proposal will outline the children’s increasing use of social media and wide detachment with the family and outdoor activities with several perceptions on the young and family members for better living and building the future of civilization with high potential.
The adolescence period for the children is recognized as the teenage period where this time junction is important for child development with the cognitive skills of intellectual capacity in consciousness, judgement, reasoning and utilization of memory are duly affected due to heavy use of social media (Child Mind Institute. 2022).
1.3 Research Aim
The research aims to acknowledge and assess the child’s involvement with the family and outdoor activities regarding the heavy use of social media for the kid at an early age.
1.4 Research Objectives
The research objectives are as follows: –
- To acknowledge the negative impact of using social media by the kids from a young age which influences the detachment from family involvement and other outdoor activities.
- To evaluate the degree of association with social media by the kids and children participating in family and outdoor activities
- To recognizes the alternative methods for children engagement rather than the social media for increasing family involvement and outdoor activities.
1.5 Research Question
The research questions are as follows: –
- How has social media usage impacted kids’ lives concerning family involvement and outdoor social activities?
- What is the public perception of kids’ engagement with social media and neglected family attachment and outdoor activities?
- What alternate methods are there to keep children away from social media to increase family involvement and outdoor activities?
2. Literature review
Orben states that the adolescents who are growing up within the modern generation have been raised in a different society in which the use of digital technologies and screens such as social media usage is the basic norm. The given research has also stated that the amount of screen time and kids’ and teenagers’ engagement with the same has increased in the last few years and the patterns of technology usage are also evolving (Orben, 2020).
According to another given research, it has come to light that there is a significant impact of social media usage on kids and there are several risks associated with it which mainly occur due to the children’s unsupervised access to irrelevant content. Moreover, due to the lack of outdoor spaces to play in and strict parental control the children along with pre-teens have found comfort in social media (Dyer, 2018).
Recent studies have found that the increased amount of time that kids or adolescents spend on social media platforms has increased significantly and the brands are taking advantage of this fact to grow their business. According to statistics found in this research, it has come to light that almost 70% of adolescents who are between the age group of 12-15 have social media accounts and is influenced by these brand posts and the influencer’s messages (Lin et al., 2019).
In recent times the number of social media users is increasing at an alarming rate and along with the negative aspects, there are some positive outcomes such as the kids of today’s generation being brought up in a multicultural generation. However, the negative aspects of it have caused the children to develop obesity due to spending the most time on social media and not engaging in physical activities (Dilci and Eranıl, 2019).
It has also come to light that the users of social media are extremely exposed to different types of photographs that display an idealized presentation of people and this poses plenty of threats to a kid’s self-esteem. Those who do not receive significant positive feedback on their appearances on social media platforms are more likely to have reduced self-esteem than the people who use positive feedback (Steinsbekk et al., 2021).
According to Benedetto and Ingrassia (2021), the digital media has changed the outlook of parents which has led parents to communicate with their children to acquire knowledge and solve problems in extreme situations, especially during the Covid-19 situation. Moreover, the children’s experiences grow with the kind of digital involvement by increasing involvement in the digital technologies through watching movies and other activities and the easy accessibility of the internet has made it easier for the children to indulge in the digital devices more (Benedetto and Ingrassia, 2021).
On the other hand, the usage of digital technologies has reduced outdoor activities such as socializing with people at social events, indulging in sports and spending time with family (Thulin and Vilhelmson, 2019). Thulin and Vilhelmson (2019), also conveyed that overuse of social media and other digital platforms increases health problems, obesity and even learning difficulties which leads the children to distract from their studies and even leads to addiction and major consequences.
Jackson et al., (2021), considering that with the advent of the Covid-19 situation the increase in the amount of digitalization has happened and it also led to a reduction of outdoor activities and other recreational activities among the children and even youth. The fear of the contamination of the virus has led people to confine children at home more and has allowed the children to indulge more in the digital technologies and has led to less indulgence in activities (Jackson et al., 2021).
Accordingly, even Canning and Robinson, (2021) share the same opinion that the prolonged lockdown situation and confinement at home have affected the physical and mental activity of children although the family does provide a good comfort however, managing online classes became a difficult task for both parents and children. Socialisation among the children even in the locality became a difficult task as children belong from different schooling backgrounds and it became difficult for children to interact with one another effectively.
Bhattacharya et al., (2019), convey that people especially children have started developing a disorder of NOMOPHOBIA where the children fear losing mobile connectivity which occurs due to overuse of mobile phones and that led to stress and distraction for children excessively. Furthermore, the overuse of mobile phones is leading children to face difficulty in interacting in social situations which are leading children to social anxiety and social phobia although social helps in keeping in touch with families however excessive indulgence does cause a lot of challenges (Bhattacharya et al., 2019).
Francis et al., (2021), states that the play and other physical activity behaviour among the children have changed drastically due to the Covid-19 situation and it has led children to be more digital dependent. The restriction has led children to depression, mental health problems and an increase in anxiety and it affects the education and other activities among the children it leads children to a problematic situation as it leads to disruption in daily activities of children.
The digital space has impacted the lives of the children heavily and it has reduced the social skills of the children and has changed the communication medium from face-to-face to online communications and the increase in the use of technology has replaced human interaction (Evans et al., 2020). Additionally, Evans et al., (2020) also stated that isolation has increased the indulgence of digital media although, spending with the family has been there yet spending time with family was not actually there.
According to Goodyear et al., (2018), more and younger people’s indulgence in social media has increased and it has affected the behaviour of the young people and different kinds of health-related problems are leading the young people to become more informed regarding health through social media. Although, lack of information regarding health-related problems and different kinds of inclusions and the importance of understanding inclusion more on wrong information affects a lot.
According to Bergström and Belfrage, (2018) social media usage has become essential for people for gathering new and other information which is leading people to become habitual in using social media and understanding consumption that helps in managing the challenges. However, the use of various social networking sites by the young people has put the people better exposure and has led the people to put up viewpoints regarding any social or any kind of issues that manage their opinion and attitudes effectively (Bergström and Belfrage, 2018).
The young people have been quite beneficial during the Covid-19 situation when the young people have to suffer a lot in distress and the help of digital media has helped in reducing stress and anxiety and even uncertainty during the Covid-19 situation (Lin et al., 2020). Therefore, Lin et al., (2020), stated that negative effects are there regarding the usage of social media and other digital technologies although certain positive impacts have been there.
3. Research design
3.1 Research Philosophy
The research philosophy of the research will help in managing and will help in gathering information regarding the phenomenon that has to be analysed well which will help in managing the research quite well. Moreover, the philosophy of the research will help in focusing on the practices as managed by the research understanding that will help in observing and managing the research understanding quite well.
The philosophy of the research will help in managing the ethics of the research and it will help in better data analysis and interpretation of the data that helps in managing and analysing the data effectively. The research phenomenon will help in business management that helps in an in-depth understanding of the organisation that helps in suitable understanding and managing the specific problem management (Žukauskas et al., 2018).
Interpretivism will be quite helpful in managing the secondary data analysis and it will help in understanding the research analysis and it will help in understanding the underlying meanings of the phenomenon. Thematic analysis will help in managing the phenomenon that will help in better understanding of the research and it will help in understanding constructive knowledge and it will help in managing the actions in conducting the research quite well.
Furthermore, interpretivism is different and more helpful than positivism, especially in the secondary research method that helps in understanding the phenomenon of the research by experiencing the phenomenon and analysing it accordingly. Therefore, research philosophy will help in analysing the philosophical understanding of the research as it will help in identifying the issues quite well and helps in managing the aspects quite well.
3.2 Research Epistemology
The research epistemology will help in analysing and understanding the sources of knowledge to understand the possibilities and effective limitations the sources may pose while conducting the study. Moreover, an effective research approach and management will help in managing the study and with the help of an inductive research approach, the researcher will be able to conclude with the help of specific understanding and theoretical management.
According to Saunders’ research onion, the inductive research approach will help in conducting the secondary research for understanding the underlying meanings of the study and it helps in understanding specific conclusions effectively (Saunders et al., 2015). Therefore, the research has to keep in mind that the research is conducted well and the approach of the study is effective so that it will help the researcher to understand well the phenomenon and will help in the future uses.
Figure 1: Research Onion (Source: Saunders et al., 2015)
The inductive approach of the research is quite different from the deductive approach as the deductive approach is more influenced by scientific conclusions and will help in emerging a hypothesis before the research. Thus, the inductive approach is more favourable to the deductive approach as the inductive approach will help in gathering information through philosophical understanding and the deductive approach will help in managing the phenomenon at hand.
The inductive method will be more inclined toward the secondary research phenomenon while the deductive approach will be more inclined towards the primary research method depending on the study at hand. The inductive approach will help conduct the study quite well and it will help in conducting the study without any kind of hindrances and it helps the study to mitigate any kinds of problems effectively.
3.3 Research Methodology
The following research will follow the approach of a qualitative research approach in comparison to the quantitative research method since the quantitative method deals with numerical and that may make the process of data analysis a bit complex. Research has also confirmed that the practice of qualitative research is often less rigorous and complex than the quantitative research process and thus, this given research approach will be chosen for the study (Denny and Weckesser, 2018).
Additionally, the given research will also follow the strategy of the mono method, which implies the use of a single method of collecting and analysing the data. In that context, the research will follow a single strategy of data collection, namely the secondary data collection method and with that thematic data analysis to conclude the study.
3.4 Research Strategy
A case study research strategy will be undertaken to carry forward the research conduction through collecting data from the secondary resources which was previously published by the reputed authors. The case study research strategy will widen the scope of access to large volumes of information through the collected primary account of information by the previous researchers.
It is cost-effective and easy to access and helps the research process to interpret the previous analysis and discussion by the researcher on behalf of collected data from the primary resources for gaining deep insights into children’s management with social media in comparison to involvement with family and outdoor activities.
The case study research strategy will involve the Google Scholar for collecting the relevant and contemporary information in the form of articles, magazines, journals, and books written by the reputed authors for acknowledging the conceptualization of the social phenomenon and previous research results associated with the children’s engagement with the social media.
Moreover, the trusted websites and government databases also will be monitored for contemporary and relevant information to be incorporated in the research study for better authenticity and reliability of research results drawn through recognizing the underlying the repeated patterns. The case study is described as the systematic and intensive investigation of complex phenomena with in-depth data concerning the subject matters (Heale and Twycross, 2018).
The keywords which will be used for the research study encompasses the negative impact of social media on kids, kids’ involvement with social media, detachment with family involvement due to increased use of social media, decreased outdoor activities, mental health, social skill, conscience, depression, anxiety.
The secondary data collection may be inconsistent which gives better control over the collection process and sometimes misses the specific data important for the research subject. Specifically, the secondary data collection will be beneficial through easy access, cost-effectiveness, remote accessibility and use of authentic data, less time engagement, availability of clean and structured data along with a high volume of data availability.
The primary data collection is associated with cost, time and related effort and the chance of biases while collecting the primary data for the research design and excluded from this research. The inclusion and exclusion process will also be considered for intelligent design of the research with popper available data and related data set from the collected dataset which will be based on the readability, relevance, and up-to-date synchronized dataset.
Above all, secondary data collection is a valuable approach for the research process for data inclination with the research needs and objectives from a large volume of data set (Martins et al., 2018). In the research process, the thematic analysis will be taken as thematic analysis helps the researcher to provide an in-depth analysis of the research topic in an effective way. In addition to that, the thematic analysis uses a descriptive approach and it helps to depict experiences or events in detail in the research topic (Sundler et al., 2019).
3.5 Research Limitations
The limitation of the research study is in its research objectives which narrowed down the negative impact of social media on children’s psychology and barred from involving only family attachment and outdoor activities. Additionally, the research limitations are also in the steps taken for research design which is limited the case study strategy for proper designing of the research bearing the primary account of information on the research study. It also accompanied the ethical parameter along with the narrow period for the data collection for the research conduction (Theofanidis and Fountouki, 2018).
3.6 Research Timetable
| Steps for research study | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 |
| Overview and documentation | ||||||||
| Aims and objectives | ||||||||
| Data collection | ||||||||
| Data analysis | ||||||||
| Literature review | ||||||||
| Findings and analysis | ||||||||
| Conclusion |
Table 1: Gantt chart (Source: Self-Created)
4. Conclusion
It may be concluded that the effect of social usage has been there and the young adults and the children are trying to cope with it the management of the social media and their digital platforms might lead the lives of the children into danger and even put the children into risk.
References
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Canning, N. and Robinson, B., 2021. Blurring boundaries: the invasion of home as a safe space for families and children with SEND during COVID-19 lockdown in England. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 36(1), pp.65-79.
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Heale, R. and Twycross, A., 2018. What is a case study?. Evidence-based nursing, 21(1), pp.7-8.
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