The internet study highlighted by the American Life Project and the Pew Research Centre describes the dynamism of Facebook users on the social media platform. According to the article by Aaron Smith, Lee Raine, and Maeve Duggan, Facebook is the most predominant social networking site in the United States, in which 67% of Americans are users. Despite this high prevalence of users, there is a characteristic seasonality of users. 61% of current users periodically take breaks from Facebook citing various reasons, 20% of previous users have permanently ceased using the site, while 8% of adults who access the internet wish to be Facebook users in the future (Raine, Smith, & Duggan, 2013).
Research Features
Research Question
The research question was, what is the consistency of Facebook users on the site? This research question formed the objectives of the study. The main objective was to determine the fluidity of the users on Facebook.
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Research Methods
The research was a cross-sectional study that used interviews to gather information from the users. The interview consisted of both closed and open questions. Closed questions are effective in making comparisons of the respondents’ answers. Open questions, on the other hand, give the respondents the opportunity to give their honest, detailed answers, especially on questions with varied or personal answers ( Creswell, W., & Creswell, D., 2017). Some interview questions asked included: Are you a Facebook user? Do you wish to be a Facebook user in the future? Do you periodically take breaks from Facebook?
Appropriateness of Methods
Using interviews as a data collection method is such a cross-sectional study is appropriate because the study requires responses from individual participants. A cross-sectional study obtains the results of the set-out population sample in real-time ( Creswell, W., & Creswell, D., 2017).
Ethical Concerns
There were no ethical concerns arising from the study. The study did not focus on obtaining personal information from the respondents. The names, age, gender, and other details are included in the statistical analysis, thus eliminating issues of breaching the respondents’ confidentiality. Also, interviewing the users meant that consent from the respondent had first to be obtained. It is impossible to obtain answers from a respondent without their consent or against their will.
References
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches . Sage publications.
Raine, L., Smith, A., & Duggan, M. (2013). Coming and Going on Facebook. Pew Research Center. Retrieved on July 31 st 2019 from https://www.pewinternet.org/2013/02/05/coming-and-going-on-facebook/
