For this week's theme I selected the paper "Social networking site or social surveillance site? Understanding the use of interpersonal electronic surveillance in romantic relationships." by Robert Tokunaga (2011) from the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
Which quantitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?
Tokunaga used a measurement based self-report survey to gather the data needed for the statistical work. Through an internet-based questionnaire he asked about surveillance over social network sites (SNS), relational information, demographic information and Internet use information. For that he used the Internet electronic surveillance (IES) Scale for SNSs to measure how SNS were used. The scale of Internet self-efficacy measured the belief of one's ability to execute tasks online. On the basis of a multiple regression, relations between variables could be detected. A benefit of a survey is the easy access to information, anonymity and standardization. Limitations are self-report scales and consequent problems with social desirability. This is particularly interesting when it comes to topics like these, which are sensitive.
What did you learn about quantitative methods from reading the paper?
I learned more about the creation of the 15-item scale of IES, and how a principal-axis exploratory factor analysis could evaluate its properties. Furthermore I learned how they then conducted a confirmatory factor analysis in order to verify the unidimensionality of the single-factor structure. Overall, the scale was trimmed to 13 items and a reduction in model chi-square and an overall improvement of the model's fit followed.
However, I'm not all too familiar with this, so I'm not sure if I got this totally right.
Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the quantitative method or methods have been improved?
Limitations of this study were how they developed the items for the IES scale. As it was an armchair approach which consists of brainstorming and discussions it lacked systematic orientation. It could have been approved through using a multistage process for item development. This includes finding constructs and measures and assistance by an expert pool. Another problem was using a confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factor dimensionality of IES, because the study used both data to explore and confirm the factor dimensionality. This should be taken into consideration for future studies.
Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality: The Body Shapes the Way We Play
Kilteni, Bergström and Slater (2012) try to answer the question regarding the illusion of ownership within virtual tasks and what effects that might have. In an experiment they create the illusion of participants playing virtual drums, while they hands who are playing might have different shade of skin color or fashion style. They asked themselves if people would perform tasks differently or better, just because they feel like their "new" body is more appropriate for it.
They found out that the virtual body indeed has the power to create an illusion of ownership; in this case it was participants who played the drums with the dark shade hands who felt more connected, experienced higher variation and moved more frequently.
Which are the benefits and limitations of using quantitative methods?
Quantitative methods are based on Karl Poppers' critical rationalism and tries to find universally valid laws. It's a deductive approach. You start with a theory and try to come close to the social reality to methodology. The data is standardized (can be replicated easily), evaluations are done based on statistics, and tue researcher is an distanced, independent observer. Within quantitative methods large groups can be researched at once, it's a very systematic approach to investigate and answers the questions "what" and "how many". Limitations are that it's difficult to go in depth, the results are broad and do not necessarily reflect why people really feel/do what the feel/do. Experiments are often conducted in labs, i.e. unnatural surroundings. which might influence the outcome.
Which are the benefits and limitations of using qualitative methods?
Within qualitative methods you can research topics in detail. Small groups are interviewed, so it's more personal, than a internet survey would be. In interviews the questions aren't necessarily asked in a specific order, the interviewer can interact with the subject freely. It can also give some insight to the collected data in quantitative data and explain the answers from a different angel. As only a few people are researched it's more difficult to generalize the results, which clearly is an disadvantage. Answers can be highly subjective. Worst case is, that interviews can be influenced by the interviewer and the answers get skewed.
Sources
Kilteni, K., Bergström, I., Slater, M. (2012). Drumming in Immersive Virtual Reality: The Body Shapes the Way We Play. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 19 (4), 597-605 http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/TVCG.2013.29
Tokunaga, R. S. (2011). Social networking site or social surveillance site?
Understanding the use of interpersonal electronic surveillance in romantic relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 705–713. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.08.014
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar