MARKET RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT 3
MK7.02
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REPORT ON
INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON STUDENTS BEHAVIOUR
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN
APPLIED MANAGEMEN – LEVEL 8
By
Student Name
ID
Under the Guidance of
Dr. SUREJ P JOHN
June, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report aims to understand the social media effect on the academic performance and the effects on the mental health of the students. The research has revealed that there are positive and negative impact of social media on student’s academic performance. This study also aims at understanding the relation between social media usage on the mental health of the students. The research proves that people who spend more time on social media are less healthy when compared to people who spend less time on social media. The study also shows the significance between the cognitive needs and usage of social media. The research is based on a quantitative study. Statistical tool like SPSS and Excel is used to analyze the data. The study is limited to students between the age group of 17 to 35. An online survey questionnaire was circulated to the students at EIT.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
2. PROBLEM FORMULATION……………………………………………………………………………………..…………..4
3. FACTORS INFLUENCING DUE TO INCREASE IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE…………………………5
4 HYPOTHESIS ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
5. DATA COLLECTION METHOD…………………………………………………………………….6
6. ANALYSIS AND DATA INTERPRETATION………………………………………………………7
7. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY…………………………………………………………………………9
8. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………………..9
9. APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………………………10
10. REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………….18
1. INTRODUCTION
Social Media is a broad term which most people think is very important in their life. Social Media not just allows people to gather information but also share posts or information efficiently and quickly. In today’s world social medial can not only be accessed through computers but also through various other gadgets. (Hudson, Mathew. (2019)). Social Media is considered as a prime agenda for most of the business these days. Most of the organizations and institutions these days use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn etc., as the key factors in order to spread awareness about their product or service in the minds of the people. (Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010)).
Social media plays a wide role in the life of students. It has a huge impact on the students based on various aspects such as student’s academic performance (negative and positive) beheviour and attitude towards the society and also mental health of the students.
This research mainly focuses on the effect of social media on the academic performance, mental health and cognitive needs of the student’s.
2. PROBLEM FORMULATION
2.1 Market Research Problem
This research intends to analyze the below listed problem statements
- With the tremendous increase in use of social media (networking, apps, websites etc.) and the increasing number of student users, how does this affect the student’s academic performance in a negative and positive way? (Al-Rahmi, W., & Othman, M. (2013))
- Does social media have an effect on the student’s cognitive needs?
- Is social media affecting the mental health of the students? (Al-Rahmi, W., & Othman, M. (2013)).
2.2 Management Decision Problem
The management is facing problematic situations such as:
- Should the social media be restricted within the campuses?
- Due to overuse of social media, do students tend to use others idea rather than using their own view and ideas during projects and assignments?
- Is social media affecting the personality traits of the students?
3. FACTORS INFLUENCING DUE TO INCREASE IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
Impact on the academic performance
- Positive impact
- Negative impact
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
Cognitive needs
Effects on the mental health of students
3.1 Social media usage – impact on the academic performance
Positive impact
Teaching and learning has become more flexible these days. Schools and colleges have updated themselves to digital learning technology. Therefore, students these days need not worry about missing classes as learning has become more flexible. Day to day classes can be accessed on phones and computers from anywhere and everywhere. Social media has made a student’s life easier and makes them confident.
Negative impact
However, there are certain negative effects of social media on the academic performance. The more time students spend on social media, the less they tend to socialize face to face. Students tend to miss classroom teaching as the documents are uploaded on the student websites. Social media can make it easier for students to share their ideas online but it can make a student nervous to address the same thought in public speaking. Students tend to divert minds while using social media networks to learn new things. Hence, overuse of social media is bad for the academic performance of the student. There must be a balance of classroom and learning and online learning. (Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017)).
3.2 Influence of social media usage on student’s mental health.
Social media can be fun while using during free time but also at the same time it can result in anxiety and depression. Cyberbullying is one of common crime these days. Teen girls are the main victims of cyberbullying. This is one of the reason that affect the mental condition of the teenagers. Institutes must limit access to social media, reason being it can result in physical injuries (while students are looking into the phone and walking around, they tend to meet with an accident) also mental problems.
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc., can be fun and at the same time can be a threat to most of them especially teenagers. People start comparing one and another in terms of looks and appearance. They feel that other person is better than them. Due to such issues, people tend to go under depression and the attitude and beheviour changes. (Hurley, K. (2019)).
3.3 Influence of social media usage on the cognitive needs
Social media has effects on the cognitive development of the students. Millennial these days don’t really spend time on newspaper in order to acquire knowledge or gain insights about the current affairs. Whereas students update themselves through social media networking sites and online websites. (Sutherland, K., Davis, C., Terton, U., & Visser, I. (2018)).
4. HYPOTHESIS
H1: There is a significant relationship between the time spent on social media and Academic performance.
H2: Social media usage differ between male and female.
H3: There is a significant relationship between the time spent on social media and the mental health of students.
5. DATA COLLECTION METHODS
5.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The study aims at understanding the concept social media and how the social media is influencing students in a positive and negative way. More precisely the study aims at understanding how social media can affect the students in their academic performance in a positive and negative way, metal health and cognitive needs.
5.2 RESEARCH DESIGN:
This study is based on the quantitative research. This design is aimed at understanding how people think or feel and their perspectives about the topic to be discussed. A quantitative report is purely analyzed based on the sample size and the number of responses received.
5.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
Random sampling technique is used to conduct the survey, as the study did not focus on any specific students. The study was conducted at EIT campus. However, the age group was restricted to 18 to 40.
5.4 SAMPLE SIZE AND TARGET GROUP
The target of 125 was taken to conduct the survey. However, the number of responses received is 123 responses. The survey was restricted only to the students at EIT between the age group of 18 to 40.
5.5 LIMITATIONS
- The time limit to prepare the report is limited. Hence, it was quite difficult to complete the report on time.
- While conducting a survey, not everyone in the focus group will be comfortable answering the questions. Hence, there can be research gap.
- Due to limited number of word count, it is quite difficult to express the views and ideas in detail.
- Not all the respondents answer the questions accurately.
6. ANALYSIS AND DATA INTERPRETATION
6.1 DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
Age group
Based on the survey and analysis it is seen that people between the ages of 18 to 24 spend more time on social media when compared to people between the other age groups. However, only 8.1% of the people between the age group of 36 to 40 use social media. Therefore, the usage of social media is higher among the millennial when compared to Gen X and Gen Y. Refer to table 1 and chart 1 in appendix 3 for the graphical representation.
Gender
Based on the statistical analysis, it is observed that 53.7% female respondents use social media when compared to men. The response received while conducting face to face interview is the same, more number of female respondents use social media. As per the respondents, social media is mainly used for uploading pictures and chatting. Refer to table 2 and chart 2 in appendix 3 for the graphical representation.
6.2 INFERENTIAL ALALYSIS
Cognitive needs
Based on the analysis, it is noticed that there is a positive correlation between the age and the cognitive needs. However, there is no significance between the age and cognitive needs. Therefore, this proves that students use social media to gain insights about the current affairs to a certain extent but not completely rely on the same. Refer to table 3 and chart 3 in appendix 3 for the graphical representation.
Positive and negative impact on academics
From the analysis, we can see that there is a positive correlation and there is high significance between the number of hours spent on social media and the academic performance. If students spend more time on social media the for the purpose of study without any distractions there is a positive impact on the academic performance. However, if the students tend to spend more time on social media such as facebook, Instagram etc., just for entertainment purpose the academics performance of the students will drop drastically. Refer to table 4 and table 5 and chart 4 and chart 5 in appendix 3 for the graphical representation.
Impact on the mental health
From the analysis, we can see thatthere is a positive correlation and there is high significance between the number of hours spent on social media and the mental health of the students. People who tend to use more time on social media are mentally affected due to various reasons. This effect can be either positive or negative. Based on the face to face interview conducted, people admitted that they to feel jealous while looking the posts uploaded by friends on social media also few tend to get motivated and inspiration as well.
6.3 CAUSAL ANALYSIS
- Based on the analysis it is seen that mental health and social needs are positively correlated and highly significant. Hence it is proved that there is a relation between the two.
- It is also seen that mental health is positively correlated and highly significant to the academic performance of the students. Therefore this proves that, students must not be stressed which focusing on their academics.
- Based on the analysis it is seen that cognitive needs is positively correlated and highly significant to the social needs and academic performance of the students in a positive way. The students these days tend to spread information on social media if they are aware about something. This enhances the social needs of the society also, if students update themselves regarding the current affairs from social media, they can use the same real time scenarios in their academics which is a positive impact on the academics.
7. FINDING OF THE STUDY
- Impact on academic performance: from the study it is proved that social media has a strong impact on the academic performance. Social media has made a student’s life easier and makes them confident. (Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017)). However, it is observed that students are spending 3 to 4 hours a day on average on social media. Though social media is good for professional and social use it can also a threat. Social media can make it easier for students to share their ideas online but it can make a student nervous to address the same thought in public speaking. Students tend to divert minds while using social media networks to learn new things.
- Impact of social media on mental health: social media can affect the mental health of students in various ways. There can be a feeling of jealousy due to how others look and the places others have visited, also at the same time social media can have a positive impact on the mental health of the students. Students watch a lot of motivational videos or also look upon to certain people and work towards being like one of them. Therefore even the statistics prove that social media can have positive and negative effect on the mental health of the students.
- Impact of social media on the cognitive needs: from the study it is proved that students prefer social media rather than the newspaper to update themselves regarding the current affairs. Therefore cognitive needs of social met.
8. CONCLUSION
Upon understanding the pros and cons of social media, students or even the general public will avoid overuse of social media. Social media has helped students in many ways. Students these days prefer sharing ideas and thoughts online which is noticed by a large group of people. Hence student’s talent is showcased and therefore the students feel confident and start believing in oneself. However, with the tremendous use of social media these days, students might feel discouraged and find it difficult to socialize with people offline. Younger generation might face a lot of health issues in the future if spent a lot of time on social media. Therefore, it is better to use social media to certain limit and not more.
10. APPENDIX
APPENDIX 1
INTERVIEW GUIDE
A face to face interview was conducted at EIT campus in order to understand the student’s perspective of social media at EIT. Below is the interview guide for the face to face interview that was conducted.
- Do you use social media?
- How much time in a day do you spend on social media?
- What kind of social media do you use (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc.)?
- Any professional social media networking site that you use?
- Has social media influenced you on your academic performance positive or negative way? Can you please explain?
- Do you use social media while you are with your family or your loved ones or even friends for that matter?
- Has social media helped you in your physical activities? Like, have you learnt any kind of dance forms or any exercise for that matter?
- Has social media affected your mental health in any way?
- Have you faced any kind of internet crime such as cyber bullying or anything like that?
- Can you please give us a final conclusion about your ideas or thoughts about the social media?
APPENDIX 2
QUESTIONNAIRE
Google forms questionnaire was circulated to the students at EIT. The questionnaire was prepared based on the face to face interview conducted at EIT.
The scale used is a 5 point likert scale:
- Strongly Agree
- Agree,
- Neutral,
- Disagree and
- Strongly Disagree.
Questions
- What social networking sites do you use?
- How many hours a day do you spend on social media?
- You use social media primarily for?
- Negative comments on social media affects my emotions.
- Emotions that I experience while using the social networking sites.
- I feel anxious if you don’t update status on the social media networking sites at least once a day.
- My statements about my own feelings, emotions, and experiences when micro blogging are always accurate self-perceptions. I would intimately, openly, express.
- Social media sites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram provides security for my postings, for my profile
- Social media platform has influenced me follow certain diet to keep my physical health fit.
- Social media has been a major cause for me to not focus on my studies.
- Social media has impacted my performance in academics positively
- I depend on social media to update myself about the current affairs.
- I think institutes must ban social media networking sites in campus.
- Social media has helped me in getting new ideas and thoughts.
- Social networking sites can be an effective tool for e-learning.
- Social media gives me greater control over my academic work
- I tend to miss assignment deadlines because I get lost in the virtual world of social media
- I can use the link provided by the teacher to find learning materials.
- I intend to use social media to get reconnected with people that matter to me.
- When I reveal my feelings about myself while chatting or texting, I consciously intend to do so.
- Social media distances one from the close family and friends.
- I think younger generation intend to use social media often while outing with family and friends.
- I have more friends on social networking sites than real life.
Demographic Questions
- Name
- Gender
- Course
- Institute
- Nationality
- Age
APPENDIX 3
Table 1:
| Age Demographic Table | |||
| Frequency | Percent | ||
| Valid | 18 to 24 | 50 | 40.7 |
| 25 to 30 | 42 | 34.1 | |
| 31 to 35 | 21 | 17.1 | |
| 36 to 40 | 10 | 8.1 | |
| Total | 123 | 100 |
Chart 1:
Table 2:
| Gender | |||
| Frequency | Percent | ||
| Valid | Male | 57 | 46.3 |
| Female | 66 | 53.7 | |
| Total | 123 | 100 |
Chart 2:
TABLE 3
COGNITIVE NEEDS
| N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | 95% Confidence Interval for Mean | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | |||||||
| 1 | 50 | 2.05 | 0.61652 | 0.08719 | 1.8748 | 2.2252 | 1 | 3.5 |
| 2 | 42 | 2.131 | 0.78133 | 0.12056 | 1.8875 | 2.3744 | 1 | 4.5 |
| 3 | 21 | 2.3095 | 0.85843 | 0.18733 | 1.9188 | 2.7003 | 1 | 4.5 |
| 4 | 10 | 2.45 | 0.72457 | 0.22913 | 1.9317 | 2.9683 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Total | 123 | 2.1545 | 0.73029 | 0.06585 | 2.0241 | 2.2848 | 1 | 4.5 |
ANOVA
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
| Between Groups | 1.947 | 3 | 0.649 | 1.224 | 0.304 |
| Within Groups | 63.118 | 119 | 0.53 | ||
| Total | 65.065 | 122 |
CHART 3
Age Group
1 – 18 to 24
2 – 25 to 30
3 – 31 to 35
4 – 36 to 40
TABLE 4
POSITIVE IMPACT ON ACADEMICS
| N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | 95% Confidence Interval for Mean | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | |||||||
| Less than 1 hour | 14 | 2.7143 | 0.50817 | 0.13582 | 2.4209 | 3.0077 | 2 | 3.75 |
| 1 to 2 hours | 37 | 2.7905 | 0.668 | 0.10982 | 2.5678 | 3.0133 | 1.75 | 4.5 |
| 2 to 3 hours | 43 | 2.407 | 0.50599 | 0.07716 | 2.2513 | 2.5627 | 1.25 | 3.75 |
| More than 4 hours | 29 | 2.4483 | 0.51051 | 0.0948 | 2.2541 | 2.6425 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| Total | 123 | 2.5671 | 0.58066 | 0.05236 | 2.4634 | 2.6707 | 1.25 | 4.5 |
ANNOVA
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
| Between Groups | 3.662 | 3 | 1.221 | 3.877 | 0.011 |
| Within Groups | 37.472 | 119 | 0.315 | ||
| Total | 41.134 | 122 |
CHART 4
TABLE 5
NEGATIVE IMPACT ON ACADEMICS
| N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | 95% Confidence Interval for Mean | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | |||||||
| Less than 1 hour | 14 | 3.4286 | 0.78095 | 0.20872 | 2.9777 | 3.8795 | 2 | 4.5 |
| 1 to 2 hours | 37 | 3.6081 | 0.78294 | 0.12871 | 3.3471 | 3.8692 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 to 3 hours | 43 | 3.0698 | 0.8351 | 0.12735 | 2.8128 | 3.3268 | 2 | 5 |
| More than 4 hours | 29 | 3.431 | 0.93278 | 0.17321 | 3.0762 | 3.7858 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 123 | 3.3577 | 0.85775 | 0.07734 | 3.2046 | 3.5108 | 1 | 5 |
ANNOVA
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
| Between Groups | 6.111 | 3 | 2.037 | 2.898 | 0.038 |
| Within Groups | 83.649 | 119 | 0.703 | ||
| Total | 89.76 | 122 |
CHART 5
TABLE 6
| N | Mean | Std. Deviation | Std. Error | 95% Confidence Interval for Mean | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | |||||||
| Less than 1 hour | 14 | 3.3929 | 0.6557 | 0.17524 | 3.0143 | 3.7714 | 2 | 4 |
| 1 to 2 hours | 37 | 3.4865 | 0.69208 | 0.11378 | 3.2557 | 3.7172 | 2.5 | 5 |
| 2 to 3 hours | 43 | 3.0465 | 0.61542 | 0.09385 | 2.8571 | 3.2359 | 1.5 | 4 |
| More than 4 hours | 29 | 3.2931 | 0.79639 | 0.14789 | 2.9902 | 3.596 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Total | 123 | 3.2764 | 0.70479 | 0.06355 | 3.1506 | 3.4022 | 1.5 | 5 |
ANNOVA
| Mental Health | |||||
| Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
| Between Groups | 4.103 | 3 | 1.368 | 2.881 | 0.039 |
| Within Groups | 56.498 | 119 | 0.475 | ||
| Total | 60.602 | 122 |
CHART 6
TABLE 7
| Health Mental | Cognitive Needs | Social Needs | Academic Performance | Academic Performance Distraction | ||
| Health Mental | Pearson Correlation | 1 | 0.139 | .317** | .265** | .350** |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.124 | 0.000 | 0.003 | 0.000 | ||
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | |
| Cognitive Needs | Pearson Correlation | 0.139 | 1 | .236** | .244** | 0.153 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.124 | 0.009 | 0.007 | 0.091 | ||
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | |
| Social Needs | Pearson Correlation | .317** | .236** | 1 | 0.143 | 0.146 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.000 | 0.009 | 0.115 | 0.107 | ||
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | |
| Academic Performance | Pearson Correlation | .265** | .244** | 0.143 | 1 | 0.167 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.003 | 0.007 | 0.115 | 0.064 | ||
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | |
| Academic Performance Distraction | Pearson Correlation | .350** | 0.153 | 0.146 | 0.167 | 1 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.000 | 0.091 | 0.107 | 0.064 | ||
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.026 | 0.074 | 0.700 | 0.002 | 0.217 | |
| N | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 |
| Model | Unstandardized Coefficients | Standardized Coefficients | t | Sig. | ||
| B | Std. Error | Beta | ||||
| 1 | (Constant) | 1.571 | 0.264 | 5.947 | 0.000 | |
| Health Mental | 0.194 | 0.072 | 0.235 | 2.712 | 0.008 | |
| Cognitive Needs | 0.168 | 0.069 | 0.211 | 2.429 | 0.017 | |
| a. Dependent Variable: Academic Performance |
REFERENCE
Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017). A Study on Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Society. International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering (open access), 5(10).
Hurley, Katie. (2019). Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health. Psycom. Retrieved from: https://www.psycom.net/social-media-teen-mental-health
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59-68.Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681309001232
Phoon, Andie. (2017). Social Media and Its Stark Influence on Society. WRIT: GSW Journal of First-Year Writing: Vol. 1, Article 8.
Priya, S., Akhila, K. V., Aneesha, Kuriakose, A., Praveen, A., & Raju, A. (2018). A study to assess the influence of social media on health beheviour among college students at selected engineering college, Coimbatore. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 8(4), 498-504.
Sutherland, K., Davis, C., Terton, U., & Visser, I. (2018). University student social media use and its influence on offline engagement in higher educational communities. Student Success, 9(2), 13-24.