Introduction
At present time, our social network is often determined by the level of our online presence and the social circles we belong to online. Although social networking may have its benefits, it also has disadvantages, including the onset of stress and depression, sometimes even suicide, due to various factors including cyber bullying. Within this context, social networking is a double-edged sword. While it can help people achieve social support to lean on, social networking in the 21st Century could aggravate mental health problems or place us at risk for developing mental disorders. The aim of conducting the research study is to determine whether social networking is a positive or a negative influence to the mental health of adolescents in selected high schools in Toronto. The research questions below will describe the purpose and aim in conducting the research and will guide the research process.
Research Topic and Research Question
The research topic concerns the effects of social networking on the behavior, views, attitudes, and overall mental health of adolescents in Toronto. Therefore, the research process will allow me to gather data from adolescents in Toronto in order to describe the effects of social networking on their behavior and determine whether using social media places them at risk for mental health problems. I plan to explore the research topic by using the following research questions as a guide, and consequently using the following research questions to guide the data collection. The first question is concerned with how adolescents in Toronto use the Internet. I plan to determine what social media applications or platforms they use and how and why they use it. In this way, I can identify what value social media plays in their lives. The second question relates to how adolescents perceive social networking. I will ask questions to determine if they see social networking as an important part of their lives, or if they think that establishing an online presence is important. The third question relates to the effects of social networking on the behavior, views, attitudes, perspectives, and state of mind of adolescents. I plan to determine specifically how they feel after using social networking, especially when they see their friends’ profiles and timelines.
Justification of Research Question
The research study intends to contribute to existing studies and offer data about the impact of social networking among adolescents in Canada. Therefore, the research questions will allow me to obtain data that I can use determine how social networking affect adolescents and possibly point out problems that could allow mental health institutions in Toronto to develop and implement measures to prevent stress, anxiety, depression, and suicide among teenagers. The research questions also meet the objectives of sociological research, which is to understand the phenomenon related to social networking and its role in inciting depression and suicides among adolescents in order to identify means to curb this social problem. The research questions will also allow me to accomplish the scientific aspect of research by determining and understanding the patterns of behavior among adolescents with regards to social networking and draw conclusions to decide whether social networking places the mental health of adolescents at risk or not.
Conceptualization of Key Concepts
Social support is one of the main indicators of resilience to stress and anxiety that could potentially lead to mental health problems. Hence, we can lean on supportive social networks, such as our family and friends, for support. Nevertheless, in today’s world, technological development and the prevalent use of the Internet have changed the way we interact with one another and the way we perceive social support and networks (D’Amato et al, 2012). In the foregoing discussion, we have established that social networking could be beneficial or detrimental to an adolescent’s self-esteem. Since current literature divide the arguments for online social networking, the research study aims to contribute to literature by determining how online social networks influence the mental health of adolescent in Canada. The results of the study can potentially facilitate the development of solutions to address mental health among adolescents and online social networking regulations for minors in the country.
Recent reports and studies about mental health in Canada show significant increase in mental health cases among various populations over the past year and that stress is a major factor that instigates mental health problems, especially among students (Heine, et al., 2008). In the research, I intend to study social networking and determine whether it is a source of support or a stressor among the adolescent population. The research topic requires attention because adolescents are susceptible to stress, depression, and suicide. The issue of suicide among adolescents requires attention because teenagers are prone to mimicking their peers (Mayer, 2013). According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, adolescents who have peers who took their own lives or attempted suicide were more likely to attempt suicide as well.
Some studies point out that social presence could be a source of social support, especially when favorable online interactions on social networking sites can potentially increase the self-esteem of adolescents and satiate their yearning for validation. The presence of social support can be one of the factors that help individuals become resilient. On the contrary, other existing studies underscore the effect of social networking on the mental state of adolescents (D’Amato, et al, 2012). Some adolescents report anxiety and depression after visiting social networking sites (Sturm, 2010). Selfhout, et al. (2009) conducted a study to determine the relationship between Internet use and depression or social anxiety. The increasing use of adolescents of the Internet as a phenomenon prompted the research study. In Canada, adolescents spend a significant amount of time online, at home, in school, or at any time with their mobile devices. Nevertheless, if some studies report detrimental outcomes of social networking on the mental health of students, then the frequent use of social networking among adolescents in Canada raises questions about the possible effects of social media on their health and wellbeing. Some teenage suicide cases stem from cyber bullying. Another study highlighted how some people’s emotions are significantly affected by visiting social networking sites, including feelings of sadness, anxiety, or depression after visiting their friends’ social profiles.
Operationalization of Key Concepts
Social networking refers to platforms available through social media that allows users or subscribers to interact with one another. Social networking often involves the creation of personal profiles that allow individuals to create a representation of their persona online. Through social networking, subscribers can share personal information, not only in words but also in the form of media, such as photographs and videos. Moreover, social networking allows individuals to comment on other people’s profiles, which is an important aspect in understanding validation or approval as a purpose in utilizing social networks.
Mental health issue refers to a set of outcomes of psychiatric disorders and individuals’ health events that have strong relationship with psychiatric disorder. Mental health relates to social networking because existing studies prove that while some people develop higher self-esteem or sense of self from using social media, others feel sadness, depression, and sometimes commit suicide because of social networking. I will explore the relationship of mental health and social networking in the research.
Data Collection Plan
Probability sampling will allow me to select a population to represent the target population – adolescents in Canada. I plan to conduct a study among adolescents in Toronto and to do so, I will select 150 teenagers aged 16 to 18 from three public high schools in the city. For this reason, I will use cluster sampling to select research participants for the sample population. I will obtain a list of all public high schools in Toronto and I will select the three high schools from which I will select part of the sample population through simple random sampling (SRS). After selecting the three public high schools, I will ask the help of school administrators to generate the list of students aged 16 to 18 in each school. I will employ systematic sampling to select the participants from each school with the help of the school administrator and teachers. Assuming that each public high school has a total population of 1000 students aged 16 to 18; I will select every element in the list after a random selection of the first element as part of the sample population. I limited the number of sample population due to considerations about time and resources. Involving the entire population of adolescents in Toronto will require a lot of time and effort, which I will not be able to fulfill. The limitations in the sample population will consequently limit the quality of data that I will obtain during the survey. Generalizability and external validity will raise primary issues in the research because the responses of the participants do not guarantee full representation of the responses of the entire population of adolescents in Toronto.
Proposed Method of Observation
As previously mentioned, I will use probability sampling to obtain a sample population for the research. I will use cluster sampling to select three public high schools in Toronto from which I will select 150 participants from through SRS. As previously discussed, the number of the sample population that will participate in the study will raise an issue concerning external validity and generalizability because it represents a small percentage of the total population of adolescents in Toronto. Therefore, the results of the study will not guarantee parallelism between the shared behavior and attitudes of the sample population and those of all adolescents in Toronto.
Through the survey questionnaire, I intend to measure the views, beliefs, and attitudes of adolescents about social networking to determine how their online presence affects their mental health. In the survey questionnaires, I will use the Likert Scale to measure the views or attitudes of the participants towards specific concepts related to social networking. Table 1 below shows sample questions I will use for the survey questionnaire:
Sample Questions
Prior to conducting research, measuring potential biases will be a main issue that should be addressed. In the research, the sensitivity of the topic will significantly affect biases. Some students may limit their responses for fears that their responses would reflect issues pertaining to mental health. Apart from maintaining anonymity, I plan to control bias through randomization. In this way, the entire sample population will be influenced by the same biases. Consequently, this will make it easier for me to predict the impact of biases on the outcomes of research.
Proposed Plan of Analysis
Based on existing literature, I hypothesize that social networking both have positive and negative effects on the behavior, views, and perspectives of the participants. Predictors will significantly affect how well adolescents handle issues related to social networking. Consequently, the way in which adolescents utilize social networking will affect their views, behavior, and attitudes toward it or following their use of social media.
Hypotheses:
1a. Social networking has positive effects on the views, behavior, and perspectives of the participants.
1b. Social networking has negative effects on the views, behavior, and perspectives of the participants.
2a. Social factors affect experiences of participants in social networking.
2b. Social factors do not affect experiences of participants in social networking.
3a. Adolescent use of social networking determines their views, behavior, and perspectives.
3b. Adolescent use of social networking does not determine their views, behavior, and perspectives.
The data will be analyzed through univariate and bivariate statistics. The data obtained through the survey will be analyzed through the construction of a frequency table to describe the demographic characteristics of the population initially. The data analysis will help me draw conclusions and determine if demographic characteristics affect the views, beliefs, and attitudes of the sample population towards online social networking. I will also analyze data using the measures of central tendency to determine patters in the sample population’s responses that could be used to generalize responses and represent the target population. Sub-group comparisons as a type of bivariate statistics analysis will also be used to describe and explain the implications of the data to the research. Through sub-group comparisons, I will be able to identify consistent behavioral patterns among the sample population.
Sample Results of Data Analysis
Ethics Section
Since the proposed method of observation is quantitative and the survey method will be employed during data collection, primary ethical issues that will arise in the research relate to the participation of adolescents. During the survey, the sample population will need to share personal information based on their experiences. Some of them will hesitate to divulge personal information because of the sensitivity of the research as a social issue relating to mental health. Prior to conducting the survey, I will establish informed consent by explaining the research objectives to the sample population and create an ideal atmosphere that eliminates the doubts of the participants. The participants will also be informed that I will keep their information confidential and they can maintain anonymity. The identities of the participants will not be disclosed publicly and that the respondents have the option to leave their name out while filling in the survey questionnaire. Because they are minors, the adolescents' participation in the research will raise ethical issues. Hence, securing consent from their parents, teachers, or guardians must be prioritized prior to collecting data. I will also accomplish a form to obtain approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the planned research procedure prior to data collection.
Limitation of Study
Limited resources set limitations in the study. While it will be ideal to study a significant percentage, if not the entire population, of the adolescent population in Toronto, limited resources will prevent me from obtaining comprehensive data. Generalizability will be the main issue because the responses of 150 adolescents in Toronto are not comprehensive enough to generalize what the responses of the entire population will be. Through research, I seek to address the aforementioned research questions to determine how adolescents use the Internet and social networking sites, how they feel after using social networking, and what the impacts of social networking are, in general, on their behavior, attitudes, and state of mind. There will also be issues in internal validity because there are various factors that would affect the adolescent’s views and attitudes toward social networking, which will not be measured in the research. Furthermore, the weakness of the research study is that it fails to measure the gravity of the effects of social networking and identify whether its negative effects on adolescents are manageable or signs of mental disorder and will require attention from mental health professionals.
Conclusion
Essentially, the research outcomes would describe whether social networking incites precursors to mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety, or depression, among adolescents. Since existing literature highlight both the positive influence of social networking on the self-image and self-esteem and function as a social support system, and its negative effects, including depression and suicide, the outcomes of literature would determine which phenomenon applies to adolescents in Toronto. Should the results reveal that social networking is unfavorable to the mental health and disposition of adolescents in Canada, the data will not only encourage further research on social networking and adolescent mental health, but also encourage mental health professionals, the local government, parents, and other stakeholders to find actionable solutions that would curb the detrimental impact of social networking to the mental health of adolescents.
References
D’Amato, G., et al. (2012). Social networks: A new source of psychological stress or a way to enhance self-esteem? Journal of Investigation Allergol Clin Immunol, 22(6), p. 402-405.
Heine, S. J., et al. (2008). Mirrors in the head: Cultural variation in objective self-awareness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulleting, 34(7), p. 879-887.
Mayer, A. (2013). Needed: new approaches to defuse ‘suicide contagion among teens’. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/05/22/f-suicide-contagion-prevention.html
Selfhout, M. H. W., et al. (2009). Different types of Internet use, depression, and social anxiety: The role of perceived friendship quality. Journal of Adolescence, 32(4), p. 819-833.
Sturm, S. (2010). Social networking psych studies: research shows teen Facebook users prone to depression. Retrieved from: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/depressionfrom-facebook
