Abstract
This research study is aimed at investigating how the convenience of electronic resources affects our real-life communication skills. The introduction section includes illustrations of how electronic communication has made a safe haven for many Americans who do not possess face-to-face communication skills. The segment also gives an explanation of the models that people have lately adopted in order to compensate for the inadequacy in face-to-face communication cues. Some of the dependent variables in this research will be the development of compensatory abilities and the degree to which those abilities promote survival. The paper aims at reaching the goals of this study by testing these variables to answer a set of hypothesis that has already been developed before the study. The methodology will involve the use of face-to-face communication where evaluated observation will be done for ten minutes, measuring the interactional effectiveness using predicative variables. This information will be filled in tables for later analysis using various computer techniques. Twenty to forty participants who will have signed up for Psyc101 and Psyc260 student volunteer pool will be used for purposes of this research. The incentive for them participating in the study is that they get additional credits if they take part and thus, many of them will sign up.
Keywords: technology, electronic gadgets, communication and socialization, social media, cultural knowledge, electronic media, communication skills
Electronic Media’s battle with Face-to-Face Communication
This paper is an investigative piece intending to dissect the recent paradigm shift from face-to-face communication to overreliance on electronic media to communicate. The society has had to part with many fundamental communication skills at the altar of technological convenience (Chambers, 2013). As such, many people exhibit ineptitude in face-to-face communication skills simply because they have been overly immersed in electronic means of communication. According to Grusec & Hestings (2008), tools like the classical Dewey decimal system that was used to search for a non-fiction book cannot even be remembered now. Instead, Google has dominated the search place. The traditionally acknowledged role models within the family from which young people learned are no more (Ryan, 2011). Children in the alternative, draw many lessons from influential TV personalities and characters. Thus, this has compromised the authenticity of many conversations in the society (Mazaheri & Kurabasi, 2014). People rarely speak to each other even in a family set up. Instead, they prefer chatting with their pals who are at a distance.
Average Americans spend more time on Facebook than in face-to-face conversations on a daily basis. Due to mass production and user-friendly interfaces, the number of hours that people spend on electronic media is expected to rise. Can adults communicate as effectively in person as they can through technology? Many people can type faster than they can write with pen and paper, can text a message faster than they can talk, and can research vast amounts of data with a computer faster than they can with the Dewey Decimal System (Abas, Channa, Farishta, Abas, & Naqvi, 2014). What other abilities have Americans developed to compensate for lost cultural knowledge? Moreover, does the perceived benefit of acquiring these competencies outweigh the skills lost, such as interpersonal communication?
Study Purpose
The invention of cellular technology and, in particular, the one adhering to electronic gadgets such as Smartphone, Tablets, and smart computers has developed significantly especially the last decade (Tonde & Mhaske, 2014). The primary goal for the developers and innovators of this technology was to connect the world such that different societies and cultures could come closer in ways that would have seemed impossible in the past. One would argue that it has succeeded to an extent. However, the same technology has failed miserably and instead created social barriers and changed the way people socialize today in a negative way (Fine, 2010). The research paper will seek to prove this hypothesis.
In the wake of inordinate attention to electronic media, it is highly likely that salient face-to-face communication skills will wither away very soon. The modern society will lack important face-to-face communication cues and, as a result, they may resort to technological interfaces for assistance at all times. I hypothesize that the skills lost in face-to-face social interaction will be overshadowed by compensatory skills learned in using technological mediums. In that case, the average American will be able to communicate more effectively with technological interfaces and that the compensatory technological aptitudes will be more prevalent than face-to-face social skills.
The dynamic social nature of humans that has been exhibited all through the evolution process evolution indicates their ability to adopt necessary skills for survival in this technological age that we live. The ability of human beings to juggle between possessing skills necessary to communicate through face-to-face interaction, and at the same time developing advancing technological aptitudes, then this will be a very remarkable development in human life.
This will be an experimental research which will significantly examine the prevalence of the misgivings mentioned above in the society. The findings will be interpreted cohesively in a bid to come up with a more plausible conclusion about the questions in issue. The research study will clearly analyze the manner in which availability of electronic media and resources affects our face-to-face and practical communication skills. It is also prudent to look at the manner in which Americans have made up for the disjointed communication skills in compensation for the lacking communication skills. The research will make useful resource out of social and electronic media, social skills, and face-to-face communication in a bid to determine if there is any disparity that has been occasioned and the extent to which the society has been affected by these changes
On top of this, the study will also factor in the compensatory abilities which people exhibit in the modern world in order to adapt to the dynamics of electronic media. Also, from an investigative perspective, there is need to analyze the extent to which these adaptive mechanisms have aided in bridging the gap between lost communication skills and electronic communication media. The final stages of this research will entail a process of analysis where we will seek to answer the questions raised in the hypothesis that has been framed in this paper.
The Problem with Excessive Use of Electronic Gadgets
Today the world has undergone tremendous technology advancement, and this is having a huge impact on the manner in which people communicate and relate to one another. This development has its advantages in that it has revolutionized communication as people can now relay information through many channels and within a short period. However, the disadvantages associated with these dynamics are that it is having a negative impact on the way people relate to one another. People have become obsessed with electronic gadgets to an extent of losing their inherent art of socialization (Chambers, 2013).
One does not have to go far to experience the failure resulting from these electronic gadgets. Life in campus halls has completely been transformed into a shadow of what it used to be a decade ago.On college campuses, it has become a common thing to find a group of friends sitting together on a bench or under a tree, but they are all glued to their electronic devices with very little communication going on between them. Ironically some of them happen to be chatting together on various social sites as if they are miles away yet they have sat together on the same bench. This behavior has even found its way to lecture halls where it becomes common for lecturers to call out at their students because some of them are either staring at their laps or laughing unconsciously thanks to the failures of technology. It is quite disturbing how people have become completely attached to small electronic gadgets to the extent of ignoring one another.
This social behavior generated by the advancement of technology has affected virtually everyone from homes, schools up to the places of work. Today families are living in silence at home due to the effects of social media brought about by the increased use of electronic gadgets. In the past, it would have been common to find a family sitting together to watch their favorite television program or sporting event but this is no more. It has been replaced by silence where the same families sit together but in silence because everybody is busy with their electronic gadgets (Roberts, 2015). Employers today are having a hard time in controlling the behaviors of their employees because of the same effect.
Psychological Theory behind this Study
According to psychologists, especially those who try to advance the theories of nurture, a repeated behavior has the capability to shape the personality of an individual (Krystine et al., 2014). According to the theory of nurture, people develop their personality based on their day-to-day interactions with the environment (Chin-Shang, 2006). This means that the personality of an individual is shaped by how they interact with their environment. In this case, technology has changed the way in which people socialize or interact with one another. This is likely to have a negative social effect on their behaviors and, in the end, their personality. If this emerging trend is going to continue, the world is getting closer to having people with low self-esteems and poor social skills (Stieger, 2013). According to various research findings, people with poor communication skills tend to have a low self-esteem and, as a result, become introverts. Stieger (2013) further purports that in extreme cases, such people may develop various psychological effects such that they may become violent or addicted to drugs or alcohol to console their ego. This paper seeks to find out the effect of the increased use of electronic gadgets on our daily communication skills.
Variables
My independent variables are social media, social skills, face-to-face communication, technological communication, and the type of social medium used. My dependent variables are the development of compensatory abilities, and the degree to which those abilities promote survival
Method
Participants
Twenty to forty participants who will have signed up for studies that are posted on a bulletin board outside the department office will be the subjected to this study. This sample will include students taking Psyc101 and Psyc260 who are expected to participate in studies and get a chance of earning additional credits on top of their course work. Therefore, it is given that the research cannot fall short of the requisite number of participants because most of them will sign up for the study.
Design
Using a One Group Pre-Test, Post-Test design, the independent variables (predictor-variable) to be measured are social media, social skills, face-to-face communication, scholarly communication, and the type of social medium used. The dependent variables (outcome-variable) will be the development of compensatory abilities, and the degree to which those abilities promote survival. The information obtained from the research study will be keyed into a table that will be later analyzed to get the existing relationships between the predictor variables and the outcome variables.
The effectiveness of both face-to-face communication and Technological communication will be measured on a satisfaction scale, having predetermined values. The sum of the values from each point will give an exact measurement of the effectiveness both avenues of communication produce, independently. During the data gathering process, my dependent variables, the development of compensatory abilities, and the degree to which those abilities promote survival will be closely monitored and recorded. I will measure the degree that my dependent variables aide in survival with a four-point scale, each point having a predation valuable, that when totaled gives a precise measurement of each dependent variables, or compensatory trait's likelihood to become instinctual aptitudes aiding in survival.
Instruments/Materials
The predicative variables and the outcome variables will be identical for each variable and participant. Each participant will participate in ten-minute face-to-face observable experimentation at the same time, as will the ten technological media used to conduct social media observable experimentation. The ten technological media subject to this experiment will be phone text messages, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace, Digg, YouTube, WhatsApp and Stumble Upon. The information from the surveys I created (found in the appendix) will be keyed manually into a computer for future analysis. A video camera will also be used to record the surveys to enhance the accuracy of information.
Procedure
The research will first be conducted on campus by observing the social behaviors of student around lecture halls, campus compound. The key interest will be to find out how much time most students spend on their electronic gadgets compared to socializing with their peers. A small research report on the finding will be written to be used during the analysis process. Face-to-face communication will be evaluated observable for ten minutes, measuring the interactional effectiveness of the students who are subject to the sample. At this point, the effectiveness of their communication skills will be analyzed and recorded. Technological communication will then be tested. Independently, for ten minutes and that data will be printed and measured on a table (Appendix B). The respective sums of those values will give an exact measurement to compare and contrast face-to-face communication vs. social media communication. The yardstick of knowing how effective one’s communication skills are both on electronic media and face-to-face will be their ability to convey a message that can be construed in the intended manner. The dependent variable will be closely monitored during the testing of the outcome variable. Those measurements will be compared and contrasted to determine the propensity of social skills vs. compensatory technological skills.
This research exhibits internal validity to the extent that it establishes a causal relationship between face-to-face communication and electronic socialization by first deriving the compensatory skills that students adopt so as to make up for their face-to-face communication flaws. In that respect, the compensatory skills are what give this research internal validity.
The data collected on the results of the survey will be analyzed using statistical inferences. Investigators use statistical inferences about the population as a whole to determine whether or not the results of the experiment were likely or not to have happened. Due to sample size and inferences on the population as a whole, the margin of error must be assumed.
Ethics
The form will also explicitly state the option of participants to withdraw from the research study at any point of the research, and that information already shared cannot be used for research (NCPHSB, 1979). This project is likely to be highly beneficial to the society since it establishes the salient disconnect between forms of communication in America and how this has generally affected relationships in the country. In this case, the beneficence value of the study clearly outweighs any ethical risks that may emanate from this whole process. Finally, participants will be told exactly how the results drawn from the study will be used to further better face-to-face communication practices in the US. Other ethical measures that will be taken include ensuring that confidential information is safeguarded. This, therefore, means that the confidential information of all participants will not be leaked to a third party without their consent.
Discussion
The theories of nurture as explained beforehand attribute the personality of a person to a certain repeated behavior (Krystine et al., 2014). In this case, the interaction of citizens of United States has been confined to Social media as the only environment around them and this could clearly jeopardize their communication skills going by the face-to-face model (Chin-Shang, 2006). This has the propensity to have a negative social effect on their behaviors and, in the end, their personality. If this emerging trend is going to continue, the country is getting closer to having people with low self-esteems and poor social skills (Stieger, 2013). This, according to Stieger (2013) may also lead to various psychological effects in extreme cases such that affected people become violent or addicted to drugs and alcohol in a bid to console their ego.
The only way in which face-to-face communication among people can be improved is through first researching on the causes of the slump in communication cues and the coping mechanisms that have since pursued by many Americans. This research offers the requisite insight into the whole communication imbroglio in the country and it will also go a long way in finding possible solutions to the whole situation. It is the scholarly work that best suits the circumstances at hand.
References
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APPENDIX A
Technology Communication versus Face-to-Face Communication Satisfaction Scale
Respondents of this survey were required to indicate their feeling towards both methods of communications and expected to give their responses in the following format:
1-Slightly Agree
2-Agree
3-Fully Agree
4-Unsure
5-Slightly Disagree
6- Disagree
7- Fully Disagree
1. Are you a social media addict?
2. Are you aware that you spend more time on technology communication than on face-to-face communication?
3. Can you spend a day without using your Smartphone or logging into the social media?
4. Do you talk with most of your friends on social media?
5. Technology communication is more exciting than face-to-face communication?
6 face-to-face communications is more exciting than technology communication?
7- I prefer technology communication over face-to-face communication.
8- I prefer Face-to-face communication over technology communication
9- Has the use of electronic gadgets affected your social life positively?
10- Has the use of electronic gadgets affected your social life negatively?
The survey above highlights the research conducted to compare technology communication over face-to-face communication under different variables. The results obtained will be filled in the table on (Appendix B). The effectiveness of both face-to-face communication and Technological communication will be measured on a satisfaction scale, having predetermined values. The sum of the values from each point will give an exact measurement of the effectiveness both avenues of communication produce, independently.
Appendix B
The resulted obtained from the survey will be tallied on the table above and the total obtained so as to determine the outcome of the research study. Further analysis would be done from these results.
