Q: Can you help me with the methodology, sampling, and data analysis for my research around social media?

Detailed Question -

My research title is ‘Formality and informality in social media.’ So, I want to use a messenger conversation group as a sample for my methodology. But I don't know where to start and what to write. My problem is that I don't know whether I should tell the group to talk about a topic and then choose their dialogs. Also, how do I write data analysis and dissection for this sample? Then, should I write down the student's name, and if so, how many of them? Can you help?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Your topic sounds interesting. However, you have several doubts and questions (about the design, data collection, and data analysis), including some very specific ones, such as recording participants’ names.

However, from what we understand, we believe you would need to ‘pull back a bit.’ You perhaps need to think through the basic aspects of your research before thinking of later aspects such as design and data. Once you are able to do that, you would yourself know (or at least, determine with greater confidence) how to design the study and work through the other aspects. This is perhaps why you presently feel you “don’t know where to start and what to write.”

So, here’s what we suggest.

To summarize, presently, you seem to have ‘gone a bit ahead’ by thinking about the mechanics – that what – of the research. You need to go back to the basics – the why – of the study. This will provide a solid foundation for your study and will automatically, or at least, eventually, lead you toward the approach you need to adopt not just for the design and data collection but for the entire research.

Hope that helps. All the best for your study!

As your study is qualitative, here are some additional resources you may find helpful: