1. Provide the citation and attach a pdf of the article (10 pts) Pro Tip: You can use ZotZero, but check the output against the APA Style online guidelines.
Reinikainen, H., Kari, J. T., & Luoma-aho, V. (2020). Generation Z and Organizational Listening on Social Media. Media and Communication, 8(2S1), 185+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626675403/PPOP?u=klnb_fhsuniv&sid=bookmark-PPOP&xid=e08e0b32
PDF attached below:
Generation_Z_and_Organizationa
2. What is the abstract of the article? (10 pts) Tips: This is usually a 200 word or less article summary. The abstract is your only cut and paste answer.
“Young people are avid users of social media and have appeared as a powerful force for social change, as shown by the ranks of those who have joined Greta Thunberg in the global climate movement. In addition to challenging political institutions and governments, young people today are also holding the corporate world accountable. To respond to young people’s expectations, brands, and organizations have turned to social media to interact and build relationships with them. However, critics have lamented that these attempts often fail and that young people’s trust in institutions, brands, and organizations continues to decline. This article asks how young people perceive organizational listening on social media and whether their perceptions are related to their trust in the information shared by brands and other organizations on social media. Data for the study were gathered through an online survey in Finland and the UK. The respondents (N = 1,534), aged 15-24, represent the age cohort known as Generation Z. The results show that organizational listening is connected to higher levels of perceived benefits from social media as well as higher levels of trust in the information that brands, public authorities, and non-governmental organizations share on social media. The results highlight the role of competent listening on social media, bolstering the previous literature connecting both organizational listening and trust with higher levels of participation and engagement online.” (Reinikainen, 2020).
3. Was the study experimental or non-experimental? Explain, tell us what made that clear. (10 pts)
The following study is a non-experimental study. What made this apparent was that this study does not involve the manipulation of controlled variables. This study involves an online survey given in Finland and the UK which means that there is no manipulation of an independent variable. The study also discusses during the limitations section how it could have benefitted from being an experimental study where manipulated conditions would be presented to the respondents (Reinikainen, 2020). These are the key reasons that explain why this study is a non-experimental study.
4. Was the research qualitative or quantitative? Again, explain. (10 pts)
The above study used a quantitative approach to test their hypothesis. This is apparent in many ways when reading through the study. The first way that this was made clear was the data that was collected and presented. All of the data was presented in a quantitative form as percentages, means, and raw numbers. Along with the information given through data collection, in the study, it is stated that a quantitative approach was used in order to test the hypothesis (Reinikainen, 2020). This is a definitive explanation and example of the research being quantitative.
5. What was the population studied? Why do you say that? (5 pts)
The population studied were those aged 15-24, which represents Generation Z. The population studied was focused on Finland and the UK. This information was given in the abstract while explaining the details of the study.
6. What sample was used for this study? Explain. (5 pts)
The sample used for the study was also depicted throughout the abstract. The respondents equal 1,534 participants in the online survey. This sample came from the population discussed in the previous question.
7. What was the method of measurement? (10 pts)
- If the research was quantitative, was the measurement scale used, Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, or Ratio?
- If the research was qualitative, what data was collected?
The method of measurement was an interval. It was apparent that this was the method of measurement because the study states that all variables were assessed on a Likert scale (1 being totally disagree, 5 being totally agree). The Likert scale made it a bit difficult to distinguish between ordinal or interval. I think that the method of measurement in this study could be labeled as either.
8. What was the method of analysis? (10 pts)
- If the research was quantitative, what statistical tools were used to analyze the data?
- If the research was qualitative, in what manner was the data analyzed?
Since this research was quantitative there were several statistical tools used to analyze the data received from the online survey. Percentages were used to determine the number of participants broken down into three different age categories of 15-17, 18-20, and 21-24. Percentages were also used to analyze gender, country, daily social media activity, place of residence (suburban or rural), and education. Other statistical tools that were used include mean and standard deviation. Mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the results of how brands on social media benefit the participants. These two tools were also used to analyze whether the participants trust information from social media over other sources.
9. What was the conclusion of the study? (10 pts)
This study helps researchers gain an understanding of organizational listening and trust in the information received on social media. It also helps combat negative perceptions of organizational listening for young people in Generation Z. The study concluded that respondents were skeptical about brands on social media (Reinikainen, 2020). The results of the study also concluded that brands benefit from a social media presence more than young people do. Organizational listening is positively associated with trust in information that is shared on social media (Reinikainen, 2020). This study also concluded that young people feel as though their voices are being heard online.
10. Why is this study useful to you? Explain in detail. (10 pts)
This study was useful to me because understanding the effect of social media on the organizational listening of people in my age group is important. This study helps describe how social media affects what brands we trust. Personally, I do not use a lot of social media which is why this study benefits me. It helps me to understand how others are being affected by brand presence on social media. This will also be helpful for my future career in IT. As I enter the world of IT it is pertinent to understand how things viewed on social media platforms can affect me and how I do my job or how I spread the word about my company.
11. What would be the next logical step in extending this study? (10 pts)
The next logical step for this study would be to compare more countries than just the UK and Finland. Comparing more countries can offer insight into whether there are cross-country differences or similarities. It would be beneficial to understand how trust and organizational listening on social media are affected as we study different countries. Expanding this study would give us an upper hand in understanding how to reach people by using social media.
References
Reinikainen, H., Kari, J. T., & Luoma-aho, V. (2020). Generation Z and Organizational Listening on Social Media. Media and Communication, 8(2S1), 185+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626675403/PPOP?u=klnb_fhsuniv&sid=bookmark-PPOP&xid=e08e0b32
Social media’s impact on our youth is always an interesting topic to me. I specifically have completed research projects on free speech and social media, and how social media impacts mental health. Interesting that young people feel their voices are being heard online. There was a recent article released with the accusation that Facebook and Twitter were knowingly negatively impacting youth’s mental health and studying their depressed behavior. An interesting ready I think if this is your focus area for research.
Our interactions with social media and the effects that come with it are very interesting. As a content creator for social media, I somewhat understand the back end of promoting brands to people online, especially kids. It is scary to me that a good majority of people believe what they see online.
Something interesting to look at would be the different generations and their feelings toward social media once they have reached the age of 50. So, 20 or 30 years down the road, asking the kids who grew up with social media how it positively or negatively affected their happiness in life.
Social media brings people closer together. Previous communication was by letter or telegram, and by the time the message was received, the matter was irreversible. Last year people began to wear masks when they learned how serious COVID-19 was and cut back on gatherings through social media. This shows the importance of social media.
The effects of social media on kids has always been something that has interested me because I know there is a variety of random things you can be accidently exposed to online and so safety is important whenever I have children. Extending the next study is a great idea because the most popular type of social media might change depending on the area.
Perhaps someone has already made this point, but changing social media apps is exactly what helped Hank and Aki have an easier time writing their research proposal at App State: https://ltblogs.fhsu.edu/inf405master/2021/04/18/example-research-proposals/
The fact that brands are looking out and attempting to connect to younger generations is pretty interesting. There are a lot of brands who use Twitter to connect with audiences by various means ie. memes, discount codes. I do think a lot of interactions from the younger generation take place online and companies are clearly realizing this quickly.
Social media is often a source of media most young adolescents listen to for news, advice, fashion trends and so many other things. Some if not most news articles are satire on sites like twitter or Facebook but some people don’t realize it is satire and believe it with out looking into it. Like flat earthers or Anti-vaxxers who don’t really do that much research and believe in articles that have been disproved.
I always find the topic of social media and its effects on us fascinating. I do find it more interesting to see the research was done on individuals in my age range. I see this study was focused on Finland and the UK, and I would agree with what you said the next logical step would be. I would like to see this done in various countries and have all the collected data compared to each other. Nice work.