Dissertation Results

RQ 1 - How often do undergraduate and graduate students report using Facebook?
That is, the majority of respondents reported using Facebook more than once per day.  The general Facebook usage score was determined by a subject’s response to the question “How often do you use Facebook?”  Of the respondents, 193 (68.2%) reported using Facebook more than once per day, 52 (18.4%) reported using Facebook once per day, 22 (7.8%) reported more than once per week, 5 (1.8%) reported once per week, 7 (2.5%) reported twice per month, and 4 (1.4%) reported using Facebook once per month.

RQ 2 - How often do undergraduate and graduate students report using online social networks within their educational studies?
The findings of this study showed good internal consistency reliability between those students that use Facebook to receive help on assignments and those students that use Facebook as a form of communication with other students.

RQ 3 - Are online tools and OSNs perceived as important in the educational process of students at the higher education learning level?
The findings of this question showed high internal consistency reliability between the survey questions. The majority of respondents reported that Facebook was not important to their educational success, however more subjects reported that participation in OSNs and online communicates is important in their college experience.

RQ 4 - To what extent do students of higher learning agree that the use of OSNs such as Facebook should be integrated into their higher educational experience?
The findings of this question showed that students who use OSNs think OSNs should be implemented within education, and a large percentage report that they feel Facebook should be formally integrated into the educational process of high education as a requirement.

RQ 5 - Is the current usage by student in education score and the general Facebook usage score significantly correlated with the students grade point average?
Hypothesis 1a was that the current usage by student in education score will be significantly positively correlated with at students reported GPA.  It was predicted that students reporting a higher current usage in education score will report higher GPAs.  The results did not support the hypothesis and no correlation was obtained.
Hypothesis 1b that general Facebook usage scores would be significantly negatively correlated with a student’s reported GPA was supported.  The results indicate that students reporting a higher general Facebook usage score had a significantly lower GPA.  This significant and negative relationship differes from the above (Facebook use for education) outcome and possibly suggests that students using Facebook excessively and for purposes other than education are possibly compromising their GPA.  

RQ 6 - Are the current usage by student in education score, the perceived importance in education score, and the recommended institutional involvement score significantly correlated?
The results indicated that all relationships were significantly positively correlated.   That is, participants reporting a high current usage by student in education score also reported a high perceived importance in education score, as well as a high recommended involvement in education score.

RQ 7 - Are there gender differences in general Facebook usage scores and current usage by students in education scores?
Hypothesis 1a that females will have significantly higher general Facebook usage scores than males, was not supported, however, Hypothesis 1b that males will have significantly higher current usage by student in education scores than females was supported.  This finding indicates that although both genders use Facebook in general similarly, males are using Facebook for education more than females.

Survey is closed results will be posted shortly!

Here are the research questions and hypotheses that I will be testing!

 The research questions are:

1. Are online tools and OSNs, limited to only Facebook, perceived as important in the educational process of students at the higher education learning level?  A Perceived Importance in Education Score will be derived by totaling responses from Survey Questions 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16.

2.         How often do undergraduate and graduate students report using online social networks, within their educational studies?  A Current Usage by Student in Education Score will be derived by totaling responses from Survey Questions 5, 6, 7.

3.         To what extent do students of higher learning agree that the use of OSNs, such as Facebook, should be integrated into their higher education experience? A Recommended Institutional Involvement Score will be derived by totaling responses from Survey Questions 8, 13, 15.

4.     Is the Current Usage by Student score significantly correlated with the students Grade Point Average?

5.     Are the Current Usage by Student Score, the Perceived Importance in Education Score, and the Recommended Institutional Involvement Score significantly correlated?

Research Hypotheses

1. Ho: The Current Usage by Student Score will not be correlated with a student’s reported GPA.

H1: The Current Usage by Student Score will be significantly positively correlated with a student’s reported GPA.  It is predicted that students reporting a higher Current Usage Score will report higher GPAs.

2. Ho:  The Current Usage by Student Score, the Recommended Institutional Involvement Score, and the Perceived Importance in Education Score will not be correlated.

H1a:  The Current Usage by Student Score and the Perceived Importance in Education Score will be significantly positively correlated.  It is predicted that respondents reporting higher usage scores will also report higher perceived importance scores.

H1b:  The Current Usage by Student Score and the Recommended Involvement in Education Score will be significantly positively correlated.  It is predicted that respondents reporting higher usage scores will also report higher recommended involvement scores.

H1c:  The Recommended Involvement in Education Score and the Perceived Importance in Education Score will be significantly positively correlated.  It is predicted that respondents reporting higher perceived importance scores will also report higher recommended involvement scores.