Studying Social Networking in Higher Education

Location

3033

Format Type

Paper

Format Type

Paper

Start Date

January 2016

End Date

January 2016

Abstract

Social networking has been extensively researched in business and social sciences (Albertini, 2009; Balkundi & Kilduff, 2006; Borgatti, Mehra, Brass, & Labianca, 2009; Clutterbuck, 2012; Fong-Batkin, 2011; Granovetter, 1973, 1982), but it has yet to be widely studied in public higher education administration. This grounded theory study explored: 1) how to approach the study of social networking in higher education; 2) the barriers to researching social networking in higher education; 3) the creation of an instrument for the study of social networking and; 4) how administrators and staff in higher education view and use social networking. Qualitative data were collected from 25 participants via interviews and a focus group. The data were analyzed by utilizing open and selective coding in NVivo. Analysis of the data provided two notable findings to guide future research on social networking in higher education: the development of a questionnaire and the creation of a conceptual framework. Participants also expressed concern about privacy issues of their social network members and we offer suggestions on ways to address those concerns.

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Studying Social Networking in Higher Education

3033

Social networking has been extensively researched in business and social sciences (Albertini, 2009; Balkundi & Kilduff, 2006; Borgatti, Mehra, Brass, & Labianca, 2009; Clutterbuck, 2012; Fong-Batkin, 2011; Granovetter, 1973, 1982), but it has yet to be widely studied in public higher education administration. This grounded theory study explored: 1) how to approach the study of social networking in higher education; 2) the barriers to researching social networking in higher education; 3) the creation of an instrument for the study of social networking and; 4) how administrators and staff in higher education view and use social networking. Qualitative data were collected from 25 participants via interviews and a focus group. The data were analyzed by utilizing open and selective coding in NVivo. Analysis of the data provided two notable findings to guide future research on social networking in higher education: the development of a questionnaire and the creation of a conceptual framework. Participants also expressed concern about privacy issues of their social network members and we offer suggestions on ways to address those concerns.