Journal of Interpersonal, Intercultural, and Mass Communication
Hyper-linked above is a scholarly article concerning a study done on college age students about the implications and effects of social networking sites (such as Facebook and Twitter) on their daily lives. Specifically, the study looks at the effect on academic performance and communication skills.
I determined that the article is scholarly by reviewing the content an the layout of the piece. The layout of the article is easy to read and scientifically laid out. It begins with an abstract about the content of the study it is about to discuss, and it ends with a conclusion of the results. By examining the content of the article, you can tel it is scholarly by noting that it is objective in its claims. The article states an objective for a study by asking several thought provoking research questions, then goes on to discuss the method for carrying out the study, and finally ends by summing up the results in a concise and objective manner. A less scholarly article would have been polluted by the personal opinion of the author. By remaining objective, the article is rhetorically academic.
The article begins by designing an experiment to shed light on the impact of social networkiong sites on the daily lives of college age students. This was done by taking a survey of a large sample of college age students at a university and polling their opinion of the effect of social networking on their lives. Questions included things such as whether or not social networking has an effect on academic performance or communication skills. Once the set up is complete, the article displays and summarizes the results of the test.
The study concluded that there were correlations between the usage rates of social networking sites and young person factors such as academic performance, communication skills, and ability to search for a date.
Overall, this article rhetorically provides a detailed analysis of the effects of social networking and allows the reader to understand more thoroughly the trends that are occurring due to increased social networking use among young people.
Your analysis is quite thorough. I also like that the authors of the article have identified their findings as "correlations." There is definitely a difference between "correlation" and "causation." Correlation indicates that a relationship exists between these factors (although it's not entirely clear what kind of relationship) while causation indicates that one factor actually causes the other.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you focused on the objectivity of the author. That is a good point to think about when evaluating whether or not an article is scholarly. I also like your topic, especially since it is so relevant to current issues of college students.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. It was a very thorough analysis of your source and your research topic itself was interesting. I'm sure it will be an interesting topic to continue research on and I myself would like to read the finish product to see what experts have to say about the correlation between all the technological use and our generation's performance at certain levels.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say good job on a thorough analysis of your source. I have a question however. When you mentioned that the study said technology impacts student's ability to search for a date, what does that mean?
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