Context of My Research for the IR9.0 Colloquium

The purpose of this proposal is to describe the focus of my dissertation, which will be observing incoming traditional first-year students to Midwestern universities, whose hometowns are small towns and see how those first-year students use Facebook as a coping mechanism. The paper will begin with an in-depth discussion of my research interest and a thorough analysis of Facebook. Issues of the importance of Facebook will be addressed within the context of this paper with regards to the modern collegiate experience.

This dissertation will introduce the research questions that will be the crux of the next year of research and show how the researcher fit into the overall discussion of the study. Incoming first-year students will be defined as those students attending college for the first time. Small towns were established as towns with populations under 10,000. Large universities would be represented as those colleges and university whose total student population (undergraduate and graduate) was over 20,000. A coping mechanism will be defined as the unconscious or conscious way of dealing with stress that allows the user to connect with other users on the network, other people or other organizations within the real world environment.

As of right now, I have completed the final proposal, which has been accepted by my committee. The IRB paperwork has been filed and should be approved by next week. I am in the process of contacting two universities to receive an email address to access each universities’ Facebook site. The survey is designed and has been pretested successfully. I am just waiting to post it on SurveyMonkey. The skeleton of the interview protocol is designed.

I hope this colloquium will give me the opportunity to present my research in front of a group of my research peers and receive feedback that will enhance my dissertation. This presentation will force me to clarify my research and will allow me to precisely describe how my research fits into the greater context of Internet research. I expect to work with the best international researchers studying the Internet.