This paper outlines the research design for a study examining the extent to which computer-mediated communications — particularly social media networks — yield relationship satisfaction among young adults aged 20 to 35. The paper details participant selection procedures, sampling strategy, questionnaire administration logistics, and ethical considerations such as confidentiality and voluntary participation. Simple random sampling and selective workstation sampling are employed to minimize bias. The study targets university settings and relies on a brief structured questionnaire. Key methodological decisions, including their rationale and limitations, are discussed with reference to Babbie (2010), Cozby and Bates (2012), and Landoll (2005).
This study seeks to investigate the extent to which computer-mediated communications, particularly social media networks, yield relationship satisfaction for the involved parties, and to explore the relationship between relationship satisfaction and specific demographic variables. The study targets young people between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. Data will be collected using a questionnaire survey, with questions addressing personal background as well as variables for assessing relationship satisfaction, rated on a scale ranging from "a very large extent" to "no opinion."
Due to limitations of cost and time, data will only be collected within the university compound. One hundred questionnaires will be administered at ten central workstations within the university. Selective sampling will be used to select the ten workstations in order to minimize the risk of repetitive data. Landoll (2005) notes that selective sampling makes it possible "to identify vulnerabilities that may have been overlooked through other sampling techniques" (p. 122). The points of data collection within each of the ten workstations will be changed several times during the process to minimize the risk of bias. Data will be collected between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm over a span of two days — at the first five workstations on the first day and the remaining five workstations on the following day.
Participants will be selected using the simple random sampling technique and will be required to complete the questionnaire and return it to the interviewer. The random sampling technique is deemed appropriate for this study because it typically results in an unbiased test sample, whose results could provide the researcher with a valid basis for predicting the likely trend in relationship development (Babbie, 2010). The researcher acknowledges that carry-home questionnaires would be more appropriate and would allow participants ample time to reflect and provide more accurate responses. However, the procedural modalities involved in the data collection process — and the fact that no list of respondents will be compiled — make this approach impractical. The questionnaire will nonetheless be designed with respondent convenience in mind and should take no more than ten minutes to complete.
"Student assistants, data collection roles, and procedures"
"Anonymity, voluntary participation, and data protection"
"Cited sources supporting methodological decisions"
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