4. CARRYING OUT THE RESEARCH
4.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
De Beer (1999, 23) defines research methodology as “the research decisions taken within the framework of specific determinants unique to the research study. It involves the formulation of the problem to be investigated, selection of a suitable research design, choice and application of appropriate procedures for data collection, analysis of the obtained information through a written report”.
The hypotheses was constructed based upon prior works and theories. To testify the hypothesis a questionnaire that comprised of questions of the various objectives of the study was formulated. The study tries to explore and gain new insights, discover new ideas and increase knowledge about the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in acquiring social-ties i.e., a type of social capital amongst the Finnish adolescents of North Karelia region.
4.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The present study tries to explain, understand and analyze the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and face-to-face interaction in acquiring social-ties i.e., a type of social capital that effects individual’s well-being. The social relationships or networks affect the ways of living and behaving in society that follows to individual’s well-being.
The objectives of this study are to construct indicators for different component areas of social capital- the sociality component is the extent and intensity of associational links or activity, while the cognitive component consists of perceptions of support, norm of reciprocity, sharing and trust. Another aim is to find out whether the different components of social capital correlate with variables measuring ICT use or civic engagements. ICT use and skills are described by the variables frequency of use of technological gadgets like PC,
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laptop, tablet, smartphone and mobile phone; access to internet at different places; purposes of internet usage and time spent over internet.
Support from others in learning IT describes the intertwining of social capital and Information Technology. Involvement in municipal/local affairs measures how often the respondent has been in touch with local authorities in matters concerning a number of local residents. Also the youth clubs and different other activity clubs are considered in this regard, as they would also show the face-to-face interaction and social attachments of the individual.
Following news describes the number of media sources the individual has access to and her/his interest to follow it, this directly or indirectly has an effect to the individual’s social capital. This would also enable to understand how much the individual is socially attached or detached.
Apart from these there is another aim, to find out the difference in opinion regarding these objectives amongst the residents living in different areas (Ilomantsi, Kontiolahti, Nurmes and Outokumpu) located in different distances from Joensuu, the capital of North Karelia region.
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
Bless and Higson-Smith (1995) suggest that a research design has two meanings. They define a research design as, firstly, a planning of any scientific research from the first step to the last step. This process can be described as research management or planning. Secondly, it is defined as a specification of the most adequate operations to be performed in order to test specific hypothesis under given conditions. Grinnell (1993) identifies three types of research designs: explanatory design, exploratory design and descriptive design.
The present study uses the principal ways of conducting an exploratory study that aims to build a foundation of general ideas and tentative theories, which is further explored on self-completed questionnaires to achieve the objectives of this study. Information regarding the questionnaire is discussed in section 4.5.
4.3.1 EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
Burns and Grove (1993) define exploratory research as research that are carried to gain new insights, discover new ideas and increase knowledge of a phenomenon.
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Exploratory research is the initial research that forms a hypothetical or theoretical idea. This is where a researcher has an idea or has observed something and seeks to understand more about it. An exploratory research project is an attempt to lay the groundwork that will lead to future studies, or to determine if what is being observed might be explained by a currently existing theory. Most often, exploratory research lays the initial groundwork for future research.
In this study, the exploratory method has been selected as the research seeks to explore and gain new insights, discover new ideas and increase knowledge about the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in acquiring social-ties i.e., a type of social capital amongst the Finnish high-school adolescents of the sparsely populated areas of North Karelia region. Ilomantsi, Kontiolahti, Nurmes and Outokumpu are distant and small regions with less scope for better academic and career opportunities. Regions and distance are important factors in making different choices. In such scenario, it is an endeavor to find out how the ICT is used, and has affected the adolescents of this four regions to gain social ties.
4.4 POPULATION AND SAMPLE 4.4.1 POPULATION
The population is the entire set of individuals having some common characteristics as defined by the sampling criteria established for the study (Burns & Grove 1993; Polit &
Hungler 1999). In this study, the population of informants from whom a sample was selected to participate were the high-school young Finnish adolescents between ages 16-19 of outside the regional capital city of Joensuu of the North Karelia (a region of Finland). The population studied where in areas that are sparsely populated compared to the region’s capital Joensuu and have less scope for carrying out future endeavors like higher academic qualifications or jobs for the young adolescents, as most of the four places do not have higher academic educational institutes like universities or colleges nor have job opportunities. For this reason, the high-school students have to move out of the place for which they need to travel to nearby cities or places that have better career opportunities, for which long distances between towns and people also have to be managed.
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The sample is a subset of the population selected to participate in a research study from whom generalizations can be made about the whole number. The sample is a representative proportion of the study population i.e., commonly referred to as the “target population or accessible population” (Burns & Grove 1993; Polit & Hungler 1999).
According to Bless and Higson-Smith, sampling is a process of systematically selecting sample for inclusion in a research project from which the actual information is drawn. In this study by using random cluster sampling method, the sample was selected. The sample consists of young Finnish adolescents between ages 16-19 of the four high-schools of Kontiolahti, Nurmes, Ilomantsi and Outokumpu out of the thirteen municipalities of North Karelia region of Finland. The sample size is 255 that makes the total number of respondents (N).
4.5 DATA COLLECTION
Questionnaire was chosen as data collection instrument for conducting the survey. A questionnaire is a printed self-report form designed to elicit information that can be obtained through the written responses of the subjects. The information obtained through a questionnaire is similar to that obtained by an interview, but the questions tend to have less depth (Burns & Grove 1993).
The questionnaire (Appendix-I) which was used for quantitative data-collection instrument, firstly was in Finnish language as the target group of respondents were Finns. The questionnaire was divided into four sections depending upon the research objectives:
The demographic and social information section that had questions regarding age, gender, year of study, place of dwelling, school, living with family.
The multiple answer choice questions were upon – i.) use of ICT: technological gadgets, purpose of internet usage, access to internet at different places, internet use per day, member of online Social Networking Sites (SNS); ii.) social-ties outside internet like association with community activity centers, youth clubs or hobby groups.
There were ten general statements based upon the objectives that were answered using the Likert Scale (Appendix-I).
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There were three open-ended questions regarding respondents’ view on their spending of leisure time, where did their close and best relationships grow, and expectancies from relationships. Their answers give a strong base to the study as both the theory and empirical results can be well linked. Relationships or social-ties are the social capital that is discussed in this study throughout.
The questionnaire had instructions for how to answer the questions. Respondents did not find difficulty in answering the questions. The researcher’s topic of research and contact details were also provided in the questionnaire for the respondents.
Before sending the questionnaires to the schools, permission was required from the municipalities of the school areas and after their permission further sanction was required from the school authorities. This was a lengthy procedure that was accomplished all for the supervisors Prof. Laura Assmuth and Dr. Päivi Armila, who took care of all the bureaucratic issues that was to be completed before the questionnaires were sent. Permission from head of four out of chosen seven schools was achieved. After the reply of the consent letter, questionnaires were mailed by post to the respective high school head-mistress/master, who then handed them to the respondents. Filled up questionnaires were mailed back to the researcher. There was also a keen interest to work upon the students of Pohjois- Karjalan ammattiopisto, which is the vocational school of the North-Karelia region. This is one of the future objectives, to study the difference of opinion between high-school students and the vocational school students.
Sincere gratitude goes for the head-mistress/masters and the teachers of the four schools who distributed the questionnaires amongst the students on behalf of the researcher. The students comprising the respondent’s group gave their responses for which this study was possible, words are insufficient to thank them for giving their views. The students’ responses on the open-ended question also gave some interesting insights about the research topic that was not previously thought by the researcher before conducting the survey. The results are discussed in the next chapter (chapter-5).
4.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The researcher had a moral obligation to strictly consider the rights of the informants who were expected to provide this knowledge (Streubert & Carpenter 1999). Ethical measures are an important aspect of the study as this relates to moral standards that the researcher should consider in all stages of research design in any type of research method.
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The researcher obtained permission to conduct the study from the relevant authorities and respected the informants’ rights to confidentiality, anonymity and privacy and to voluntary participation.
The request for permission or consent to conduct the study was send to the municipalities and head of the high schools of Ilomantsi, Kontiolahti, Nurmes and Outokumpu (see Appendix- II).
Confidentiality and anonymity was guaranteed by ensuring that data obtained were used in such a way that no one other than the researcher knows the source (LoBiondo-Wood &
Haber 2002). In this study no names were attached to the questionnaires for obtaining information.
Privacy refers to the right that all information collected in the course of the study will be kept in strictest confidence (Polit & Hungler 1999). Privacy means that individuals can think and behave independently without any interference from outside. In this study, the respondents were given full freedom in answering the questions in their own way.
The respondents’ participation to the survey was voluntary. No respondent was forced to fill up the questionnaire against her or his will.
The next chapter presents the findings from the collected data in the four high school adolescents of Ilomantsi, Kontiolahti, Outokumpu and Nurmes. It gives an account of the analysis and interpretation of the collected field data. According to De Vos (1998, 203), data analysis entails that the analyst break down data into constituent parts to obtain answers to research questions and to test hypotheses.
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5.EMPIRICAL FINDINGS
The methodology described in previous chapter provides the baseline for data gathering.
Data analysis involves examining information using statistical operations in ways that reveal the relationships, patterns and trends that exist among variables. It also states the reliability of the answers that are obtained. This chapter gives the description of the sample, results, discussion, presentation and interpretations of the results.
The purpose of interpreting the data is to reduce it to an intelligible and interpretable form so that the relations of research problems can be studied, tested and conclusions can be drawn.
On the other hand, the researcher interprets the result of the analysis, as she/he wants to study their meaning and implications (De Vos, 1998:203).
As stated in the first and fourth chapters, the aim of the study is to find out the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in acquiring social-ties, a form of Social Capital amongst the Finnish adolescents of the North Karelia region high-schools. This is an exploratory research wherein the data is collected through questionnaires. A letter of approval to conduct the study was posted to the schools prior to the questionnaires, which were delivered through post to the Head-Mistress/Master of the schools who handed it to the target groups. The questionnaires were filled in the schools under the supervision of the school teachers. A cover letter explaining the research was attached with each questionnaire envelope, hence there was not much difficulty faced in answering the questionnaire. This was also reported by the Head-Mistress/Master of the four schools.
The Finnish high-school adolescents of the North Karelia region is the population. Seven schools in this region were selected by random sampling method, out of which only four schools gave positive response. The sample of the study is the students of the four high schools of North Karelia region (Ilomantsi, Kontiolahti, Nurmes and Outokumpu) as discussed in chapter-3. The total student strength in all the four schools was 270, out of which 15 questionnaires were not returned. Hence, the total number of respondents were 255 (N).
The respondents were both females and males of the high schools of the four different places. They fall in between ages group 16 to 19 years, which fulfilled the criteria of young adolescent group for the research topic. The respondents filled up most sections of the questionnaire leaving a few for which we had some missing inputs. The questionnaire had
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three different sections of answering the questions: close-ended questions that had options to be marked, questions using the Likert scale to answer and some open-ended questions wherein the respondent could express herself/himself.
As has been discussed before, distance do matter respondents’ choices, decisions, ways of living and thinking. The four places are located in different distances from the capital city Joensuu of North Karelia region, and have different shortcomings and advantages of their own as discussed in chapter-3. All this resulted in difference of opinion and choices of the same questionnaire by the respondents of the four high-school students of different locations.
Thus keeping the distance variable constant (one of the main objectives of the study), few general statements were analyzed using the cross-tabs in SPSS that are related to the other objectives of the study. The data was collected in April-June 2015.
The following sections consist of the results divided into three broad categories as per the questionnaire, reported by means of statistics. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 was used to analyze the data. Total number of respondents being 255 was the N-value. Frequencies, means, percentages were used to analyze the data. Cross-tabs were used for comparing data. Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used to get the p-value that was required to testify the statistical difference between real and expected count of frequencies to reach some generalization or to calculate how systematic the difference was (if there was any).
5.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This section provides information regarding the age, year or grade of study, number of students from each of the four schools and number of females and males amongst the respondents. It also gives information regarding respondents’ stay with their families.
- 44 - Figure 1: Age
Figure-1 indicates the age of the target group upon whom the study was conducted. Usually high school studies of the young ones in Finland start when the students are 16 years of age.
As per the research concerned, adolescent age group from 16 to 19 years of age was studied.
51 percent of the respondents are 17 years old, making it the majority of the respondents.
One percent of the population comprises the missing data as they did not answer to this question.
Age is a crucial factor in an individual’s development. Different ages of life witness different levels of maturity and experiences. According to WHO, adolescence period occurs after childhood and before adulthood, between ages 10 to 19. This period is one of the critical transitions in life that undergoes physiological, social, emotional and cognitive changes.
Besides physical and sexual maturation, it also prepares for adulthood during which the individual grows a sense of social and economic independence, development of identity and self-concept (Anuradha 2014), skills required to carry out adult relationships and roles.
During this phase of life individuals, grow the capability of abstract reasoning. This period of growth also undergoes risk during which social circumstances put strong influences.
83
130 37
3 2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
16 17 18 19 Missing
NO.OF RESPONDENTS
AGE
- 45 - Figure 2: Gender
Figure-2 shows the proportion of gender of the respondents. From the figure, it is clear that there is imbalance between female and male respondents. A bit more than half (55 percent) of the total respondents are females. Whereas the males are 44 percent. 1 percent of the population did not mention their gender. This is one example where the young Finnish girls go for upper-secondary level schooling more in numbers than the Finnish boys do.
According to Statistics Finland, 103,900 students attended upper secondary general school education leading to a qualification in 2014. 57 percent of the students in upper secondary general school education were females (Statistics Finland, 2015).
There was not much difference in opinion to the questions asked in the questionnaire between the young Finnish high school girls and boys, i.e., gender was not a meaningful background variable regarding the comparison of the answers of the questionnaire, except, the difference in numbers of them. Girls were the majority with a lead of thirty more than the boys were.
141 111
3
FEMALE MALE MISSING
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
GENDER
NO. OF RESPONDENTS
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Figure 3: Live with Family
Figure-3 illustrates whether the respondents live with their respective families. A majority of 96 percent of the respondents have stated that they live with their families, whereas only 4 percent of the respondents stay away from their families. Family is seen as the central structuring element of the society and is the social structure in which majority of people live.
It is the very first institution of socialization that provides the bonding (Putnam 2000) social capital found between individuals in tightly knit, emotionally close relationships. Coleman (1990) highlighted the role of family, kinship networks and religious institutions in the
It is the very first institution of socialization that provides the bonding (Putnam 2000) social capital found between individuals in tightly knit, emotionally close relationships. Coleman (1990) highlighted the role of family, kinship networks and religious institutions in the