Field Notes: Online versus offline interactions

Throughout our research we have used three different ways to gather data, these being surveys, interviews and observations. At this point in our research the most interesting to look at would probably be the survey. We posted our survey online in various places so there a lot of responses with varying answers as well. Interestingly, 100% of those surveyed said that they use social media, primarily through Instagram and Snapchat. Throughout the 104 people to take the survey the same amount of people who post everyday and people who post never is the same amount, 2 people. This is surprising, I would have thought that there would have been more people to never post just based off my own experience. Another interesting thing to look at is how people interact during the interviews where we ask them how social media affects them in social situations. A lot of the time the interviewees were very relaxed and didn’t have to think too much to answer the question. This shows me that the answers we are getting are genuine and show how the people really feel about social media.

Overall our research project is going very well and is on schedule. So far we have received over 100 survey responses which show a clear trend in the data. This should be a good start in showing us how social is used. Along with our survey, we are using a more in depth interview, we have completed six of these so far, with useful and more detailed information. These answers will go along with the survey but go deeper into how interactions change online versus offline. As a final way to collect data we have been making observations on how our own friends act online versus in person. This variation in data should be helpful when we draw conclusions for our research. There are both qualitative and quantitative data, as well as first hand and second hand evidence, which gives us data from different perspectives to have a more well rounded conclusion.