The researcher has provided the topic’s background, enabling the study to communicate the survey’s need. The literature review is far-fetched, making it possible for the scholar to find critical information regarding what other scholars have found in their studies on the same subject. According to Dougherty et al. (2018), no research can be done from nothing, which indicates that researchers must rely on some information to quality the current researcher’s arguments. The researcher has used data visualization tools, though the approach taken does not provide the much-needed depth of information regarding the research findings.
Visual design is critical to any research as it provides an avenue for presenting the study findings without many words. According to Kirk (2016), the design adopted by a researcher should communicate both the previous and current study’s findings. The present researcher has not incorporated any of the last data visuals because the scholar relied on the words of the past scientists. This affects the overall appeal of the visual communication, as there is no way the target audience can visually relate the current study’s findings and what has already been published by other scholars.
A researcher should be creative in using data visualization tools by implementing specific graphics representing their approach. However, the current researcher may have used images primarily from the Internet, depicting that the surveyor used someone else’s data or copied information from an already published article. The elements used in the visual design adopted for this study are pleasing and elaborate, making them appeal to the site and communicate the intended information.
The scholar has used great charts, which help to communicate the intended information. For instance, the researcher has used an area chart to represent the smartphone adoption age, owned smartphone, age at which social media use is acceptable, and social media interaction among children aged 11 years and younger. The area chart used has enabled the researcher to compare the four variables of the study, allowing the audience to understand how the data relate. The scholar has also used pie charts, which effectively compare two or more variables used in the study, thus giving their relative proportions.
The research obtains relevant data valid for the study, even though no computations were done to show such validity. The scholars indicate that data validity was mainly determined through exclusion and inclusion criteria. While some scholars use such approaches to validate their dataset, it is recommended to conduct specific analyses such as Cronbach alpha to determine how various data points relate. The researcher obtained the data from the Pew Research Center website, published on July 28, 2020. The website and the organization collecting the data show the dataset used was quality and relevant for the research.
The study began with background, which shows the need for the research, followed by the comprehensive literature review, providing enough information regarding what past scholars had done. The data section also provides a detailed approach to obtaining the dataset and key elements qualifying the use of the data. Moreover, the study indicates the results found from the analysis and explains how data visualization has been utilized. The researcher has used some graphical designs, which help in communicating the study findings. Data visualization tools enable a researcher to use few words to explain the nature of the study’s conclusions.
The key information which the researcher has revealed answers the critical questions such as who, what, when, where, why, and how about the study. For instance, the study explores how parents relate with children regarding smartphone use. The study also explores when children are supposed to be given access to their phones and get into social media, depending on whether they are at home or school. Further, the research answers why it critical to moderate access to smartphones. The study indicates that parents can limit children’s use of smartphones by not letting them access smartphones until they believe it is the right time.
The research addresses various aspects affecting social media use, such as different forms of abuse, violence, and bullying. The background information contains data regarding how the Internet has influenced these vices. The researcher conducted in-depth literature, which covered most aspects of teen social media, thus outlining what other scholars have researched and concluded on the topic. Data presentation has elaborated both facts and visualizations depending on the nature of the study. The approach makes the study effectively communicate the research’s findings to the targeted audience.
The researcher considered the need for data visualization by combining all the data output in the same image. Even though the scholar underpinned the importance of graphics, one visualization was used. It could be more effective to present a variety of separate graphics to represent each quantity. It can be challenging for the target audience to understand which data relates to which point of the pictures. Moreover, it is challenging to know whether the graphics represent one data point or the entire dataset.
Researchers must be creative regarding the data visualization used in presenting the study findings. The targeted audience may not understand the different aspects of the data as the researcher would. Based on this fact, the current researcher should have used other graphics to represent each variable separately. Using a data visualization tool is not effective as it does not give detailed information regarding the study findings. However, combining all the graphics into one large one can be a creative approach where such an image is fully elaborated in the text, and there is a need to use less space.
The researcher has provided pie charts and Venn diagrams within the single data visualization provided in the text. Even though there is no elaborate text regarding the data presented in these graphics, one can comprehend that 41% of males have experienced some form of social media violence while 71.3% of Internet users have experienced bullying from parents. The use of bright colors effectively enables focused visualization, thus separating different findings in the large image.
The researcher understood the importance of data validity in research. According to the author, there were trained administrators during data collection. The Urban Institute’s Institutional Review Board also helped to ensure the protection of information collected, ensuring it remained valid in the study. The researcher did not conduct further analysis to find the empirical validity of the dataset used. According to Vaske et al. (2017), the determination of Cronbach alpha is critical in determining if a dataset is reliable, and consequently, valid. However, the failure to use the computations does not invalidate the data, especially when professionalism is considered during the data-gathering phase.
The researcher began the study with a detailed background, which depicts the importance of the research. The author proceeded to the literature review, populated with crucial information and facts regarding past scholarly works on the topic. This provided an understanding of the state of the research and provided an investigation, which the study needed to fill. The data section of the survey was written by exploring different factors such as reliability, validity, and outliers. The researcher then presented and the study findings and provided visualizations of the data. In all these, there was a flow of information from one section to the other, making it easy for the readers to follow it.
The study answers critical information such as who, what, when, where, why, and how of teen social media. Specifically, the study explores teens and how they are affected by social media every time they use their smartphones or computers. The researcher mainly explored teens from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, indicating that their peers and their parents bully the children. Therefore, the study provides critical information, which includes information needed by the targeted audience.
References
Dougherty, M. V., Dougherty, M. V., & Oosting. (2018). Correcting the scholarly record for research integrity. Springer.
Kirk, A. (2016). Data visualization: A handbook for data driven design. Sage.
Vaske, J. J., Beaman, J., & Sponarski, C. C. (2017). Rethinking internal consistency in Cronbach’s alpha. Leisure Sciences, 39(2), 163-173.