Client Brief
The need to communicate and connect with other people through viable media has been indisputable in the current world. Contextually, the emergence of social networking sites is revolutionizing the world. This sites help in knowing new products in the market, enhancing relationships, passing vital information to masses, and instant chat provisions.
Facebook is leading in this context following its viability, appropriateness, novelty, design, and vastness in its application and registration of users. It is possible to meet numerous friends and personalities in facebook. Social networking is helpful in numerous contexts. It is feasible to contact and communicate to strangers without compromising one’s security (Lantos 2011).
Additionally, individual sites and profiles are secured such that none can interfere with other people’s details. Nonetheless, information can be passed out to everybody within the same network. This is helpful in the marketing arenas since limitless people can be contacted for the promotional deals. Additionally, facebook is free and open to all users provided one has registered (Stay 2011).
Social networks have helped in receiving up to date information globally. This provision never existed before; hence, it was difficult to attain important information regarding new products in the market. The adverts, which sometimes appear on the mass media provisions, occasionally provide bias information.
The emergence and use of social networks have helped numerous people to connect to the entire world while exchanging instant messages and viewpoints (Romm-Livermore & Setzekorn 2009).
The Research Proposal
Identifying the research objectives
This research intends to unveil various facts related to the application of social networks in the society with respect to facebook. Evidently, the technological developments have transformed business relationships, market trends, transaction mechanisms, and remission of information from one place to the next. Numerous consumers have established and embraced the use of social networks within the society.
In this context, the significance and facts behind social networking are evident (Nelson, Shaw & Strader 2009). Embracing this novel interaction and communicational technology has proved quite lucrative to numerous individuals.
From this study, there are numerous objectives set to help in unveiling the relevant and demanded information. This relates to the use and attitudes of consumers towards social networking sites like facebook and others in the similar category. Objectives are numerous and not limited to the following;
- To know the exact uses of social networks within the community.
- Knowing the attitudes of consumers towards social networking sites with regard to facebook.
- To understand the impacts of social networks in people’s lives and marketing.
- Unveiling the nature of products. This can be promoted using social networks.
- Understanding the use and penetration of facebook in the marketing arena.
It is evident that social networks and the networking phenomenon can influence the behaviour of consumers towards a given product in the market. Positive information in such sites is helpful in promoting given brands within the market. The application of facebook has spread worldwide since its inception in the recent past.
Identifying the information to be collected to meet the set objectives
To meet the mentioned objectives, some information will be required to make the research a success. The first one is how people perceive facebook as a social networking site and how they value it with respect to marketing. This information will help in understanding the entire provisions regarding this research. Importantly, the use of facebook has increased tremendously in the recent past.
It is crucial to recognize how one came to know about it and what benefits has he or she realized since her registration. Obviously, this will help in understanding how people perceive it (attitudes) and whether it serves their total interests.
Additionally, relevant attitudes of the public towards facebook form viable information, which should be collected and analyzed. This will provide an understanding on whether facebook is usable for marketing purposes and which other challenges might occur in the use of such social networking sites.
Additionally, information that will help in meeting the mentioned objectives incorporate how people perceive products marketed through facebook. Do they like the ads presented on the social networking sites. This is helpful in determining whether the use of facebook can aid the marketing desires. It is also important to know the frequency at which people visit the social networking sites.
This relates to how often they chat with each other, send social blogs, respond to social concerns, and value the information achieved from such sites. Knowing the social networking sites preferred by the concerned individuals and why is equally important in this aspect.
This phenomenon helps in knowing how competitive social sites operate and what makes others more preferable than others. This provision relates to the use of facebook as a social networking site of the current age. Knowing how facebook has penetrated into the minds of the public is helpful in determining other purposes the site can serve.
Data collection tools to address the selected research problem
The information required in this context can be attained proficiently using appropriate instruments aimed at collecting the required data. These are the data collection tools demanded in this research. One of them is the development of E-research approach where a specific site is designed in the internet to help in collecting the required information capable of handling the identified research problem (Pitler, 2007).
In this context, a site, which is easily accessible and formulated in an interactive manner, is used to probe the public to provide their opinions with regard to the research topic. The site should have links to where the required questions are situated such that respondents can easily access them and provide their answers. Appropriate E-forms/questionnaires is used in this context.
Respondents will fill or chose their appropriate answers for further analysis (Anandarajan 2010). The questions should be interactive enough to allow people to share their viewpoints with others. Additionally, some of the questions posted for data collection should be specific to the demanded information while others should be open enough to elicit varying opinions. This will help in understanding the situation extensively.
The need to know the uses and attitude of consumers towards the social networking sites with regard to facebook is a critical topic. People who frequently use facebook should be in a position to respond to the demanded questions such that their perceptions and utilization of the site can be unveiled.
The E-site tool used should be linked to the social networking sites such that those who visit such sites can easily access E-approach questions. In this context, using the facebook site can massively help (Brown, 2011). It is from this move that the demanded information concerning the research topic will be attainable.
The questions used in the site should be set in a probing manner and also in a form that the resultant answers can be easily analyzed. This is helpful in simplifying the research schedules in numerous contexts. Consequently, the data collected electronically are analyzed to unveil the findings and provide lucrative recommendations.
Another data collection tool helpful in this research is the interview guide. The guide contains open questions that will help in probing the concerned respondents to give viable give information regarding the use and attitudes towards facebook as a social networking site (Kelsey, 2010). Evidently, uses of social networking sites are numerous and the attitudes of people with regard to these sites are evident.
While designing the interview guide, it should act as a promoter to attainment of the desired information. The questions set in this design are slightly directive but intends to give in-depth information regarding the concerned research. Additionally, the design will not contain the entire list of information; nonetheless, an answer to a given question will lead to another question.
This will help in eliciting information on matters, which were unexpected. Additionally, varying answers will emerge hence giving the researchers options to choose. Since the research intends to unveil numerous aspects of facebook use and other characterizing attitudes, the collection tool is critical (Kurtz & Boone, 2011). Designing a prominent interview schedule will allow numerous respondents to commit to the research.
This will give viable information regarding the matter. It is crucial to unveil the concerned details regarding the use of social networking sites. Having firsthand information regarding the matter is vita. This data collection tool will translate the research objectives into researchable questions.
The design might assume a questionnaire form to ensure relevancy and consistency during data collection. The utilization of facebook as a social networking site is an international phenomenon with varying stipulations and applications (Tomlinson, 2010).
These tools should be ready for use in varied contexts. This aspect relates to the preparation of constructive questionnaires, which will be piloted for their viability in this research. Additionally, the matter relates to the preparation of the topic guides meant to provide directions regarding the matter.
Piloting the study helps in unveiling the feasibility of the research and any other probable challenges that might occur during the study (Wankel 2012). While designing the exact tools or instruments to be used in this research, various stipulations are evident and considerable.
The interviewer in this context will fill out the list of question regarding the research topic as answered by the respondent. Concurrently, the use of questionnaire is featuring in this context since respondents will be required to fill out a form containing the research questions. This will occur either electronically or manually depending on the nature and stage of the concerned research.
Outlining the processes, which devised and developed these tools
The development of these data collection tools has observed a critical outline meant to achieve viable research instruments with regard to this research. Firstly, there is determination and creation of the need for the concerned data. This process leads to the determination of preferable tools for data collection. If the objectives of the research have been determined, appropriate data collection tools are chosen.
This incorporated scheduled interview and E-research, which is executed online. The demanded data will be attained as stipulated earlier. Precisely, the type of information needed dictates the choice and construction of the data collection tool (Hawknis, Mothersbaugh & Mookerjee 2011).
It is imperative to determine the need for data collection. This will act as a motivator in this research. The next step in the outline is the preparation of a dummy table, which indicates the data to be collected. This process imitated the real data to be collected hence helpful in developing the exact data collection tools mentioned above.
Concurrently, another step in developing and devising these tools is the determination of the respondents’ level of knowledge and prowess. In this research, the respondents include those individuals who frequently use social networks in their operations. Determining who the respondents are in this context is crucial.
This process equally determines whether the preferred respondents have the desired exposure to the emergence and application of social networking sites with regard to facebook (Müller, Alt & Michelis 2011).
The level of expertise and understanding among the desired respondents are helpful in drafting the questions, choosing the right and appropriate language, and formulation suitable approach to the concerned respondents. Data gathering method is the next step in this outline. Decision on this provision determines the kind of tools to be used while collecting the data.
From this study, the collection tools identified incorporated the E-approach and structured interviews, which require initial determination of the data gathering method. Data collection methods relates to the aspects of communicational modes, instant interviews, and mailing of questionnaires (Carter 2011). Precisely, the choice of the data collection tool required depends on the nature of research and other characterizing factors.
Consequently, it is important to draft the instruments that will be required in the data collection and the entire study. This research will ensure that all the stipulated instruments conform to the demands of the study. This process entails the compilation of all items necessary in the collection and utilization of the concerned data. Next is the evaluation of the concerned data instruments for their viability in the research.
These steps help in developing exact appropriate tools for the data collection phenomenon. Evaluation can occur successfully through the consultation of experts in the social networking research. This will help in evaluating the viability of the data collection criteria chosen for this project (Treadaway & Smith, 2010). Next, the execution of pre-testing procedure for the identified instruments is critical.
This aims at unveiling the viability of the chosen instruments. Additionally, pre-testing allows for the identification of the weaknesses and strengths of the chosen data collection tools for an extensive revision to correct the looming loopholes and augment the realized strengths. This is equal to the piloting procedures executed to serve varying variables and showcase the feasibility of the concerned research.
Next in this outline is the specification of the relevant procedures and instructions required in probing the respondents and collecting the relevant information from them. This enhances the use, potentiality, and viability of the collection tools used in the entire research (Porterfield, Khare & Vahl 2011).
Designing the preferred format for the data collection is the last step in this outline. This should suit the objectives and desires of the concerned research. The data collection instruments should be scheduled in varied sections, which handle specific aspects of the research problem.
Reference List
Anandarajan, M 2010, E-Research collaboration, Springer, Berlin.
Brown, B 2011, How to use the Internet to advertise, promote, and market your business or website– with little or no money, Atlantic Pub. Group, Florida.
Carter, B 2011, The like economy: how businesses make money with Facebook, Que Press, Indianapolis.
Hawknis, D., Mothersbaugh, D. & Mookerjee, A 2011, Consumer behavior building marketing strategy. Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi.
Kelsey, T 2010, Social networking spaces: from Facebook to Twitter and everything in between : a step-by-step introduction to social networks for beginners and everyone else, Apress, New York.
Kurtz, D. & Boone, L 2011, Contemporary business, Wiley, Hoboken.
Lantos, G 2011, Consumer behavior in action: real-life applications for marketing managers, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk.
Müller, J., Alt, F., & Michelis, D 2011, Pervasive advertising, Springer. London.
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Tomlinson, T 2010, Beginning Drupal 7, Apress, New York.
Treadaway, C. & Smith, M 2010, Facebook Marketing an Hour a Day, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey.
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