Paper 1: Critical Analysis. Alcohol References on Undergraduate Males Facebook Profiles. Marwan Haddad. California State University-Monterey Bay

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1 Running Head: Critical Analysis 1 Paper 1: Critical Analysis Alcohol References on Undergraduate Males Facebook Profiles Marwan Haddad California State University-Monterey Bay IST 520 Learning Theories Professor Lockwood March 6, 2012

2 Running Head: Critical Analysis 2 Introduction This study is from The American Journal of the Men s Health which is a respectable journal in the field. Surprisingly, the article is not directly about men s health but about Social Networks Sites (SNSs). In this study the researchers study the impact of social media sites on the social norms. The assumption is that social network sites, Facebook in particular, have the power to impact the social norms of college students. The problem of the research is that Facebook is widely used by college students where numerous alcohol displays on Facebook may influence the social norms and cause an increase in male, college students alcohol use. The review of previous research that the author did was very convincing, comprehensive and closely related to the research problem. This is a very recent review which was published in March, The researcher used recent and authoritative papers as his references. For instance: in Egan and Moreno published article in 2010 previous studies have shown that adolescents share a large amount of persona l information, references to mental health and risk behaviors such as alcohol use, sexual behaviors, substance use and violence, also, Read, Wood, Davidoff, McLacken, &Campbell revealed in 2002 that the majority of male students believe that intoxication of their same-gender peers in socially acceptable, and perceived peer norms are a more significant predictor of alcohol use in males than females. Moreover, Knight in 2002 mentioned that the rate of male college students who display references to alcohol to be higher than this average. This is consistent with the higher prevalence of alcohol consumption seen in male students. (Egan & Moreno, 2011 p. 417) In the research the statement of the problem was clear and well stated from the very beginning. The writer stated that the alcohol use and abuse in college students has numerous consequences to health, safety and academic success. He also added that alcohol consumption

3 Running Head: Critical Analysis 3 increases the risk of participation in behaviors leading to injuries or death among college students. Most of the references he cited are up to date and less than five years old. All the references are consistent in their format as well as complete. It seems like some of these references are important authorities in the field. Also, all that references cited in the text appear in the reference page. Although in this descriptive study there was no objectives stated, the researcher defines the purpose of the study in a very clear statement in the introduction portion which helps the readers to focus his attention right from the very beginning. The writer ties the purpose of the study to the literature review at the beginning of the introduction, and throughout the paper. The purpose of this study was to perform a content analysis of male undergraduates Facebook profiles for references to alcohol use among male college students, including timing and content of alcohol references. (Egan & Moreno, 2011) The researcher hypothesized that prevalence of alcohol references and patterns which college students observed on Facebook would be similar to what they self-reported in the data of the survey available about male college students alcohol consumption. The second hypothesis is that beer or malt beverages would be more frequently displays in their profile than any other type of alcohol or hard liquor. Despite the clearly stated hypothesis, the rationale behind the first hypothesis is not convincing, but behind the second is. The reason for doing this study is obvious and is related to the well-being of a very important group in any population; that is the youth of the country. Besides, the study could be helpful in future studies about utilizing Social Networks Sites to create social change. Research Method The variables of research are very clear and are divided into two groups. The first group is the demographic, which are self-reported by the students and the second group is variables Facebook uses. The relationships between these variables are obvious in the

4 Running Head: Critical Analysis 4 hypotheses of the study. Although the relationship between dependent and independent variable are clear in the research, extraneous variables, which could affect the outcome of the study are not. The researcher believes that the change in social norms towards alcohol consumption and use among college students is only affected by comments and responses in the Facebook profiles of the students. The researcher unintentionally neglected important factors that may influence the test results such as marketing, social pressure, and media, which certainly have some influence on college students. Due to the nature of this descriptive study, the selection of the participants phase is vital and significant to the outcome of this study. The data collection is also an important factor. The researchers went through three stages of participants selection. The limitation on the selection of the participants is that the sample is too small and not representative of the population. The researchers selection was limited to viewable public Facebook profiles only. Since the majority of Facebook users have their profiles private, this proves that the sample was skewed in size. In spite of this limitation, the researcher explained in details the procedure he followed in selecting the subjects of the study. The research indicated that the participants of this study are similar to those of other studies mentioned in the literature review. After the participants were carefully selected the researcher went on to collect the data, which was the information gathered from the profiles of the selected participants. Finally, a statistical instrument called Stata 9.0, was employed to analyze the data and was suitable for the purposes of this study. Limitation The authors mentioned a number of limitations in this study. The first limitation is that the sample is limited to one university, and the possibility of generalization to other populations is unknown. Due to this limitation, the researchers suggested one of the implications of this study which is to further investigate other colleges as well. The

5 Running Head: Critical Analysis 5 researchers admit that the results of this study are limited to one state as stated by Nelson, Naimi, Brewer, & Wechsler in 2005 that it is known that alcohol consumption rates in college campuses differ by state in the United States, so it is likely that future searches may yield valuable differences (Egan & Moreno, 2011) Research Results After viewing the sample of the study which included 225 profiles out of 305 profiles originally selected, the researchers applied the statistical analysis to conclude the results of the study. The authors relate the results to the literature review. And results echo the hypothesis that the researchers started with. The discussion of the results is in agreement with that conclusion and the results of the study. The two variables, gender and age, were the two major factors discussed thoroughly. Discussion of Results The researcher discusses in details two areas of the results which are the study population Facebook Use and Alcohol references in the profiles. The researches emphasize the three divisions of the groups according to the school year. These findings are will referenced to the literature reviewed. According to Egan and Moreno earlier publication, they asserted that the majority of profiles were formed 2.6 years prior to evaluation, which was consistent with previous date (Egan &Moreno, 2011 p. 416) Conclusion The researchers conclude the paper with suggestions for the future implication. They suggested that in addition to current intervention and screening resources currently used on campus, Facebook could be used to screen individuals for alcohol abuse conditions. And they also further suggested to the future potential researcher in the field that Further research should examine using Facebook references as a way to predict high-risk alcohol

6 Running Head: Critical Analysis 6 behavior. Facebook may also be a useful tool to disseminate information about alcohol. (Egan & Moreno, 2011 p. 419) Over all speaking, this study is well written and can be easily understood. The researches were unbiased, nonsexist and relatively culture free. The only take on the research is the limited sample of the study and the way that sample was selected. In order to better refine the results of such a research various campus and several states should be included in the study.

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8 Running Head: Critical Analysis 8 Reference Egan, K.G., &Moreno, M.A.,(2011) Alcohol References on Undergraduate Males Facebook Profiles. American Journal of Men s Health. 5,