module 6 and feedback
Module 12 – Final Research Report: UPLOAD PAPER HERE!
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Running Head: CYBER SECURITY LITERATURE REVIEW 1
CYBER SECURITY LITERATURE REVIEW 5
Cyber Security Literature Review
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Introduction
Cyber security has been defined as the process through which there should be the protection of global connected electronic data and equipment against any criminal and unauthorized personnel from assessing the information. This is because there has been a lot of technology which when one uses he can be in a position to access all the information in the organization and they can manipulate the organization in the way they want. After all, they already have much information regarding the organization. Cyber security in recent times has been an issue and it has caused so many impacts to those who are using online platforms. This is because in recent times there has been a lot of technological advancement and this has been applied in so many sectors of the economy. To some extent, it has brought positive impacts and to another extent, there are negative impacts that have been caused by technological advancement for instance cyber threats and cybercrimes, (Gunduz, 2020)
Cyber security requires very integrated measures which are to make sure that those third-party people do not have a hand in assessing information. It is therefore supposed to be an integrated process so that people can make sure that they are curbing any security and cybercrimes. This is because only one single behavior cannot make things secure but instead, multiple behaviors can be integrated and for that purpose as well. This is because cyber security is influenced by many factors and these factors play a very critical role in influencing the user on what he is supposed to put into consideration so that everything can be sorted out, (Li, et al, 2019).
Many things can be done to ensure that there are no cyber threats in the organization for instance having a very strong password which makes seeing any information for the organization to be hard because of this. With a strong password at least one is very sure that every information that they have stored on the internet cannot be accessed unless a person has access to the password. Passwords must be given to only one person who will be held accountable in case there is anything bad that might happen and the hackers may get their way to the company’s organization whereby they can manipulate the information which they have, (Sun, et al, 2018).
It is vital if the organizations are going to install anti-virus programs and firewalls. This is to make sure that confidential information has been improved. However, even though these can help in ensuring data confidentiality there are as well some threats that come along with the process. Many organizations, therefore, have come up with ways which they are going to improve on the infrastructure so that there will be the protection of information which is both in computers and other systems and this to a great extent it has improved network security, (Srinivas, et al, 2019)
Many threats come along with the issue of cyber security. This is because many people lack expertise which they can use to enhance the security and technical defense of the organizations. This is because security issues are supposed to be looked at by experts and many companies do not have resources which they can employ them. There are as well many policies that have been put in place but many people do not follow what they state and this to a greater extent plays a role in having so many cybercrimes and cyber threats, (Taylor, et al, 2020).
Feedback
When I started this course on cyber seccurity I had a high expectations of what I am going to learn and the contributions I would make to the world after school to solve cyber-attacks. As the course is progressing am so much pleased since I feel my expectations are being fulfilled. The chapters in each module are clearly organized in a simple language that can be easily understood. The learning starts from the simple concepts to the complex ones enabling an individual to relate what has been learned that is from the known to the unknown. I am having a lot of fun learning since I love challenges and when I solve a problem I feel fulfilled. The professor is friendly and makes learning fun. I am looking forward to enjoying more classes and learning new things as I work towards my dreams.
References
Gunduz, M. Z., & Das, R. (2020). Cyber-security on smart grid: Threats and potential solutions. Computer networks, 169, 107094.
Li, L., He, W., Xu, L., Ash, I., Anwar, M., & Yuan, X. (2019). Investigating the impact of cybersecurity policy awareness on employees’ cybersecurity behavior. International Journal of Information Management, 45, 13-24.
Sun, C. C., Hahn, A., & Liu, C. C. (2018). Cyber security of a power grid: State-of-the-art. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 99, 45-56.
Srinivas, J., Das, A. K., & Kumar, N. (2019). Government regulations in cyber security: Framework, standards and recommendations. Future Generation Computer Systems, 92, 178-188.
Taylor, P. J., Dargahi, T., Dehghantanha, A., Parizi, R. M., & Choo, K. K. R. (2020). A systematic literature review of blockchain cyber security. Digital Communications and Networks, 6(2), 147-156.
Running Head: DATA COLLECTION DISCUSSION FORUM 2
DATA COLLECTION DISCUSSION FORUM 2
Name
Course
Tutor
Institution
Date
The Most Effective Data Collection Method
The most effective method to be used in the proposed research is the electronic questionnaires. This is one of the most effective, fast and easy to use for the respondents. The questions to be answered by the respondent are usually provided in the software system which need to be answered. At the moment, there are no necessary processes required because one can just email the invitation which contain the research surveys to be carried out (Abgaz et al., 2018).
Some of the advantages that come with electronic questionnaires include: they are convenient in that the respondent can answer the questionnaire at their convenient time and place. As a result of this, it is easy to many comprehensive participants and also gain access to a wide group of individuals. This cannot be met with other channels that require the physical presence of the respondent. Other advantages include the automatic processing of answers provided by respondents; can reach a global population thus not limited to the geographical location; token can be enclosed in the questionnaires to motivate respondents into answering the questions provided (Giordano et al., 2018).
Responding to Lexi
It is true that the most commonly used method of data collection are questionnaires. This is due to the fact that they ensure privacy and the electronically based questionnaires can be accessed at one’s convenience. The questionnaires involve a wide range of community members. More candidates are able to gain access of what the researcher is trying to do.
Most of the questionnaires submitted on the social media platforms are assumed to be spasm and thus the response provided does not represent the targeted population for the research. Making use of the electronic questionnaires on the millennials is the best tool for the best response and quality data. Most of the millennials will be willing to participate in most of the activities online. Focusing on a socialite makes the whole electronic questionnaire enjoyable. Engaging in research with millennials is enjoyable and educative especially on the millennial generation.
Responding to Tom
Questionnaires is one of the equipment that is used by most of the researchers. The research conducted by Tom according to my own point of view was the best. The electrically based questionnaires are of great significance when compared with the physical paper questionnaires (Mazefsky et al., 2018). More time will be required to answer and sometimes bound to biasness and prejudice. The mail questionnaires are traditional methods of collecting data which do not work at the moment. There is need for more advanced ways of data collection to avoid unnecessary inconveniences which will make it difficult to have accurate data. It is important for researchers to always work toward ensuring quality in the data collected.
References
Abgaz, Y., Dorn, A., Piringer, B., Wandl-Vogt, E., & Way, A. (2018). Semantic modelling and publishing of traditional data collection questionnaires and answers. Information, 9(12), 297. Retrieved from
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/9/12/297
Giordano, C., Piras, S., Boschini, M., & Falasconi, L. (2018). Are questionnaires a reliable method to measure food waste? A pilot study on Italian households. British Food Journal. Retrieved from
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BFJ-02-2018-0081/full/www.eu-fusions.org%2Findex.php%2Fdownload%3Fdownload%3D7%3Areport-on-review-of-food-waste-reporting-methodology-and-practice&usg=AOvVaw3GA4NkRTtjxpbXY7vhVQ3
Mazefsky, C. A., Day, T. N., Siegel, M., White, S. W., Yu, L., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2018). Development of the emotion dysregulation inventory: A PROMIS® ing method for creating sensitive and unbiased questionnaires for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(11), 3736-3746.
Running
head; CYBERSECURITY
1
CYBERSECURITY 6
Cybersecurity
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Cybersecurity
Article 1
Retrieved From:
Humayun, M., Niazi, M., Jhanjhi, N. et al. Cyber Security Threats and Vulnerabilities: A Systematic Mapping Study. Arab J Sci Eng 45, 3171–3189 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04319-2
The research article primary objective is to identify and analyze the common cybersecurity vulnerabilities and after learning the flaws is where prevention and mitigation strategies are implemented. The researcher was targeting to compare different research conducted on the cyber crimes that occurs and compare their mitigation and prevention strategies and what emerged best is malware, denial-of-service attack and phishing. The research question of focus is ‘what are the possible vulnerabilities that affect cyber applications’? The method used to collect the data is systematic mapping that played role in collecting and analyzing secondary information. The data was analyzed through statistical approach. According to the findings and conclusion the confidence level is 0.95.
Article 2
Retrieved From:
Salloum S.A., Alshurideh M., Elnagar A., Shaalan K. (2020) Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques for Cybersecurity: A Review. In: Hassanien AE., Azar A., Gaber T., Oliva D., Tolba F. (eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision (AICV2020). AICV 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1153. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44289-7_5
The research focuses on understanding the performance of machine learning in offering cybersecurity to systems, networks and databases. The variables that are there in the research is the comparison between deep learning and machine learning. The research question targeted ‘what are the cyber threats targeting the network systems identified by deep learning and machine learning’? Observation is the data collection technique o check how the intrusion occurs. The data is analyzed statistically after collecting the observed and recorded data to understand the level of intrusion in place to develop strategies to prevent and mitigate attacks. The confidence limit for the research based on the findings and conclusion is 0.90.
Article 3
Retrieved From: Zhuang, P., Zamir, T., & Liang, H. (2021). Blockchain for
Cybersecurity
in Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Survey. IEEE Transactions On Industrial Informatics, 17(1), 3-19.
https://doi.org/10.1109/tii.2020.2998479
The article is about provision of helpful about the benefits of blockchain technology as an approach to solve cybersecurity challenges in future. The variable of the study is the difference between the cybersecurity of smart grid without blockchain ledger technology and the one that implemented the blockchain to ascertain the effectiveness of blockchain against cyber threats. The research question for the study is ‘what is the effectiveness of blockchain technology in smart grid against cyber threats’? Observation of a smart grid sample observing the changes provides the data that is later analyzed statistically. A confidence level of 0.85 is achieved in the study based on the findings. The article shows the need and guidance for future research efforts adding a concept to the research question.
Article 4
Retrieved From: Gunduz, M., & Das, R. (2020). Cyber-security on smart grid: Threats and potential solutions. Computer Networks, 169, 107094.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2019.107094
The research article is about bringing deep understanding about the cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The research involves the approach where the potential threats in the Internet of Things is smart grid are identified. The research questions being tested ‘What are the vulnerabilities of the IoT smart grid and the potential cyber threats’? The method used in this research is the comprehensive survey that is supported by the wide view of the previous work. The data is then analyzed using the statistical approach. The findings in the data indicated a need for further research since there are vulnerabilities present and more analysis should be conducted to ascertain each specific threat and their solution. The confidence limit for the research is 0.88.
Article 5
Retrieved From: Annarelli, A., Nonino, F., & Palombi, G. (2020). Understanding the management of cyber resilient systems. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 149, 106829.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2020.106829
The research focuses on understanding the weaknesses organizations systems and the outcome of implementing cyber resilient systems as a way to offer cybersecurity. The variable in question in the research is about introducing s cyber resilient system in comparison to the common systems. The research study is quantitative where samples were collected from six companies and the data is collected through focus groups and survey methods. The hypothesis for the study is ‘what is the impact of implementing the cyber resilient system as a cybersecurity mechanism’? The statistical method is employed in analyzing the collected data to draw conclusions. The findings and conclusion has indicated about 0.85 confidences. Managerial actions are expected to improve in future.
Article 6
Retrieved From:
Kabir, U., Ezekekwu, E., Bhuyan, S., Mahmood, A., & Dobalian, A. (2020). Trends and best practices in health care cybersecurity insurance policy. Journal Of Healthcare Risk Management, 40(2), 10-14.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jhrm.21414
The article discusses about major cyber attacks that target healthcare institutions based on the importance of the data they handle. The variables are the introduction of the cybersecurity insurance in healthcare and the impact it has on the challenges offered by cyber threats. The research question’ what impact does cybersecurity insurance have on healthcare organization’? The statistical method is used in analyzing data that is collected through survey method. The findings and conclusion of the study has shown 0.88 confidences. The article has provided direction about expected future research that is expected to empower cybersecurity in the healthcare sector making sure privacy and confidentiality is protected.
Bibliography
Annarelli, A., Nonino, F., & Palombi, G. (2020). Understanding the management of cyber resilient systems. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 149, 106829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2020.106829
Gunduz, M., & Das, R. (2020). Cyber-security on smart grid: Threats and potential solutions. Computer Networks, 169, 107094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2019.107094
Humayun, M., Niazi, M., Jhanjhi, N. et al. Cyber Security Threats and Vulnerabilities: A Systematic Mapping Study. Arab J Sci Eng 45, 3171–3189 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-019-04319-2
Kabir, U., Ezekekwu, E., Bhuyan, S., Mahmood, A., & Dobalian, A. (2020). Trends and best practices in health care cybersecurity insurance policy. Journal Of Healthcare Risk Management, 40(2), 10-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhrm.21414
Salloum S.A., Alshurideh M., Elnagar A., Shaalan K. (2020) Machine Learning and Deep Learning Techniques for Cybersecurity: A Review. In: Hassanien AE., Azar A., Gaber T., Oliva D., Tolba F. (eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision (AICV2020). AICV 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1153. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44289-7_5
Zhuang, P., Zamir, T., & Liang, H. (2021). Blockchain for Cybersecurity in Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Survey. IEEE Transactions On Industrial Informatics, 17(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1109/tii.2020.2998479
Running head; CYBERSECURITY
1
Cybersecurity
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Running head; CYBERSECURITY 1
Cybersecurity
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Running Head: CYBER-SECURITY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR
1
CYBER-SECURITY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR 7
Topic
Institution Affiliation
Student Name
Date
Cyber-security in the Energy Sector
Introduction
The introduction section of my research paper will be divided into two main areas: research problem Identification and literature review on research phenomenon.
Research problem identification
The section will identify the phenomenon under study and why it a problem.
Research Problem Identification
As technology advances and so does cyber-crime. As of the moment most industries rely on information technology to offer good services and in a fast manner. The fact that most industries rely on information technology systems in their daily operations implies that the industries are at risk of cyber-attacks (Karchefsky & Rao, 2017). Cyber-criminals have picked on that an attack on infrastructure that provides social amenities is more profitable for them than attacks on businesses. This is not only because an attack on social infrastructure might lead to a financial and reputational loss but it might lead to a societal collapse. There are two industries that have a massive societal impact if affected by cyber-crime. The two industries are the utility industry and the energy industry. This study focuses on the energy sector. The primary goal of this study is to identify measures that can be put in place to improve cyber security in the energy sector.
The energy sector contributes a lot to the way people live; make their income and how the economy survives. An attack on an energy provider or distributor can easily collapse an economy and consequentially a country if there is no effective backup. It is of utmost importance that cyber-security is present and enforced in the energy sector more so considering the most likely impact of a security breach in the sector.
Stakes in the energy sector are high as cyber-security is entangled with environmental concerns and public safety as well. A successfully cyber-attack on an energy provider or distributor has the potential to hinder business efficiency and jeopardize the safety and the well-being of the public. Cyber-security specialists understand that no matter how good security is, it does not mean an organization or institution is safe from attacks; all organizations regardless of their size and security protocols are vulnerable and are at risk of defeat. It is advisable that organizations, institutions more so in the energy sector have proper cyber-security protocols backed up with security principles in place to prevent a cyber-attack
Literature review
Looks at supporting articles that explain the research phenomenon or that provide solutions to the phenomenon
Literature review on cyber-security practices in the energy sector
Two articles were reviewed for the primary purpose of providing insight into cyber-security practices adopted in the energy sector. The information gotten from the review would help reveal the state of affairs in the sector as far as security is concerned. In addition, the information will shed light on the areas of concerns.
Energy Industry Cyber-security Report 2015
The first article to review is an energy industry cyber-security report that was published in 2015 by the Scottmadden management consultants. The report focused on four main areas. The first area was the industry’s perception of cyber risks. The second area of focus was the industry’s ability to mitigate cyber risks. The third area of focus was the cyber-security strategies and practices being used in the energy sector (Scottmadden.com, 2015). The fourth area of focus was on existing cyber-security obstacles and concerns in the energy sector.
According to the report, there were five main findings. The first finding was that most organizations and companies in the energy sector have in place cyber-security programs and they believe that their programs are effective at preventing cyber-attacks. The second finding was that most of the organizations and companies in the energy sector have experienced a security breach that has resulted in the disruption of service provision, disruption of operations or data loss. The third finding was that insiders or employees of organizations or institutions in the energy sector pose the biggest security risk.
The fourth finding was that most organizations and institutions in the sector acknowledged that cyber-security was the biggest risks in the sector and that they expected their IT and Operations technology assets to be attacked. The Fifth finding was that most organizations in the industry were lacking real-time actionable intelligence in cyber-security and that they rely on a unified security and controls framework. According to the report, cyber-security in most organizations in the energy sector was the responsibility of the operator of the control systems and the information security officer.
Managing cyber risk in the electric power sector
The second review was on an article published in January 2019 and it touched on the state of affairs in the energy sector; the risks in the industry, the practises and the challenges in the sector. The article starts by noting that the power sector is the most targeted sector in the world. According to the article, if there was a power outage for a long period of time, people would become immobile, they would not have the ability to communicate, and transport and the financial sector would be greatly hampered (Andrew et al., 2019).
The article lists internal threats such as disgruntled contractors, disgruntled employees and human error as the top risks for cyber-security. In addition, organized criminals have also joined the risk to be the top threat for cyber-security in the sector being discussed. For insiders, the biggest impact has been felt in the destruction of critical infrastructure, damage to reputation, and threats to life. For organized criminals, the biggest impact has been felt in the theft of customer data and in financial fraud. Most recent attacks on the power sector by organized cyber-criminals target the industrial control systems with the aim of doing damage on the power grid.
According to the article, there are three main areas that are the focus of cyber-security in the sector being discussed. The main areas are the people, the processes and the technology. There are three practices that target people that are used by many organizations in the energy sector. The first practice is the screening of employees and vendors for malicious actors. The second practice is the implementation of security awareness training for all employees. The third practice is the developing of forensic training and incident response for key operation technology and information technology personnel for the purposes of preventing future attacks and reducing the impact of future attacks should they not be prevented.
There are also three practices that target the processes that are used by many organizations in the energy sector. The first practice is documenting and restricting access to high risk cyber and physical interfaces as well as control systems. The second practice is the identification and designing of triage protocols for the purposes of identifying potential cyber-attacks risks or threats. The third practice is the expanding of the security protocols not only to cover the organizations but also key supply chain partners such as suppliers.
According to the article, there are as well three practices that target the technology that is used by many organizations in the energy sector. The first practice is the separation of high-risk processes from the business network. The second practice is the use of an automated monitoring system for the main purpose of identifying potential security breaches. The third practice is the identification of alternative suppliers with compatible technology in the case that the primary supplier or their systems are hit by a cyber-attack.
Identified security principles in the energy sector
There are three main principles that have been identified to be the most effective at enhancing cyber-security in the energy sector. The first principle is the use of advanced access management. It is no longer secure to only use a username and a password for accessing systems considering the impact of a cyber-security breach (Saleem & Johnson, 2017). The use of advanced access management systems such as OTP and an access monitoring system will help secure systems from cyber-attacks. The main challenge of implementing the above principle is in the sharing of passwords or access by insider elements.
The second principle is data encryption. Critical data can be stolen from servers as well as when in data is in transit and for that reason, it is important to secure data. For the energy sector, it is recommended that the data encryption principle addresses the main modes in which data can be stolen. Data should be encrypted through EIT, encryption in transit, and through EAR, encryption at rest. All data stored and shared should be encrypted using the two above encryption methods as it is hard to derive information from data encrypted in a combination of the two encryption methods (Rehm et al., 2017). The biggest threat to the implementation of the above principle is that it is costly and time-consuming to encrypt all data using both encryption methods.
The third principle is the use of a compliance business framework. Since it is already known that insiders are one if not the main threat to cyber-security it is crucial that organizations in the power sector develop a compliance business framework that touches on the security policies, guidelines, and principles for the entire company. The framework will help limit the insider threat in cyber-security. The main challenge in implementing this principle lies in coming up with policies that touch on all employees while at the same time ensuring that the policies help in security purposes.
References
Andrew Slaughter, Suzanna Sanborn, Paul Zonneveld & Steve Livingston, (2019). Managing cyber risk in the electric power sector. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/industry/power-and-utilities/cyber-risk-electric-power-sector.html
Karchefsky, S., & Rao, H. R. (2017). Toward a Safer Tomorrow: Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure. In The Palgrave Handbook of Managing Continuous Business Transformation (pp. 335-352). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Rehm, G. B., Thompson, M., Busenius, B., & Fowler, J. (2017). Mobile Encryption Gateway (MEG) for Email Encryption. arXiv preprint arXiv:1711.02181.
Saleem, D., & Johnson, J. (2017). Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Cybersecurity Standards (No. NREL/PR-5C00-70454). National Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO (United States).
Scottmadden.com, (2015). Energy Industry Cyber-security Report. Retrieved from https://www.scottmadden.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2015-ScottMadden-Energy-Industry-Cybersecurity-Report_2015-0715
Running Head:
CYBER
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SECURITY
IN THE ENERGY SECTOR
1
Topic
Institution Affiliation
Student Name
Date
Running Head: CYBER-SECURITY IN THE ENERGY SECTOR
1
Topic
Institution Affiliation
Student Name
Date
Running head; CYBER SECURITY
CYBER SECURITY 2
Cyber security
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Cyber security
In addition to the communication etiquette, the online conversation require additional suggestions especially cybersecurity that would play an important role in communication. Online communication faces challenges of cyber crime where communication system can be hacked and information accessed by unauthorized party resulting to the violation to the privacy and confidentiality of information. Cyber crimes have rise with the increase on the use of online communication platforms and the intention of the criminals was to access restricted that is beneficial to them and also to hold some people into ransom by threatening to share their confidential information. The commonly used online communication platforms include social media and the email. The cyber criminals target communication in organization where they send fake email links to the company email account where unsuspecting employees are likely to click them introducing the malicious and fraudulent phishing attack that exposes the details of the email violating privacy of the clients and employees. (Palmer, 2020). Cybersecurity should be an issue of concern where the users of the online platform either schools, organizations and individuals should be trained on the best approach to tackle the security issue to make sure communication is not interrupted by cyber attacks contributed by mistakes made by individual users.
References
Palmer, D. (2020). What is phishing? Everything you need to know to protect yourself from scam emails and more | ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved 3 February 2021, from
https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-phishing-how-to-protect-yourself-from-scam-emails-and-more/
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Running Head: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
Research Questions and Hypotheses
Name
Institution
Research questions and hypotheses
Research topic: Cyber security
Cyber security is the protection of computer networks, devices, data, and programs against unauthorized access or damage. The advancement of technology has brought about many challenges in cyber security and organizations ought to have effective strategies to protect their data (El Mrabet et al, 2018). Since cyber security is a broad topic, the specific topic in this case will be: the impact of cyber attacks and the role of data governance in cyber security.
Research questions
1. What are the impacts of cyber attacks to the operations of an organization?
2. What is the role data governance in ensuring the cyber security of an organization?
Research hypotheses
H01: Cyber attacks interfere with and cripple the operations of an organization.
HA1: Cyber attacks do not interfere with and cripple the operations of an organization.
H02: Data governance has a positive role in ensuring the cyber security of an organization.
HA2: Data governance does not have a positive role in ensuring the cyber security of an organization.
References
El Mrabet, Z., Kaabouch, N., El Ghazi, H., & El Ghazi, H. (2018). Cyber-security in smart grid: Survey and challenges. Computers & Electrical Engineering, 67, 469-482. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045790617313423
Running
Head:
LITERATURE REVIEW
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LITERATURE REVIEW
5
Title
Student’s name
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Why are literature reviews important when doing a scholarly or business-related research project?
According to this article, “A literature review gives the summary of a subject field supporting the identification of specific research questions” (Rowley, & Slack, 2004). Therefore, this is a written summary of articles and other documents that help in describing both the past and the current state of information thus making it easier to identify some of the areas that require further research. A Literature review helps to support the identification of the research topic, the questions, and the hypothesis in a study. Similarly, one will get insights regarding policies, legal frameworks and technological advances in the area of study. It is not possible to research without having a good literature review related to the intended area of study. This is because one may end up not achieving anything useful in the area of study.
Another importance of literature review is that it helps the researcher to understand the current state of the intended area of study. This prevents duplication of what other researchers had earlier done. A researcher will look at another area of the intended research study instead of doing what others have already done. Similarly, a researcher gets useful ideas on how to develop the appropriate research topic, research questions, research objectives, and the hypothesis more so, for the research model. The researcher will also be able to develop an understanding of the theoretical concepts and terminologies used in this area of study.
Lastly, scholarly and research journals consist of a review of recent works in the area of study. These reviews normally consist of important bibliographies that may be a very helpful source of reference to other work in this area of study. This, therefore, is an illustration that this is an imperative step in the research process that must be done critically and with greater expectations as the success of the research study greatly depends on it.
Talk about the various ways one can find sources that relate to one’s research question, and which sources you have found to be the most useful?
There are various ways that one can get sources that relate to the research question. Some of these ways include:
Library catalogs: these tools list the materials that are held by a library indicating where each item is located and a brief description of the items (Rowley, & Slack, 2004). Therefore, one will be able to easily locate materials that a library holds that will help in the area of study by looking at their title, authors, imprints, collation, subject headings, and location.
Search engines- this is a very important tool that is used in locating web pages that will help in the research topic. Knowing where to look for academic journals or articles on online platforms can be a very daunting task. However, classic academic databases are very helpful when searching for research topics. One is just required to key in simple keyword-based searches and be able to locate as many resources as possible.
Indexing and abstracting services –abstracting services normally provides abstracts of journals on a subject or various related subjects at a fee. On the other hand, indexing services assign descriptors to documents. In these services, documents are shortened or summarized and then assigned descriptors for referencing the documents. The product is normally abstract journals.
The source that I have found to be more useful is the use of Search engines. Most of these search engines are readily available and free of charge. They file the full content of research writing over various academic interests. There are scholastic peer-reviewed journals, books, meeting papers, abstracts, and specialized reports among very many other important materials. Tools like Google Scholar are a very essential tool for this purpose. Searching for information using these tools is easier and quicker.
References
Rowley, J., & Slack, F. (2004). Conducting a literature review. Management research news. Retrieved from:
https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/60607237/Conducting_a_litterature_review20190915-60330-tj4fxa ?1568599489=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DConducting_a_Literature_Review &Expires=1612950744&Signature=OhPEVloPV0oW6QxUtE~xAGrVonVkp28hB08-K3wOBIV4f9YCq6pir1vnEM4OBDxQFrLFtSvURGtyfhZNHSdk9~RYiisVNUL2rcmB1-EEsgw~mE96FQzajMxr~oO2hMRa6B5C~5oaVo2pJqSCZ9-9MH-ab8PtXHuUkQYHvg~WPRE3tEyoi4u1ji3645OX1SvCX2h2k-B4bgtjpcSc-melEoUFFora4VKN9LCjf8RvHU1MA74j9VhbpxoD2yXzCxGPFC0W3lyPUtvuH9xU195vVy2ip678BrNmuFAHv~GSccI2tK-FnYX4WOqN5xezj0cCDUJQY-O3Jpe0SHdcwyKXBQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
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Running Head:
LITERATURE REVIEW ON CYBER SECURITY
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LITERATURE REVIEW ON CYBER SECURITY
Literature Review on Cyber security
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
RQ1
Can cyber policy help in the improvement and reclaiming privacy from both government and private sectors and at the same time they are maintaining enforcement of laws and they will be having intelligence on how they are going to be prosecuting cybercriminals?
Hypothesis
The research paper introduces the hypothesis;
H1
H0: there is a possibility of making the internet more secure by protecting users and data from cyber-attacks.
H1: there is no possibility of protecting internet users from attacks due to the nature of the internet.
H 2
H0: clear policies on cyber security can help big corporations to be prepared on how they can deal with cyber-attacks in case it happens, this is through inputs from government and corporations regarding the prosecution of cybercriminals.
Anti-Phishing Group Report (2012), states that when computer technology was being advanced, there was malware that was created to ensure that vulnerabilities of cybersecurity have been curbed. However nowadays malware in most cases it is utilized in the thieving of businesses this is especially corporations with much finances so that some people will be benefiting, (Wells, 2014). It is therefore very necessary for there to be considerations on the hardware devices which will be resistant to tampering. And these devices will be utilized to prevent any criminal from assessing some places and therefore corporations will be very safe from cybersecurity.
There is also another device that has been used in guarding the data and is cryptography this ensures that there is a transmission between users and the data which has been encrypted and with this it is only the recipients who are intended to get such data are in a position to access it. Nevertheless, when people are working towards data security in recent years there has been a program that only allows the utilization of Advanced Harsh standard and through these standards, criminals cannot get a chance to tamper with either data or users themselves, (Sommestad, Ekstedt, and Holm, 2013).
The contemporary world can be said to be connected and in most cases, it makes some rights on privacy be lost. It is therefore important that the government and other corporations that are given the mandate to do so should be there to make sure that these rights of a corporation have been safeguarded. Since many governments can be in a position to access all information regarding all people and corporations they should as well look for ways which in the same depth they can be in a position to ensure that privacy rights are being protected, (Susan, Kiki, and Brian, 2013).
Elmaghraby and Losavio (2014), stated that many governments are more confident about how they are capable of protecting data from their citizens without the government interfering in privacy rights for these individuals however, this has been seen as almost impossible because some people who are in the government are the same people who are leaking some private information about some corporation to the public.
Campbell et al. (2003), stated that two alternatives can help in fighting any crime which is related to cybersecurity. There is either agency discretion or there can be used of the soft law. Soft law can be said to be the process through which there is issuing of policy positions to those who are non-binding to what the government is saying and this is to make sure that they are becoming compliant. The soft law recognizes corporations and other stakeholders who are in technology and who are worried about the issue of security and cyber governance and this is always understood because once cyberbullying has occurred there are so many things that can be lost.
References
Campbell, K., Gordon, L. A., Loeb, M. P., & Zhou, L. (2003). The economic cost of publicly announced information security breaches: empirical evidence from the stock market. Journal of Computer Security, 11(3), 431-448.
Elmaghraby, A. S., & Losavio, M. M. (2014). Cybersecurity challenges in Smart Cities: Safety, security and privacy. Journal of advanced research, 5(4), 491-497.
Sommestad, T., Ekstedt, M., & Holm, H. (2013). The cybersecurity modelling language: A tool for assessing the vulnerability of enterprise system architectures. IEEE Systems Journal, 7(3), 363-373.
Susan A. Macmanus, Kiki Caruson, Brian D. Mcphee (2013). Cybersecurity at the local government level: Balancing demand for transparency and privacy rights. The University of South Florida. 1-20
Wells, L. J., Camelio, J. A., Williams, C. B., & White, J. (2014). Cyber-physical security challenges in manufacturing systems. Manufacturing Letters, 2(2), 74-77.
Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW ON CYBER SECURITY
Literature Review on Cyber security
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Institution Affiliation
Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW ON CYBER SECURITY
Literature Review on Cyber security
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Running head: PURPOSES OF RESEARCH 1
PURPOSES OF RESEARCH 3
Thoughts on the Video and Lesson: Purposes of Research
Student’s Name
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Thoughts on the Video and Lesson: Purposes of Research
The video is quite informative. As much as it has a broad title, Purposes of research, the video does much more than explain the purposes of research. The speaker explains the different types of research and their purposes. For example, the speaker mentions that basic research simply explains a phenomenon, whereas applied research details how a phenomenon affects a specific demographic (Center for Research Quality, 2015). The video is quite helpful more so when one is deciding the kind of research or study that they want to take part in. The speaker mentions five different types of research and how they work. The five research mentioned are basic, applied, summative, formative, and action research.
Other than mentioning the purpose and the types of research, the speaker shares the interrelation of the five purposes of research. Through the chemical dependency example that the speaker mentions, one can see how basic research can develop into formative research and also how action research comes about. I was particularly intrigued by that action research is a study that is intended to provide a solution for an immediate and pressing issue which is quite different from what I thought it was. Individuals starting on research must watch the video to understand what research is and how it happens.
Response to Tom
Hello Tom, just like you, I agree that the video is quite informative. It offers a lot of information on the purpose of research and the different types of research. I am happy that you have identified the video to be a useful tool when starting your research. I would also recommend the video to all newbies in research.
References
Center for Research Quality, (2015). Purposes of Research. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTaU4wnAtI
Running head: WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS 1
Thought on writing a Research Proposal
Student Name
Date
Thought on writing a Research Proposal
As I start my journey on writing a research proposal, I feel excited about two main things. I am excited about researching a phenomenon. I am excited to know how things work, what factors influence them and how variables can be regulated to get different results. For example, I am excited about knowing how cyber technology is revolutionizing the world. I am also interested in knowing the variables that influence cyber technology. The second thing that excites me about writing a research proposal is that I get to identify a solution to a phenomenon. Through research, one can change societies based on their research findings and recommendations. Lastly, I am excited about contributing to a knowledge gap. Various topics are not adequately researched. Through a properly documented research proposal, a researcher can get permission to study a topic and by so doing they get to contribute to the knowledge on the topic.
Other than excitement, I am also worried. I feel that I am challenged with identifying effective research designs. I do not know how to identify data collection methods and also data analysis methods. Considering, that data collection and analysis are critical in any research, I feel that I need to get more informed in research designs to effectively come up with a research proposal and also carry out good research.
As far as writing a research proposal, I am unsure of how to write good ethical standards documentation for research. Researchers must be ethical at all times when conducting research studies. They must respect the confidentiality of participants and they must also not influence research. I am unsure of how to make sure that a research study is bias-free and that it completely reflects the truth depending on the phenomenon or topic under study.
Response to Tom
Hello Tom, just like you, I am generally excited about writing a research proposal. I believe research proposals and research, in general, offers one an opportunity to influence life by adding knowledge. I noted that you feel challenged about identifying a research topic. I assure you that in due time, the topic identification will be the easiest to do. I believe research requires one to be passionate about causing change.
References
Niemczyk, E. K. (2018). Developing globally competent researchers: An international perspective. South African Journal of Higher Education, 32(4), 171-185.
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Running head: WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSALS 1
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Running Head: RESEARCH TOPIC 2
RESEARCH TOPIC 2
Research Topic
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Cybersecurity is an essential aspect of any organization. Due to technological advancement, there are a lot of threats that are associated with computer systems and the internet. If not all, most companies currently use computers and the internet for the various benefits they offer. Data security has also become an issue as companies and individuals focus on stealing private data for their benefit. Therefore, my research topic will focus on an organization’s preparedness for cybersecurity and cyberattacks. This is because this is a current issue that is affecting most people and organizations. The other reason why I chose the topic is that it will seek to fill a knowledge gap that currently exists since most research has not focused on tackling the cybercrime issue and organizational preparedness. The following is the research topic that I wish to pursue my research.
“Determining the Effect Cyber Security Auditing on a Company’s Systems on Its Effective Preparedness for Cyberattacks and Data Loss”
References
Harb, J., Wilson, B. S., & Hermouet, S. (2020). of Research Topic: Structure, Isotypes, Targets, and Post-Translational Modifications of Immunoglobulins and Their Role in Infection, Inflammation and Autoimmunity. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 1761. Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/KANTAI~1/AppData/Local/Temp/fimmu-11-01761
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#FITSPIRATION: IS IT HELPING OR HURTING?
#Fitspiration: Is it helping or hurting?
How the increase in social media fitness influencers affects
Millennials’ dispositions of their health
Alexis Belezos
Lasell University
MGMT 702: Research Methods
Dr. Raymond Obeng
March 7, 2021
Abstract
Social media has become an extremely prominent aspect of millennials’ lives in today’s era. Instagram, owned by Facebook, has worked its way up to be the third most popular social media platform, following Facebook and YouTube (Suciu, 2019). As the platform’s popularity has increased, Instagram ‘Influencers’ have used their page to promote their businesses or personal brands to their niche followers. This study will examine the extent of how fitness influencers have affected millennials’ dispositions of their own health and will identify what extent of female millennials are influenced. This mixed study will focus on data from quantitative survey research and qualitative interviews and focus groups. The data will then be collected and analyzed to help determine whether fitness influencers are helping or hurting female millennials’ mental health body image. Fitness influencers often use their platforms to sell workout packages, meal plans, or promote health products like protein powder or workout equipment, so this study will also be helpful marketing research because it determines how likely Instagrammers in the fitness community are apt to purchase based off influence.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Constant exposure to highlight reels of influencer’s lives is causing female millennials to think differently about their own lives. In 2019, Instagram was said to be the social media platform with the highest user growth, rising 20% from April 2018 to June 2019. This growth is said to be connected to the fact that Instagram is a photography and video-based platform, and visuals are processed 60,000x faster in the brain than text (Suciu, 2019). Instagram has an active 1 billion users and the highest percentage of users fall within the millennial generation at 33%, and 59% of overall Instagram users are female (Tankovska, 2021). Instagram influencer user accounts like photographers, make-up artists, travelers, models, and even pet dog pages have taken over users’ feeds, but the Fitness Instagram community is one of the largest and most engaged niche communities. This influencer community consists of models, personal trainers, body builders or just plain old gym rats who love to challenge their bodies. Millennials live in a world of constant hypoconnectivity and comparison and this could potentially affect the way they see their own lives and look at their own bodies. This study will define what a social media influencer is and will use the Social Comparison Theory to examine what kind of affect fitness influencers have on millennials dispositions of their own bodies and health routines.
Significance of the Study
The amount of influential content that Instagram users absorb can have an effect on their frame of mind regarding their own lives. Specifically, the content that female millennials see on social media can have a great impact on their opinions regarding their bodies and health routines. For example, if a female millennial’s Instagram feeds is filled up with photos, videos, and product promotion loaded with captions and information on why she should be more healthy or what routines she needs to adjust to get to the ‘Instagram worthy’ level of fit, does that content affect the way she sees herself? Does the fitness influencer’s content help motivate her to achieve her health and fitness goals, or does it hurt her body image? Understanding how the Social Comparison Theory works and how it relates to modern day social media usage will determine the extent of effects on users from influencers (Cherry, 2020). Acknowledging the extent of influence that influencers have on the average female millennial Instagram user is important for both marketing purposes and user’s health. Understanding if female millennials are influenced enough to change their routines based on Instagram content determines whether they would be apt to buy into sponsored marketing as well. This research will guide health and wellness companies’ marketing tactics, budgets, and strategies, and might even be enough reason to adjust their product line. At the same time, this study may lead to a connection in female millennial health issues like body dysmorphia and eating disorders, or mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
Research Questions
The main research question of this paper is to determine the following, “Does social media’s fitness culture have an effect on female millennials?” Specific research questions are:
RQ1: What proportion of female millennials are influenced to change their health routine after being impressed by fitness influencers?
RQ 2: To what extent do social media fitness influencers affect millennials’ dispositions about their health?
Theoretical Framework
A well-known theory used while researching the connection between social media and its users is called the Social Comparison Theory. This theory explains why we compare ourselves to others and the different types of social comparison Social Psychologist Leon Festinger was the founder of the Social Comparison Theory. He stated that “we have an intrinsic desire to assess our progress by comparing ourselves to others.” (Cherry, 2020). The process works when people evaluate themselves by comparing their own attitudes, abilities, and traits to others. The theory argues there are two kinds of social comparison- the ‘Upward’ and the ‘Downward’. Upward comparison is when you compare yourself to someone you believe to be better off than you, while the downward comparison is when you compare yourself to someone whom you believe you are better off than (Poling, n.d.). Because of the nature of social media platforms highlighting people’s lives, it is extremely easy to fall into upward comparison when engaged on them. Many studies have stated that upward comparison has resulted in decrease in self-esteem, especially when looking at social networking sites (Stangor et al., 2015). The Social Comparison theory explains the hypothetical phenomenon of when you’re having a bad day at work and you log onto your Instagram only to see your friends going on work promotion trips, buying new houses and going out to fancy restaurants. You’re likely to think “Why can’t that be me?” This study will use this theory as the backbone to design descriptive surveys, interviews and focus groups to help explain how female millennials might be influenced to feel a certain way about their own health and body image from fitness influencer content.
Chapter Summary
The research conducted in this project will be significant in learning about how female millennials view their own bodies after viewing fitness influencer content. Fitness influencers have grown to be one of the largest communities on the platform. Their content consists of workout routines, diet plans, collaborations from partnerships with health, fitness, and wellness companies, and a lot of photos of their bodies in bikinis or athletic clothing. The social comparison theory will help determine whether the fitness communities target audience, female millennials, are affected and to what degree. This information will be significant to understanding how female millennials use the platform and determine their buying habits as well. If they are likely to change their health routines based on influencer’s influence, then they are likely to purchase brands these influencers partner with too.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
The chapter reviews the literature regarding social media platforms, specifically Instagram, and the affect Instagram influencers have on female millennial users. The first sections dive into defining what an influencer is, what they do, and who they connect with. Secondly, we examine how these influencers affect the perception of the beauty norm. The third section will introduce the Social Comparison Theory and focus in on the Downward and Upward Social Comparisons. The last section will look into whether social media influencers are helping or hurting millennial’s dispositions about their health and wellbeing.
Social Media Influencers
Social media influencers are the newest version of endorsement marketing. They used to be well-known celebrities, but in the era of social media, they have turned into everyday folks like you and me. They gain credibility by creating a large following and number of ‘likes’ and then become endorsed or sponsored by a variety of different brands. They create eye-catching content promoting these brands, or sometimes even their own. Their goal as an influencer is to gain a high following and even higher brand recognition to bring in customers and profits to a brand (Glucksman, 2016). Influencers work to shape audience’s attitudes, opinions, wants, and desires through social media platforms including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, blogs, etc. They are the best connection to SNS consumers because of their candidness and openness with their audience (Buyer, 2016). “Influencers gain the trust and friendship of their followers by designing body-shape focused visual content and targeted communication techniques” (Pilgrim & Bohnet-Joschko, 2019).
Sixty percent of Instagram’s users learn of a new brand, product, or service through the platform, not only due to the sponsored posts or shop feature, but via influencer posts (Suciu, 2019). Instagram statistics show that the largest generational community to use the platform is the millennials, falling from ages 24-35, and more than 56% of females use it, meaning that the majority of brands and influencers seek out female millennial users (Tankovska, 2021). Understanding influencers is important to gaining a better understanding of how their content affects female millennials dispositions about themselves and how it transforms the standardized beauty norm.
Standardized Beauty Norm
For years, the definition of beauty has changed based on society’s exposure to media. A global beauty norm is also known as “mass mediated images of men and women whose bodies have startling similarities” (Lockhart, 2019). In the era of social media, the beauty norm has become aligned with what the fitness community, one of the largest and most well-known social media communities, shows their followers. These influencers are what is known in the Instagram community as the “#Fitspo”, a shortened term for fitness inspiration influencers. As a collective community and through millions of their posts regarding their physical appearance, body image, workout routines, and diets, they have created a new standard body type for women: toned legs, flat stomach, perky glutes, and small arms. In one study, data showed that women’s preferred body image had smaller silhouettes (Zaccagni et al., 2020). Studies have shown that repeated exposure to this type of media content “leads viewers to begin to accept media’s portrayals of the female body as representations of reality,” meaning that the more fitness influencer accounts there are, the more their body types are seen as the defined beauty norm for all females. (Lockhart, 2019). As the fitness community on social networking sites grows larger and stronger, so does the amount of content show off this new beauty standard. More easily influenced users see this content more often, and are more likely to compare themselves and their body to what they see on the sites.
As we are able to network globally via these social applications, especially
Instagram – a picture based social media platform, we can subsequently share our
standards for beauty. The emergence of a global beauty norm or “mass-mediated images
of men and women whose bodies have startling similarities” (Leibelt 2018) is evident in
the fitness or #fitspo community on Instagram, which originally began as a small facet of
the platform and has rapidly become a large independent industry.
Social Comparison Theories
Social comparison makes up a large part of our self-concept and self-esteem. The Social Comparison Theory explains how we portray ourselves when compared to others and how it affects our mental health, self-esteem, and how we treat ourselves and others. The Social Comparison Theory is made up of two sub-sections- The Upward Theory and the Downward Theory (Cherry, 2020). These subset theories are based on comparing yourself to others, but one is correlated to make people feel better about themselves, and one usually leaves them feeling worse. The Downward Social Comparison Theory occurs when a person tries to create a positive concept of themselves through favorable comparisons based on others who are ‘worse’ off than they are. These comparisons lead people to feel more hopeful about their own outcome (Stangor et al., 2015).
The Upward Social Comparison Theory is subconsciously practiced most often, especially in use of social media. The Upward is when a person compares themselves to those who they see as better off than them. Examples are when people compare themselves to others with more money, better clothes, better cars, or in this study’s case, better health routines and physical appearance. The Upward Social Comparison Theory can be used to explain how female millennials determine their own self-concept after being exposed to Instagram influencers content. Studies show that most often after viewing Instagram influencer content, a subject’s well-being (SWB) has decreased (Lockhart, 2019). Influencers are hired to post only the greatest aspects of their life from the gourmet food they’re eating to the luxury brands they wear, avoiding real life scenarios. Because of this, when a user views this content, they compare these amenities to their own lives and feel less worthy, depressed, and as though their own lives aren’t good enough (Verydun et al., 2020).
Consequences for Social Comparison
Due to the increase of social networking sites (SNS), the rise in social comparisons has increased at an alarming rate. Many studies have been done to determine whether these online platforms correlate with online social comparisons and if those comparisons are negative, neutral, or positive. Social comparisons are not practiced by all users, though. Studies show that there are two classes of predictors of social comparisons on social networking sites and they are based by who uses the sites (Verydun et al., 2020). This is ultimately determined by user’s motivators in using the sites and their personality. Together, these predict whether the user will practice upward social comparison, which usually leads to depression and a low self-esteem.
There are different types of consequences that result from social comparison on SNS. Studies have shown that users are more likely to have positively correlated consequences if their comparisons are associated with opinions rather than abilities, and if the comparison is a downward comparison rather than upward. A downward comparison does not negatively affect the subject’s well-being because it usually leads to feelings of inspiration (Verydun et al., 2020). Rather, the upward theory is the most common and hard to avoid on social media sites. A psychologist study that spoke with social networking site users concluded that “given the “highlight reel” nature of Facebook, it is almost impossible to avoid upward comparisons, and these upward comparisons can cause a person to feel dissatisfaction, desperation, and even depression. When all a person sees from his friends are their weddings, children, promotions, and their ability to deal with adversity without losing their composure, he may wonder where in life he went wrong” (Poling, 2020).
Chapter Three: Methodology
This chapter includes details on how the researcher will conduct the qualitative and quantitative studies. The purpose of these studies is to understand the way that female millennials interact with social media influencers, specifically in the Instagram fitness community. The following will introduce research methods that will help to answer not only how many are affected, but whether female millennials are negatively, positively, or neutrally affected by the content that influencers posts. Finally, the research will discover whether social media fitness culture’s change female millennial’s dispositions regarding their health routines and body image.
Research Design
This study will be conducted using a mixed methods research strategy. A mixed methods research strategy means there will be a combine use of qualitative and quantitative data to help answer research questions. Mixed Method strategies are often used when researching behavioral sciences (Lopez-Fernandez & Molina-Azorin, 2011). This study will be conducted to understand the behavioral science between female millennials and social media influencers. It will dive deep using interviews and questionnaires to gain a better understanding of how female millennials feel about their own bodies and health routines after consciously viewing fitness influencer content regarding body image, beauty, weight, fitness, health, physical activity, and diet.
Research Tradition
The study methods will be based off of the research tradition, case studies. Case studies are investigations into individual circumstances. They can focus on a single individual, single event, or a business or a group. Case studies give an in-depth analysis of the topic of study after much observation and many interviews. Advantages to case study methods include its relativity to all parties involved. Participants are interested in the outcome so they want to give the best responses they can. In this study, female millennials are likely to be activity involved because the study’s conclusion directly reflects their lives. Case studies are also very inexpensive, something that is always an advantage to any project. Interviews are minimal cost, and can balance out costs for data analysis software, survey platform subscriptions, etc. A disadvantage to case study research is how much time and effort the researcher must put in to collect the data. Interviews and observations can be time consuming, rather than surveys being sent out and doing most of the work for them. Luckily, this project will not have a large sample to interview and will use analysis software to do most of the coding and categorizing itself (Gaille, 2018).
Population and Sampling
This study explores female millennials’ own body dispositions after viewing Instagram fitness community influencer content. Millennials are most commonly considered to be between the ages of 18-34 years old and in the United States, which makes up about 75 million US citizens (‘So How Many Millennials Are There in The US Anyway?’, 2020). This study’s subjects will consist of female millennials that are involved and engaged in the fitness Instagram community. The desired sample size for this study will be 25. All 25 subjects will be used for the questionnaire, but only 15 will be used for the interview portion of the research. Qualitative data is more accurate with less, more detailed responses while quantitative data thrives off of a larger quantity of responses (‘Survey Questions 101’, 2020).
Data Collection
Instruments
There will be two forms of data collection in this research. One will come from qualitative one-on-one interviews, where the interviewed female millennial will answer questions prompted by the researcher. The research will be conducted by collecting both normal and categorial data.
Procedure
The researcher’s interview questions will be designed to answer questions based off the research questions and to find truth to the proposal’s hypothesis. The questions will be guided based off of information stated in the literature review, including the population’s Instagram usage and their personal feelings toward themselves and their health routines. These questions will be more personal than the questions sent out in the online questionnaire, and will give participants the chance to dive deeper into their answers for further insight. This data collection is great for the researcher to clarify answers rather than leaving them up for interpretation and to collect a more informative insight on the subject’s well-being. The interview will run for about thirty minutes, although will not be timed to ensure a full understanding of the subject’s information. Interviews will be recorded and notes will be taken by the researcher regarding the participants answers, body language, and reactions to the prompted questions. Interviews will be conducted throughout the time that the questionnaires are sent out.
The other form of data collection will come from an online survey sent out to a larger sample of female millennials. This online survey will ask more generic questions about female millennials social media usage including habits and time spent, and will ask them to reflect on how they feel before and after they view photos inspired from fitness influencer’s content. The survey will be sent out with the expected return due date being one month. The online survey will remain anonymous, hopefully prompting participants to give their honest feedback. There will be 15-20 questions in the survey, ranging from multiple choice, open ended questions, and likert scale questions (‘Survey Questions 101’, 2020).
Data Storage
Following interviews, the researcher will listen to the recording and create a transcript. The transcript will be stored on the researcher’s computer where only the researcher and the researcher’s team will have access to it. The UCL Research Data Services Policy suggests that data be “retained for a minimum of ten years after publication or public release” (Shetty, 2020). The questionnaire’s data will be gathered and stored on an excel sheet. Alike with the interview, the questionnaire data will be stored for 10 years on the researcher’s data storage unit as well. The information will be stored in GoogleDrive, so practicing teammates can view information or add to analysis.
Data Analysis
Analyzing the data is extremely important to the success and conclusion of your research. “Proper analysis also makes it easy for other people to understand exactly how you reached your various conclusions about your participants and will make your results much more trustworthy” (Mortensen, 2020). The researcher for this project will use thematic analysis and NVivo software to properly analyze qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaire data.
Qualitative Data Analysis
A thematic analysis works to “identify patterns of themes in the interview data” (Marx, 2020). Thematic analysis uses six steps ranging from familiarizing yourself with the data, assigning codes, identifying patterns, and defining themes. It is important that these results are completely transparent, regardless if they oppose your original hypothesis.
Quantitative Data Analysis
To analyze the questionnaire, the researcher will use a software. Using software for data analysis has benefits including boost in research credentials, saving time, and analyzing a large majority of research. The specific software the researcher will use is called NVivo. NVivo is known for supporting mixed methods research, specifically survey responses and social media (Obeng, 2020) The software will be able to categorize responses by type of question for analysis. For example, close-ended questions (i.e. multiple choice and likert scale) can be easily coded and respondents can be categorized based on their code assigned from their response. Open-ended questions (i.e. “Tell me about..” or “Why/How?”) can be analyzed using a more qualitative strategy, as it is designed to produce a thoughtful answer. These analysis’ will help the researcher to identify trends in coded responses and understand trends in female millennials social media usage and their body image disposition before and after viewing influencer content.
Validity, Reliability, Generalizability
The research involves personal touchy subjects including female millennials body image and dispositions regarding their health routines. Because of the sensitive nature of the data collection, the researcher will declare in a privacy policy that her team will only have access to the data, and subjects’ will always remain anonymous meaning their names from interviews will be changed if specific quotes need to be addressed in the research analysis or conclusion. It is important to have accurate responses, so the researcher will ask subjects respond truthfully and honestly and ensure them they will not be judged based on responses.
In the survey, there will be photos and videos of content posted by fitness influencers. These questions will be used to trigger the Social Comparison Theories and determine the overall correlation between female millennials and these images. In order to ensure there will be no legal action taken against the researcher for using the influencer’s photos, the survey will include a disclaimer prior to the questionnaires start and will properly cite each image used.
Protection of Human Subjects
In order to protect the human subjects used in this research, the U.S. Laws and institutional policies regarding research with human subjects. The researcher will remain ethical throughout the duration of the study, including data collection, analysis, and conclusion. There will be no information released that will identify the subjects and no information regarding the subjects’ responses will be released at any time, during or after, to anyone not permitted. After ten years of data collection, the data will be deleted, destroyed, and no further protection policies will apply to the subject’s privacy.
Chapter Four: Discussion
It is expected that the research will unveil correlations between female millennials and the fitness influencer community. The research should uncover the whether the affects from influencer content are positive, neutral, or negative and whether they are affected due to the Social Comparison Theory. The researcher will use insight from interviews and surveys to categorize feelings regarding participants own health disposition and determine whether their health routines change after viewing fitness influencer’s content. This study will be essential to understanding female millennials body image and mental health issues and also for health and wellness industry marketers. The data from this project will determine how much influence fitness influencers have on their target by understanding how they feel and how they change their routines. The researcher hopes to prove his hypothesis wrong that the influencer content has a negative impact on female millennials, and hopes to learn that the content leads to motivation and a healthier lifestyle.
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