Social Media as tool for Conducting Academic Research

Social media, derived from the social software movement, are a collection of Internet websites, services, and practices that support collaboration, community building, participation, and sharing. Data is of major importance to researchers they must collect and analyse new data that will enhance the body of knowledge. Researchers, who require a large amount of participants to contribute to their data collection and assist in their research, are limited in the choice of current research methods including questionnaires, postal surveys and online surveys and also limited in the number of respondents they can obtain to participate in their research. The advent of internet and its use in education and training has revamped the academic research scenario. The advancements in its capabilities and innovative styles of using it have generated new opportunities and spaces for students to share their learning experiences, ideas, and research findings .This paper proposes a new research method through the use of Social media. It aims to evaluate and investigate if social media are a feasible method for conducting research and collecting data. Social media offers researchers the potential to reach millions of people worldwide quickly and at a low cost.

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