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Writing Like a Communication Researcher Have you ever wondered why or how the increase of social media may affect our lives? Reading communication research paper will help you understand and answer questions about human behaviors. Like many social science research papers, studies such as social media’s effect on people’s well-being have similar structures and characteristics. The three main process that researcher do on their academic writing is literature review to understand previous studies, to describe and select research methods that best fits their study, and to explain the study’s findings to allow readers to understand the analysis of the data. In the introduction paragraph, researcher performs the literature review by introducing the topic and explaining how they come to their hypothesis. By reviewing previous research’s with theories on the impact of social media and well-being and understanding the study’s findings, researchers can develop their own hypothesis. In an introduction from a research paper, the author started off with “According to a survey conducted by Nielson/NetRatings…studies such as these illustrates who is using the Internet…” (Shaw, L.H.). Shaw used a previous study to illustrate how previous researcher’s process of calculating the usage of Internet through survey had motivated him to create his own study with social media. By incorporating previous research in the introduction, researchers can show the readers how other studies have already developed a rational reasoning to conduct the present study and to help explain how the present variables, such as social media usage, can be tested and defined. The purpose of reviewing previous research it to let researcher skip steps in explaining why their variable

measurements are reliable and valid. However, finding the proper article to review is very difficult because there’s million of published work with different variables. Using online database search with a variable in mind, can help readers track the study they want to read. In fact, variable searches are how articles attract their targeted audience. Searching a variable allow readers to see all the numerous articles that mentioned the variable at least once. However, this results in too many articles for the readers to read. In this situation, readers can read the title and the abstract of the study. An abstract is a short summary that describes the aim and the process of the study and gives a brief explanation of the hypothesis. Whereas the title contains a short description of the study, containing the key words and variable used in the research. For example, in one of the articles called “Friend Networking Sites and Their Relationship to Adolescents’ Well-Being and Social-Esteem” (Valkenburg), the authors used the title to let readers know exactly what the research would be about. The two key words, “Networking Sites” and “WellBeing” are included in their hypothesis. While networking site isn’t the same as social media, readers can still easily search up the article with the keywords in the title or the writing.

As Rachyl Pines have mention in the interview, academic journals are fun to read when “they are related to my area of study…outside of my research area of study… I usually read [the] summaries of the articles, and not closely read the whole thing” (personal communication, February 09, 2019). Since academic writings are filled with facts and analysis, it can be tedious and annoying to read the whole paper with no enjoyment. Since, there are still many human interactions and behaviors out there that are unexplained, there are always new claims being tested by researchers. For this reason, the targeted audience are social scientist

that are interested on the article’s topics. Once the targeted audience decided on a study, they can approach the method section to learn more about the process of conducting the study.

The purpose of the method section is to describe how the study would be conducted and designed, which allows other scientist to retest their study for reliability or to make changes or improvements. The section is divided into subgroups depending on the number of variables involved and the structure of the study. The design of the study depends on the topic of the research because the hypothesis determines the type of study they would conduct for their study. A researcher chooses their topic based on personal interest or curiosity after reading other research. After choosing the topic, they must select the population of their study. One of the subsections includes the description of the participants. When conducting a study on social media usage and well-beings, the author described the participants as “adolescent between 10 and 19 of age who had profile on the friend networking site” (Valkenburg). By stating the subject’s basic demographic background, the researchers can claim that their study can only represent the sample they tested on. They would further describe how each participant are selected and how they would be compensated for their participation. However, there are differences in the design for survey and experimental studies. In a survey research, they would need to describe how each variable are measured, and by using previous studies as reference, they can use other’s developed scales for their own study. For example, Shaw and his co-writer used the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) to measure depression in their study by asking the same questions and using the same scale so that they don’t have to go through the trouble of validating a new scale. Unlike, survey, experimental studies need more explanation in assigning participants.

If the study is conducted as an experiment like Vogel’s studies, then they would have to add an addition step in explaining how each participant are placed in a control and experimental group. Similarly, experimental studies also use previous studies’ scales to help measure their variable. They are required to describe the procedure of how they collect the data for their study, so their peers can reconduct the same study to ensure the accuracy of the measure. This subsection include detailed step-by-step process of how the study was conducted and how data were collected. To sum up the data, the researcher would provide a result section to conclude the study. The purpose of the result section is to describe any statistical techniques used to analyze the data collected from the measurements they used. Before any visual aids are presented, they must analyze the data in detail, explaining how the data may or may not support the hypothesis. In most cases, the average or the mean score of the data would be calculated between the two variables and then a correlation score would be calculated to show the strength and the type of relationship the two variables have. Then they would include a graph to give a visual presentation of how the two variables are connected. At the very end of the result section, they would conclude the results into one single sentence and tie it back to their hypothesis. For example, after showing there’s no correlation between social media and well-being, the writers wrote “there were no significant interactions [between the two variables] …Table 2 shows the F statistics for interactions between scores of each of the measures…” (Shaw). The writer first describe their findings from the data they collected, then they introduce the graphs to help readers see the visual analyzation. To reduce confusion, they would label all the graphs or tables with numbers and titles, so the readers know exactly which visual aid to look at while

reading the passages. However, as the results section consist mostly of statistical procedures and numbers, the language used can be hard for most casual readers to understand. Most readers would have trouble reading and understanding all the numbers in the result section, especially readers that are not in the field of social science or statistic. However, readers do not necessarily need to know what each number means to understand the results of the study because the analysis are described in words as well. In some situation, non-scientist wouldn’t know the meaning of some terms used in the paper. For example, it would be hard for most readers to understand if the writer just mentions the Emotional Contagion Theory without explaining the concept. When readers don’t understand the numbers or theories used in the result section, they can proceed to the discussion section for a faster review of the results. Discussion section is a place where researchers would evaluate and interpret their studies’ results. By using the data they’ve collected, they can determine if their research question were answered. They would further explain how their data may or may not support their hypothesis. The writers would criticize their study by pointing out their strengths and weakness, allowing future researchers to avoid the same mistakes performed in the study. This allow researchers to reveal their flaws in their study and explain how some variables may be exaggerated or used improperly. The discussion section also explain how future researchers could improve their own studies by giving advice and suggestions. At last, the study would explain their interest in the study and how the results from this research can help and contribute to knowledge of the society. To help understand how social media may affect our well-being, people are recommended to read academic articles that are supported by evidence. The purpose of publishing studies is “to contribute the body of knowledge on a topic that can then be public and built on to improve our world” (Pine). Researchers writes academic journals to help people

understand human’s social behaviors. Since the writings are structed in organized section with headings, it’s effective in allowing readers to access the information that they’re interested in and allow them to skim through the article without having to read every section. By reading academic journals, readers learn something new and avoid any false claims trending on the internet. Reading academic writing allow normal citizens to make informed decisions and evaluate information reported online and in the media.

Reference Page Pines, Rachyl. “Interview Question.” 9 Feb. 2019. Shaw, L. H., & Gant, L. M. (2002). In Defense of the Internet: The Relationship between Internet Communication and Depression, Loneliness, Self-Esteem, and Perceived Social Support. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 5(2), 157-171. doi:10.1089/109493102753770552 Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend Networking Sites and Their Relationship to Adolescents Well-Being and Social Self-Esteem. CyberPsychology & Behavior,9(5), 584-590. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.584 Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social media, social comparison, and self-esteem. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206-222. doi:10.1037/e512142015-699