phd research proposal political science example

phd research proposal political science example

The Impact of Social Media on Political Participation: A Study in Political Science

1. Introduction

This essay serves three purposes. Primarily, it is the medium-term project for the course “Political Science.” In it, I will attempt to review the literature on the relationships between political participation and social media, and I will use the tools and knowledge I have acquired in this course to do so. However, the essay is also an exercise for the final assignment for the course, and to that end, it has an internal polemical project: it will respond to an important and interesting piece of recent work by using, and in some places critiquing, the concepts and theories presented elsewhere in course readings that I wish to bring to bear in my project. I will explore this dynamic at greater length in the second section of this introduction.

This essay addresses in some manner the broader question: what are the impacts of social media on the political world? However, this is too broad a question to properly tackle in the space allotted here, and so I have chosen to narrow my inquiry, focusing particularly on the intersection of social media and political participation. Questions of political participation have been of great interest to political scientists and political theorists over the last century, and any new incarnation of them provides an interesting opportunity for extending and challenging some of the received answers to them (as I will show in a moment). The terminology of “social media” comes with a host of misgivings and miscommunications, and I would like to provide some initial clarification about what I will mean by the term and why I find it useful, at least as a starting point. This essay, then, pursues two primary research questions.

2. Literature Review

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are ubiquitous in the everyday lives of many people around the world. Enabled by the spread of digital technology and the shift from web 1.0 to 2.0, social media has quickly become important political tools in democratic, authoritarian, and hybrid societies. In recent years, the professional literature has come to regard these platforms as proxies for understanding the many new and evolving features of political life, such as issue engagement, campaign microtargeting, and new forms of advocacy liberalism in the context of Arab Spring. Much of the scholarly work devoted to the study of social media and politics continues to ask to what degree social media matter for political participation.

At the same time, skepticism and caution about the potential negative impact of the “democratization” moniker are also warranted if citizens utilize their newly monetized voices to not seek empowerment and responsiveness but rather to justify their pre-ordained beliefs and inclinations through so-called flawed sharing. Furthermore, the impact of social capital and social trust on the potential “participatory dividend” created by platforms such as Twitter is also an important variable to consider within a diversified user base. The practice of “networked authoritarianism” occurs via decentralized micro-leaks within social networks, which makes it difficult to comprehensively contain and to trace to its source by those who seek to control information flow. On the question of “too much information,” a related body of literature points out that the speed and channels through which political information travels on social media platforms gives rise to the digital equivalent of “short burst sensationalism” highlighted in the yellow journalism era in the United States. This oversaturation of information and short attention span promotes shallowness of thought about politicized topics and policy areas by candidates and the hyper-engaged.

3. Research Methodology

The aim of the study is to examine the impact of social media on political participation among students in the Political Science Department at United International College (UIC), and the hypothesis tested in this research is that students use social media in political participation. One of the objectives of this study is to analyze selected types of social media commonly used by students in the Political Science department to participate in political activities. This study adopts a constructive framework on the research based on social media and political participation in China and in the political science subject.

In order to conduct the research, due to the Covid-19 problems all over the world, the only method that can be used is the online survey method. This is because it gives room for the researcher to reach a large number of students in a specific period of time. The survey was conducted among students online in the Spring 2021 academic semester. The questionnaires were distributed and collected online, and the online platform used to collate the data is Google Forms. A total of 45 questionnaires were sent out and all responded to the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select subjects. The data instrument used was a structured self-developed questionnaire. The questionnaires were divided into two categories. The first contained questions about the social media used by the students. In this part of the questionnaire, students were required to state if they have various types of internet-enabled gadgets and internet available at UIC. We only collected responses from students who have all the gadgets and the internet available for them to participate in the survey. The items used in their papers to measure political participation are slightly different from the items used in this study. Also, some items assessed the use of social media for personal reasons.

4. Data Analysis and Findings

There were 155 participants in total who completed the questionnaire. Tables 1 through 3 provide summary statistics for all independent variables, including gender, age, daily time spent on social media, the number of political accounts followed on social media, education level, and the country of residence. The analysis includes a Form variance test that allows the hypothesis to be tested by reflecting the adequacy of covariance analysis. The assumptions of normality and homogeneity were tested to ensure the reliability of the covariance analysis. Although the results of the variance analysis revealed that there was a main effect of time spent on social media, there was no main effect of political accounts followed. Therefore, hypothesis H5 is not supported and hypothesis H6 is supported.

These findings are evidence that social media use is an influential tool for learning about political events in countries where there are repressive conditions. Since it provides timely and practical access to information, it can contribute greatly to increasing people’s motivation to participate and improve their level of political information. Hence, when people experience a lack of willingness and knowledge, their participation remains at a rather low level. According to the data obtained, the use of social media during events peaked on November 1, constituting just under 40%, with all but 15% of participants revealing that they used social media during the events. Regarding the status of social media accounts, the vast majority of participants did not obstruct or limit access on their social media accounts. Based on the results, it can be argued that although the state tries to control the media, social media technology can still be used as a tool of information to facilitate learning.

5. Conclusion and Implications

The results of the study confirm the stated hypotheses, explained by the roles of social media as creators of network social capital, facilitators in activities, and political engagement in political discourse. Social media allows connectivity between citizens and can increase the degree of connectivity and address the involvement of citizens. Future research can investigate the nature of political discussions that occur and who is involved in political discussions using social media because the structure of the network relationship in social media can involve certain groups.

Social media has a major effect and can generate new patterns in citizen political participation in the political parties. The political world is needed to work side by side with many constituencies, so that social media can help politicians and the public in discussing something in the future leadership of currently parties. With this consideration, it is necessary to find out in more detail how to use social media in politics. The approach of this research is descriptive quantitative, with a questionnaire, given of party elites members (a.k.a., cadre) of political parties who use social media in Nusa Tenggara Barat province. The results showed a positive relationship and significant ethos to civic discussions, hence hypothesis 1 is accepted. The results showed a positive relationship and significant character of community discourse, so hypothesis 2 is accepted. This research must have several limitations, the process of gathering facts and uploading questionnaires is difficult so that covering only 28 party members, especially the Golkar Party in the NTB, can have errors in the application of statistical analysis. In the future, the researcher hopes to do further research on political communication in using other social media that are not included in this study and are transmitted through different channels of political communication.