Answer :

Final Research Design

Introduction:

The purpose of this research is to design an appropriate research methodological approach in order to address how social media platform facilitates adolescents in developing their career skills. By using social media platform, adolescents can enhance various skills, such as communication skills, analytical skills, research skills, time management skills, data presentation skills, flexibility, and adaptability, which are required for the development of Professional career (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). The researcher has developed a clear understanding of the theoretical as well as the practical contribution to the planned research. For effectively designing the research methodology, the researcher has discussed various areas of the research method, including research process, data sources, data accessibility issues, ethical considerations and limitations of the research design. The future research objectives have also been discussed in the final part of the assignment. 

Significance of the Research:

This research develops an understanding of how social media platform facilitates adolescents in developing various skills required for the development of the professional career. Over the past decade, social media platform has been increasing popularity amongst adolescents (Greysen, Kind & Chretien, 2010). Consequently, it has become easier for the adolescents to develop professional skills through social media.  In this research, the researcher has analyzed the significance of social media in developing communication skills and analytical skills. 

 Good presentation skills and time management skills are most needed skills for an individual to develop an effective professional career. For example, if an individual has poor presentation skills, then he/she could use Pinterest to look at infographics to identify a better way of presenting data. For overcoming the time management issue, an individual could follow a list of productivity experts on Twitter to receive latest tips (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). The outcome of the research will contribute to the future research studies based on the same subjects. A very few research studies have been conducted on the use of social media platform in developing career skills. Therefore, this research focuses on developing an in-depth knowledge of the particular research subject, which could facilitate adolescents in developing various skills required for the development of their professional career. 

Proposed Research Methods:

Research process:

In this section, various areas of research methodology will be discussed. The researcher will select appropriate research methods and justify the selection in a detailed way. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used in this research. Data will be collected through online survey and face-to-face interview method. Besides analyzing sources of data to be used in this research, the researcher will also discuss diverse data accessibility issues. The detailed discussion on the entire research process is given below: 

Research methods and Data collection:

Research methods are of two types, including quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative method, the researcher generates as well as interprets the numerical data in order to quantify the research problem (Neuman, 2013). The researcher accumulates the measurable data and formulates facts by using the collected information. Quantitative data collection can be executed in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, the survey technique is the most common method of collecting quantitative data from the selected respondents. By using a set of the survey questionnaire, the researcher collects the quantitative information. There are other methods to collect quantitative information, such as face-to-face interviews, online polls, telephone interviews, and systematic observations. 

The qualitative method, on the other hand, allows the researcher to collects the answers to the questions by using a predefined set of questions (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). The interview is a common method used to accumulate data from the selected participants. The interview process aims at exploring the views, beliefs and experiences of participants. Diverse methods of the interview include structured, unstructured, semi-structured and focus group interview. 

In this research, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be utilized in order to develop an in-depth understanding of the research topic. For collecting quantitative data, the researcher will utilize survey questionnaire, whereas the structured interview will be conducted to accumulate qualitative information from the selected participants. Survey process will be conducted on the online platform so that respondents could participate in the process regardless of their geographical barriers. In addition, the online survey will also facilitate the researcher to accumulate the data within a small timeline. 

For collecting qualitative information, the researcher will use structured interview, where selected participants will be given limited time to discuss the research topic. With the utilization of both qualitative and qualitative methodology, the researcher would be able to develop a detailed analysis of the research topic of how social media platform contributes career skill development for adolescents. 

Sampling: 

Two types of sampling techniques include probability and non-probability sampling (Mackey & Gass, 2015). The researcher, in this research, will use non-probability sampling in order to specifically select those respondents who believe that the use of social media platform has facilitated them enhancing career skills.  The researcher will use small sample size to accumulate data related to the topic within a limited timeline. The accumulation of data within a very short span of time would be very challenging for the researcher. A small sample size will be used for this research. The research will select 50 adolescents for the survey process. While selecting the respondents for the survey, the researcher will identify whether the respondents use social media platform only for skill development or any other purposes. 

On the other hand, the researcher will also use non-probability sampling for selecting participants for the structured interview. It is essential for the researcher to use non-probability sampling, as it helps in collecting accurate and relevant research information (Silverman, 2016). The researcher will select 4 key personnel of a company for the structured interview method. The participants will be given a limited time to discuss the topic in a detailed way. 

The researcher will set the response rate at 50%. The researcher will send the survey questionnaires to 100 adolescents, out of which minimum 50 survey questionnaires will be collected. The researcher will use the Google Forms in order to design and distribute the survey questionnaires to the selected respondents. The respondents will be asked to provide information on how they have enhanced their career skills through the utilization of social media platform. 

Data sources and accessibility issues:

Data sources are widely classified into two categories including primary and secondary data (Lewis, 2015). In this research, the researcher has used primary data to analyze the research topic. Different techniques of accumulating primary data include surveys, experiments, observations etc. Secondary data, on the other hand, is collected from different sources, such as books, journals, websites, etc (Panneerselvam, 2014). 

The research will use primary data for this research, as it is more authentic, reliable and objective. Another most significant reason for selecting primary data over secondary data is that the validity of the primary data is greater than secondary data. By using primary data, the researcher would be able to explore new findings of the research topic of the significance of social media in developing career skills for adolescents. 

As discussed earlier, for collecting primary data, the researcher will use survey and structured interview method. Through an online survey, the researcher will accumulate a large amount of data within a very small span of time. On the other hand, the structured interview will enable the researcher to make an in-depth analysis of the research topic (Flick, 2015). 

There are several benefits of using primary data. For example, the researcher could address the target issues effectively by using primary data. Using a primary source of data not only provides greater control to the researcher but also contributes to the appropriate interpretation of the collected information (Smith, 2015). While analysing the research topic, the research might encounter some specific issues, which could be overcome by using primary data. 

Although primary data possess several beneficial aspects, the researcher may encounter different accessibility issues. Primary data collection is a time-consuming process. In this research, the researcher will collect the primary data within a very limited timeline. Another issue is that the primary data collection is not cost-effective. During primary data collection, the researcher often collects inaccurate feedbacks from the participants and respondents (Matthews & Ross 2010). The accuracy of the data largely depends on the sample size. In this research, the researcher will take consent of the respondents and participants before involving them in the survey and interview methods respectively. It would be very challenging for the researcher to accomplish the research within a limited budget. Small sample size and online platform will be used in survey method to accomplish the data collection within a limited budget and time. 

Ethical considerations and practical implications:

The researcher will ensure that the research participants will not be subjected to harm. Throughout the data collection, the researcher will respect the dignity of the participants and respondents. It is important for the researcher to take full consent of the participants and respondents before involving them in the survey and interview process. The most significant ethical aspect of the research is the data privacy of the research participants (Choy, 2014). The researcher will not use the collected data for any other purposes, except for this research only. There will be an adequate level of confidentiality of the research information collected from different sources. 

The anonymity of organizations and individuals will be maintained on top priority. During the research data collection, the researcher will communicate with the respondents and participants with transparency and honesty. The participants will not be given any misleading information related to the research. Moreover, the researcher will avoid representing findings of primary data in a biased way.  The researcher will strictly adhere to the Data Protection Act 1998 to protect data collected from respondents and participants (Kuada, 2012). The feasibility of resources and time will be analysed. 

Research design limitations: 

There could different types of limitations in the research. However, the researcher needs to develop strategies to minimize limitations of the research. Lack of experience in primary data collection could create barriers for the researcher to implement a flawless data collection method. Another limitation is the small sample size. For this research, the researcher will use a small sample size, due to which the statistical tests might not identify significant relationships with the selected data set. Due to the small sample size, the researcher might encounter data validity issues (Miller et al., 2012). 

In most of the time, the researcher collects biased responses from the selected participants. The researcher, in this research, will use the non-probability sampling technique, due to which the researcher might collect biased responses. The reliability and validity of the research could be affected due to the biased responses collected from the respondents and participants.  The key personnel of the organization and the selected adolescents might provide inaccurate information to the researcher. 

Lack of previous studies in the particular research area is another major concern for the researcher. Various research studies have been conducted on the significance of social media. However, very few research studies have been executed on the importance of social media in developing career skills of adolescents. The researcher could also face other limitations such as time and costs of the research. Limited time and budget could affect the research. 

Conclusion:

It can be assessed that the selected research methods will facilitate the researcher to research an appropriate way. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in this research. For accumulating quantitative information, the survey will be used. On the other hand, the structured interview will be conducted to collect responses from the selected participants. The researcher will adhere to all principles related to the ethical aspects of the research. 

The future research project could be based on different barriers to social media in developing professional careers. Although social media contributes to career skills development for adolescents, there may be several challenges, which could affect adolescents in developing their career skills. Moreover, a very few research studies have been conducted on the challenges of social media in improving professional career skills of adolescents. Hence, the future research project will provide a detailed understanding of the social media in enhancing career skills for adolescents. In future, the researcher would use the large sample size to get greater reliability and viability of the data. The future research project will target to set response rate at 40-50% in order to ensure the credibility of the research outcomes.