Use of Social media to imptove students academic performance1

Use of Social Media to Improve Students’ Academic
Performance in Nigeria: A study of Taraba State
University, Jalingo
By
Amos, Mathias
SID: 8436177
A Thesis Submitted to Postgraduate Studies
School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics
Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, in Partial
Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award
of
MSc. Management of Information Technology
Coventry University, UK
Supervisor: Dr. Rochelle Sassman
January, 2019

DECLARATION
Declaration of Originality
I hereby declare that this research is entirely my work and no part or a whole of this research is
copied from any other source except where duly acknowledged. Therefore, literatures reviewed
from journals, books, newspapers, magazines, internet etc. were properly cited within the
research and listed in the References. I hereby consent that an electronic copy of this work may
be stored for plagiarism detection and prevention.
Ethical Issues
I would like to affirm that proposal for this thesis has been submitted to Coventry University
Ethics Website (https://ethics.coventry.ac.uk/) and approved as part of requirements for
conducting research in Coventry University; as projects conducted without ethical approval is
prohibited and will be rejected.
First Name:
Amos
Last Name:
Mathias
Student I.D.: 8436177
Ethics Approval Ref. No. P77577
1 st Supervisor Name Dr. Rochelle Sassman
2 nd Supervisor Name Dr. Awinder Kaur
Signed: Amos, Mathias Date: 7 th January, 2019
Submitted electronically; no need for signature.
ii

DEDICATION
This research is dedicated to God Almighty and to my late Father, Rev. Amos A. Wadings.
iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to appreciate my supervisor Dr. Rochelle Sassman, for her guidance, review and
insightful contribution and support throughout the duration of this project. She was very
encouraging and inspirational during the process of writing this thesis. I will always value the
time spent under her supervision; I have learned so much from her wealth of experience. To my
second supervisor Dr. Awinder Kaur; all I would say is many thanks.
I am indebted to Prof. Steve Galliford, Dean School of Postgraduate Studies at Coventry
University for given me the opportunity to study at the University. I would also like to thank my
Course Leader Dr. Stella-Maris Orim for her great innovations in the M.I.T. Course. I owe Mr.
Peter Every, a great deal of appreciation for introducing Research Methods to us, which is
indeed, instrumental to the success of this research. I would also like to thank my lecturers: Dr.
Tariq Aslan, Dr. Magesh Nagarajan, Dr. Yasir Khan, Dr. Jacek Lewandowski, Dr. David Croft
and all Registry Staff of the Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing and indeed
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics of Coventry University for working hard to
ensure that my studies is well supported and my welfare is well catered for during the period of
my studies.
I am very appreciative of my darling wife, Mrs. Rahab N. Mathias and my children Charles,
Tony and Joy for standing by me in prayers and support towards ensuring I succeed in my
academic pursuit at this prestigious university. I would like to appreciate my mother, Mama
Maryamu Amos who always believed in me and encourages me to trust in God; I am deeply
indebted to her. To my sisters and brothers Anna David, Hannatu Maxwell, Ruth Newton,
Hauwa Joseph; Asp. Maxwell Masoda, Levi Joseph, Haruna Jatau, Jonah Ayuba, Insp. Ezra J.
Bamfo and many other family members, I thank them all for their prayers, supports and
encouragements.
I would like to appreciate the Provost, College of Education Zing, Taraba State, Nigeria, Dr.
Mike Dio Jen for exercising his executive powers to grant me the opportunity to undertake this
Masters Programme. I do appreciate the Vice Chancellor, Taraba State University, Professor
Vincent Ado Tenebe and indeed Management Team of the University for granting me permission
to undertake this research in the university.
iv

My special appreciation goes to my intimate friend Mr. Christopher C. Abuka for his constant
encouragements, without wish, this achievement would have been a mirage. My friends Insp.
Maigaskiya Francis, Mr. Tony O. Akpu, Mr. Samuel Ukwe, Insp. Jonathan Haziel, Barr.
Zachariah Ma’aji and my Church Chairman Dsp. Hyginus Dishon (rtd) and indeed the Bishop
and entire LCCN Church members of Taraba Diocese, I appreciate them all for their prayers.
This acknowledgement will be lacking in merit without appreciating my fellow MSc.
Management of Information Technology (MIT/MIS) students, with whom I spent a great year of
study and had fun together, more specially Manami Yamada, Dolapo Mohammed, Alex
Mwenda, Fidelis Matibri, Lucia Kilmayo, Jessica, Aza Alabri, Adedoyin Adekunle, Abdalla
Shinkafi, Ashu Gupta, Chucks Agu and Essa Maken. I appreciate sharing your talents during the
programme.
Finally, my sincere thanks goes to students of Taraba State University who participated in
interview and online survey, more especially Mr. Kayode Babatunde, a postgraduate student of
the university who was my first interviewee that linked me to other students of the university to
be able to achieve the snowball sampling technique adopted. This work wouldn’t have been
possible without their inputs; I am indeed grateful to them all.
To God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ be the Glory.
v

ABSTRACT
In recent times, institutions of higher learning around the world are exploring various
technologies that encourages active learning. One of such technologies is use of social media to
build learning communities that will foster students’ collaboration in sharing knowledge to
improve academic performance. This is due to huge benefits of ubiquitous computing, mobile
technologies and internet of a thing (IOT). With the emergence of web 2.0 and social
networking, learning has improved significantly through collaboration. This development has
prompted the researcher to explore the use of social media to improve students’ academic
performance in Nigeria. The study was guided by the interpretivist theoretical perspective which
follows a qualitative approach. A case study method was employed to profoundly understand the
use of social media as facilitator and how it improves students’ academic performance at Taraba
State University Jalingo. Triangulation sampling was employed for in-dept data collection as
interviews, online survey and observation were used as sources of primary data collection.
Constant comparative analysis method was used to analyse the data. The findings of the research
showed that Taraba State University students have access to social media but there is no official
social media platform to build learning community to improve students’ academic performance
in the university. The researcher recommended the use of google+ as solution that will encourage
use of social media to build learning community for academic purposes to improve academic
performance of students in Nigeria.
Keywords: social media, social media in education, academic performance, facilitators of academic performance.
vi

TARABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................................... ii
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT .............................................................................................................................................. iv
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................................. vi
TARABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER ONE: ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Problem ............................................................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Aims and Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................................................. 4
1.6 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Definitions ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.8 Delimitation and Scope .................................................................................................................................... 6
1.9 Outline of the Thesis ........................................................................................................................................ 6
1.11 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
CHAPTER TWO: ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................................ 10
2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Concept of Social Media ................................................................................................................................ 11
2.1.1 Use of Social Media: Global Perspectives ................................................................................................. 13
2.1.2 Use of Social Media in the United States of America ................................................................................ 15
2.1.3 Use of Social Media in Nigeria .................................................................................................................. 16
2.2 Social Media in Education .............................................................................................................................. 17
2.2.1 Use of Facebook in Education ................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.2 Use of Twitter in Education ....................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.3 Use of WhatsApp in Education .................................................................................................................. 21
2.2.4 Use of Google+ in Education ..................................................................................................................... 21
2.2.5 Other Social Media platforms used in Education ....................................................................................... 22
2.3 The Learning Process and Technology ........................................................................................................... 23
2.4 Academic Performance................................................................................................................................... 23
2.5 Facilitators and Barriers of Academic Performance ....................................................................................... 24
2.5.1 Facilitators of Academic Performance ....................................................................................................... 24
2.5.2 Barriers of Academic performance. ........................................................................................................... 25
2.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 26
CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................................... 28
3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 28
3.1 Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 28
3.2 The Research Onion ................................................................................................................................... 29
3.3 Research Philosophy ...................................................................................................................................... 30
3.4 Research Approach ......................................................................................................................................... 31
3.5 Methodological Choice .................................................................................................................................. 31
3.6 Research Strategies ......................................................................................................................................... 32
3.6.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................................................ 34
3.6.2 Sampling .................................................................................................................................................... 34
3.7 Time Horizon ................................................................................................................................................. 36
3.8. Techniques and Procedures: ........................................................................................................................... 36
3.8.1 Data Collection: ......................................................................................................................................... 36
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3.8.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 39
3.8.3 Formation of Categories for Data Analysis ................................................................................................ 41
3.9 Credibility ....................................................................................................................................................... 41
3.10 Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................................................... 42
3.11 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................................................... 44
ANALAYSIS AND FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................. 44
4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 44
4.1 Background of Taraba State University ......................................................................................................... 44
4.2 Strategic Analysis of Taraba State University ................................................................................................ 45
4.2.1 Porter’s Value Chain Model ....................................................................................................................... 45
4.3 Data Presentation and Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 47
4.3.1 Interview .................................................................................................................................................... 47
4.3.2 Online Survey Questionnaires .................................................................................................................... 50
4.3.3 Observation ................................................................................................................................................ 60
4.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 61
CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................................................... 62
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................... 62
5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 62
5.1 The Research Questions ................................................................................................................................. 62
5.2 Perception of Social Media............................................................................................................................. 62
5.3 Use of Social Media for Educational Purposes .............................................................................................. 63
5.4 Improving Students’ Academic Performance Using Social Media ................................................................ 63
5.5 Factors Influencing use of social media ......................................................................................................... 65
5.6 Recommendations .......................................................................................................................................... 65
5.6.1 Short Term Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 66
5.6.2 Long term Recommendation ...................................................................................................................... 66
5.7 Solution and Design Framework of Google Plus (google +) .......................................................................... 66
5.7.4 Adding, following people and sharing on Google + .................................................................................. 70
5.7.5 Benefits of Using Google Plus in Education .............................................................................................. 72
5.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 74
CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................................................................................................... 75
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................... 75
6.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 75
6.2 Limitations ...................................................................................................................................................... 76
6.3 Direction for Further Research ....................................................................................................................... 76
CHAPTER SEVEN ..................................................................................................................................................... 77
PROJECT MANAGEMENT....................................................................................................................................... 77
7.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 77
7.2 Project Management ....................................................................................................................................... 77
7.3 Project Management Life Circle ..................................................................................................................... 77
7.3.1 Project Initiation ......................................................................................................................................... 78
7.3.2 Project Planning ......................................................................................................................................... 79
7.3.3 Project Execution ....................................................................................................................................... 81
7.3.4 Closure ....................................................................................................................................................... 82
7.3 Challenges Faced ............................................................................................................................................ 82
7.4 Lessons Learnt ................................................................................................................................................ 82
References ................................................................................................................................................................... 84
Appendices .................................................................................................................................................................. 91
Appendix 1: Interview Guide ................................................................................................................................... 91
Appendix 2: .............................................................................................................................................................. 93
Sample Questionnaires ............................................................................................................................................ 93
Appendix 3: .............................................................................................................................................................. 97
Participant’s Information Sheet ............................................................................................................................... 97
Appendix 4: .............................................................................................................................................................. 99
Ethics Approval Certificate ...................................................................................................................................... 99
viii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Research Structure ……………………………………………… 9
Figure 2: Social Media platforms…………………………………………… 13
Figure 3: Estimated Social Media Users 2018……………………………… 14
Figure 4: Percentage of Time Spent on Social Media……………………… 15
Figure 5: Most Dominant Social Media in US……………………………… 16
Figure 6: The Research Onions …………………………………………..… 29
Figure 7: Educational Value Chain Model………………………………..….. 46
Figure 8: Respondents’ Gender………………………………………………. 51
Figure 9: Respondents’ Age Groups……………………………………….… 51
Figure 10: Respondents Level of Study………………………………………. 51
Figure 11: Respondent’s Course of Study……………………………………. 52
Figure 12: Description of Social media……………………………………… 52
Figure 13: Most Used Social Networking Sites..……………………………… 53
Figure 14: Frequency of Social Media Usage………………………………… 53
Figure 15: Reasons for using social media as a student……………………… 54
Figure 16: Group members on social media provide help…………………….. 55
Figure 17: Understand topic better on social media than traditional class……. 55
Figure 18: Flexibility of social media improves performance………………… 56
Figure 19: Referring to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter to clarify topics……… 56
Figure 20: Social media help develop more communication skills……………. 57
Figure 21: Using social media increase technology skill………………………. 57
Figure 22: Using social media increases group work…………………………… 58
Figure 23: Online interaction gives confidence in the classroom……………… 58
Figure 24: Social Media helps with more ideas from group members…………. 59
Figure 25: Social Media has positive impact on students’ education…………. 59
Figure 26: Factors motivating students to use social media…………………… 60
Figure 27: Google+ Window…………………………………………………… 67
Figure 28: Google + sign up page……………………………………………… 68
Figure 29: Google + Create page………………………………………………. 68
Figure 30: Customizing School Google+ page………………………………… 69
Figure 31: Adding, following and sharing on google+…………………………. 70
Figure 32: Sharing options on google+…………………………………………. 70
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Figure 33: Google + Suite tools…………………………………………………. 71
Figure 34: Project Management Life-cycle..……………………………………. 78
Figure 35: Work breakdown structure (WBS) showing project breakdown…… 79
Figure 36: Gantt chart showing the project schedules…………………………. 80
TABLE
Table 1: Risk Register …………………………………………………………. 81
x

CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This chapter outlines the purpose for this research. It begins with the background of the
study and details of the research problems. The chapter also discusses the research aims
and objectives, research questions, significance of the study and methodology used for
this research, followed by definitions of terms and the delimitation of the research.
Finally, the chapter is concluded with an outline of the broad structure of the research.
1.1 Background
The evolution of social media and other technologies like Web 2.0 is unprecedented
(Lenhart, Purcell, Smith and Zickuhr, 2010). Social media has become an integral part of
people’s life as this technology enable people to network with friends and associates,
share photographs, generate contents, interact in games and real time conversations. The
ever-increasing proliferation of mobile technologies has increased the use of social
media, more especially in universities where the technology is transforming the way
students communicate, collaborate, interact and learn (Paul, 2013).
Several authors have researched on the use of social media in educational settings with
the aim of improving students’ academic performance. Although, such research results
are in divergence views as to whether social media is a barrier or facilitator of academic
performance. While most of the studies conducted in developing countries like Nigeria
suggests that social media is a barrier to academic performance (Ezekiel, Ruth and Leo,
2013).
Ezekiel, Ruth and Leo (2013) asserted that students are addicted to the use of social
media in Nigeria and this takes most of their times. The authors maintained that students
chat even in highly organized places of worships like churches, mosques and even in
lecture halls. They opined that social media is a barrier to academic performance; as most
students that engage in social media perform poorly in their academic performances.
In line with the above assertion, Oberiri (2016) argued that most of the platforms used by
students are Facebook, WhatsApp and twitter and they use these platforms to interact and
1

share opinions that has to do with friendship, common interests, beliefs and businesses
etc. whereas, little or no attention is paid to academic matters. This is because social
media has not been harnessed in most of the under-developed and developing countries
for effective academic utilization. The reason been that most of the institutions in these
countries still rely on traditional learning processes which are not learner centred.
However, while other researchers perceived social media as a barrier to students’
academic performance, majority of research revealed that social media is a good
facilitator and can significantly improve students’ academic performance (Bety and
Susan, 2013). This is evident in developed countries like the United States of America
and United Kingdom where social media is seen by students as a good facilitator to
improve their academic performance. Equally, Adidi and David (2010) maintained that
interactive social media is a great tool that allows students to access, create and share
knowledge by uploading pictures, videos, audios and other learning materials that will
improve their academic performance.
Ganiyu and Akinreti, (2011) stated that the emergence of social media has increased
interactivity between people; hence making them producers and consumers of
information simultaneously. Social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, google
+, 2go, etc have brought incredible improvement in communication and this has enhanced
learning. However, with the aid of internet connectivity, students can create their groups
and form their own page as well as have access to learning materials. Paul (2013)
emphasised that social media is a good facilitator for academic performance and that
social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, myspace, and Google+, are
increasingly visible in educational settings in developed countries as they promote active
learning.
According to Jody (2015), social media is an instrument for building learning community.
He added that being a member of a learning community means engaging in reciprocal
learning activities, soaking in new ideas and sharing perspectives and experiences to
make meaning of the information.
2

This study is particularly concerned with the use of social media in Nigeria universities
and how it improves students’ academic performance at Taraba State University. Taraba
State University is one of the state owned public universities in Nigeria, the university
was established in 2008 and is one of the modern universities in Nigeria equipped with
technological facilities where students have access to internet and frequently use social
media for social interaction. However, social media has not been harnessed in this
university to improve students’ academic performance; hence the need for this study. The
purpose of this study is to develop a template and design a platform that will use google+
to create learning community where course materials will be uploaded, and students can
use the platform to collaborate and interact on issues that border on their academics.
1.2 Research Problem
Since the advent of social media technology in the 1990s, there has been an increase in
the number of users, most of whom are students (Jibrin, Musa and Shittu, 2017). While
this media is perceived by some researchers as a barrier to academic performance, many
others found this technology to be a facilitator for academic performance. Based on
observation, the researcher has discovered that most students in Nigeria and particularly
in Taraba State University, Jalingo use social media frequently to share information, files,
photos, videos, messages and real time conversations. They use social networking sites
like Facebook, google+, Twitter, WhatsApp etc and most of the engagements are mere
social interactions; this take most of their times. As such, this is perceived as a barrier to
their academic performance.
However, this research is aimed at exploring the use of social media as a facilitator to
improve students’ academic performance. This is in line with the view of Jody (2015)
where he described social media as an important tool in building learning community to
improve academic performance. Social media tools like Google+, Twitter, WhatsApp,
Myspace etc. promote active learning and are increasingly visible in educational
institutions in most developed countries (Paul, 2013). This study therefore seeks to find
out whether universities in Nigeria and especially Taraba State University use the social
media as a tool to facilitate and improve students’ academic performance through
interaction and sharing of useful academic contents.
3

1.3 Aims and Objectives
The aim of this research is to explore the use of social media as facilitator to improve
students’ academic performance in Taraba State University. The objectives of this study
are:
i) to determine the perception of students in Nigeria on the use of social media
ii) to determine how students, use social media for educational purposes
iii) to determine whether use of social media improves students’ academic
performance
iv) to identify factors that motivate use of social media in Taraba State University.
Therefore, a case study will be conducted in Taraba State University and the researcher
will ask students questions that will guide the research.
1.4 Research Questions
Based on the above objectives, this research is therefore guided by the following research
questions:
1. How do students perceive the use of social media in Taraba University?
2. How do students use social media for educational purposes?
3. How does use of social media improve students’ academic performance in Nigeria?
4. What factors influences the use of social media in Taraba State Universities?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study will enable institutions of higher learning to consider the factors and create
conditions that will motivate the use of social media among students to improve academic
performance. Universities that are still struggling to find tenable strategies to improve
academic performance using social media will find this research useful. This is because it
will provide valuable information regarding the use of social media to improve students’
academic performance. The study will also be useful to academician, educators, policy
makers and indeed researchers in various academic institutions of learning in improving
their academic performances.
1.6 Methodology
To be able to collect an in-dept detail data for exploration, the study adopted the
qualitative methodology which is appropriate towards the aim of the study and the
research onion was adapted. The study also adopted triangulation method, where
interviews, survey and observations were used as data collection techniques. Snowball
4

sampling was applied whereby an interviewee pointed to the next potential interviewee.
The point of saturation was reached after interviewing required number of interviewees.
Constant comparative analysis was used to analyse the data and the analysis was
grounded in the data collected; inductive approach was maintained during the formation
of categories.
1.7 Definitions
To be able to provide some form of guidelines to the reader, some key words used in this
study have been defined below:
1) Social Media: The term social media is broadly used to describe various
technological systems that are related to community and collaboration (Joosten,
2012). It appears that a specific definition for social media is elusive, it is often
described by example (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). This is due to the fact that it is
constantly in a state of change. Social media also called social networks evolve as
developers create new or enhanced features that will meet the demands of users.
Some of the social media sites such as wikis, blogs, Facebook, google+, twitter,
Myspace, WhatsApp, virtual game worlds, multimedia platforms and virtual social
worlds are among the applications included in recent illustrations (Barnes and
Lescault, 2011; Paul, 2012). Some researchers prefer the term Web 2.0 when referring
to social media (Gruzd, Staves and Wilk, 2011; Hemmi, Bayne and Land, 2009;
Kaplan & Haenline, 2010; Paul 2013).
To narrow the review for the sake of this study, google plus was adapted as social
media tool that will be used for this study.
2) Academic Performance: Academic performance means different thing to different
people depending on the context within which it is used. Melissa (2018) defined
academic performance as a means of determining how well students meet standards
set out by authorities such as educational institutions, regulatory bodies or
government agencies. She maintained that academic performance can be determined
through assessment of student’s achievements in test, examination, coursework etc.
which is graded using cumulative grade point average (CGPA). However, Ellie
(2018) stated that academic performance goes beyond CGPA, he maintained that
while some of the students may not graduate top of their class, they may hold
5

leadership positions in several students’ groups, extracurricular accomplishments or
some form of initiatives. He further stated that grades don’t always reflect a person’s
knowledge or intelligence. This is in line with Rochelle (2018) perception of
academic performance where she describes it as achievements made within and
outside the classroom where certain academic criteria and successes are determined.
She opined that apart from achieving higher CGPA, factors like employability
chances after graduation, competency and ability to use the knowledge acquired to
innovate are part of academic performance. Therefore, for the purpose of this study,
academic performance can be defined as the ability to achieve educational goals by
completing certain educational benchmark.
3) Facilitators and barrier of academic performance:
Facilitators of academic performance are motivators to achieving academic
performance while barrier of academic performance are obstacle to academic
performance (Marisa etal, 2008). Research has shown that facilitators mitigate
problems caused by barriers that interfere with performance (Tesluk and Mathieu,
1999). However, there are speculations that students who perceive many barriers look
actively for facilitators as a way of coping or mitigating effects of the barriers in their
education (Eriksen, Olff and Ursin, 2000). Most barriers that impede academic
performance are either personal, social or organizational. The facilitators or barriers
could affect both the students and institutions depending on the situation. Social
media is seen as a facilitator towards academic performance in this study.
1.8 Delimitation and Scope
This study focused its investigation in Taraba State University, Nigeria using the social
media as a tool towards improving students’ academic performance. Taraba State
University is a state owned public university in Nigeria with six (6) faculties and several
departments (www.tsuniversity.edu.ng). The researcher could not explore all the
departments due to limited time scheduled for the study. Therefore, the researcher
collected data only from few students of the university.
1.9 Outline of the Thesis
Chapter One of this thesis gives the background of the study and the rationale for
conducting the research. It also explains the research problem, aims and objectives,
6

research questions, a brief of the methodology, significance of the study, definition of
terms and the delimitation of the study.
Chapter Two reviewed the literatures which informed the study. It explored the concept
of social media, social media in education, factors affecting the use of social media,
academic performance, theory and practice of academic performance and finally previous
research conducted on the use of social media in education.
The methodology and research paradigm chosen to guide this study as well as the
justification for the choice of the method are outlined in Chapter Three. The chapter also
discussed research design, sampling method, data collection techniques, ethical
considerations and credibility. The criteria of data analysis are also examined in this
chapter.
Data analysis and findings are presented in Chapter Four. This included formal
background information, analysis of the data collected and the interpretation of the data in
relation to previous literatures.
Chapter Five presented the discussion about the theoretical and practical implications of
the research and suggestions for areas of further researcher.
7

Conclusion and Recommendations are discussed in Chapter Six, while the last chapter of
this research which is Chapter Seven provided details on how this project was managed
and the lessons learned.
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
- Introduction
- Background
- Research Problem
- Aims & Objectives
- Research Questions
- Significance of the study
- Methodology
- Definitions
- Delimitation & Scope
- Outline of the study
- Research Structure
- Conclusion
CHAPTER TWO:
Literature Review
- Review of related literatures
- Concept of social media
- Social Media in Education (Theory/Practice)
- Theory and Practice of Academic Performance
- Factors affecting use of social media
- Conclusion.
CHAPTER THREE:
Methodology
- Research paradigm chosen
- Research design,
- Sampling method,
- Data collection techniques,
- Ethical considerations and
credibility
- Conclusion
CHAPTER FOUR:
Analysis & Findings
- Data analysis
- Findings
CHAPTER FIVE:
Discussion
- Theoretical Implications
- Practical Implications
CHAPTER SIX:
Conclusion
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Project Management
- Project Management
- Lessons learned
Figure 1: Research Structure
8

1.11 Conclusion
This is an introductory chapter that provided background information to this research and
the initial motivation for this project was discussed. The research aims and objectives as
well as the problem were presented, the research questions were equally outlined. The
methodology for the research was briefly described with the overview on how the
research will progress and definition of various terms as well as delimitations to this
study were provided. The next chapter will discuss the literature review.
9

CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter discussed works previously done by researchers that are related to the
subject under investigation. The chapter is structured into seven subtopics: the first part
introduced the chapter and its content. The second part reviewed literatures on social
media, its use in the global context and general overview about social media. It also
presented an overview on how social media has gained momentum in today's world and
its penetration in different countries including Nigeria. The third part dealt with the types
of social media as considered by previous researchers who have used social media
(Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, google+ etc.) in education. The fourth section of this
chapter discussed academic performance as previously defined by researchers/scholars.
While the fifth part presented debates on the learning process and technology, and how it
has been integrated into institutions of higher learning as well as its positive impact on
students’ academic performance. This is followed by the sixth part which discussed
facilitators and barriers of academic performance and their implication to the learning
process. Finally, the chapter is concluded with the view of the researcher on use of social
media to improve students’ academic performance.
Searches of the literature were conducted in the World Wide Web (www), IEEE Xplore
Digital Library and Google Scholars website. Other journals were explored in JSTOR
database, Science Direct, Emerald database and EBSCOhost database and they were all
accessed via some electronic resources using Coventry University login details.
Hardcopies of educational materials like Journals, books and Newspapers were also
obtained either online or through Coventry University Library. The terms used for online
searching of information included “social media”, “social media in education”, “social
media penetration”, “academic performance”, “influence of social media in education”,
“social media as facilitator to academic performance “, “factors influencing the use of
social media”, and “using google+ to enhance learning” etc. The researcher used simple
10

search option before resorting to advanced search option for each of the search that was
conducted. The results displayed were checked for relevance to the search terms by
checking the topic of the research, abstract and conclusion. Relevant articles were
identified and downloaded, then saved in a folder with the name of the article for
reference purposes.
During the research process, most of the literatures searched generated few results
relating to use of social media in higher education in Nigeria and most of the result
showed negative perception about social media. At times, results of the search from
different databases displayed the same article with the same authors. This showed that
comprehensive research in use of social media for education in Nigeria to improve
students’ academic performance is limited. The concern of this study is therefore related
to positive use of social media by developing a template using google+ to create learning
community where course materials will be uploaded and both students and teachers will
use the platform to collaborate and interact on intellectual discuss relating to course
works, assignments, exams and general educational knowledge sharing. This will
contribute to the body of knowledge on the use of social media in education.
2.1 Concept of Social Media
Andreas and Michael (2010) described social media as a group of internet-based
applications that are built on the technological foundations of web 2.0 that allows for the
creation and exchange of user generated contents. Kietzmann and Hermkens (2011)
stated that social media eases communication among people regardless of geographical
location thereby making it open to everyone to easily share information such as files,
pictures, videos etc. It enables people to create blogs and send instant messages through
real-time conversations. It also allows for communication with friends, families, course
mates, project supervisors, administrators and lecturers in an easy and effective way. Due
to high social interest of people, social media is now the highest electronic
communication activity on the internet.
While these authors observed social media in a generic form, Sharifa etal (2016) observed
that the ever-increasing use of social media by teenagers and young students is drawing
11

the attention of researchers around the world. The researchers identified social media as
one of the most used technologies in recent times, more especially by teens and young
students. They maintained that teenagers use social media to experiment with their
identities and connect with families and friends for several reasons. This is in line with
Strasburger et al (2009) perceptions of social media, where they described peering as an
important feature of youngsters, therefore, they use social media as a platform to create
friendship. This makes them spend most of their times with friends on social media and
most of the value for such socialization is based on relationships. Due to teens’
enthusiasm towards peering, young people are attributed to social interaction as they learn
to form and maintain intimate friendship; thus, social media creates an ideal platform to
easily socialize. As such, peer groups become primary resource for emotional support
(Allen et al, 2010).
Contributing, Neelotpaul and Arit (2013) revealed that the emergence of social media has
enhance the means of communication over the internet. They maintained that social
media is an emerging digital communication channels for creating a user-oriented
information sharing platform where people can subscribe or generate information
contents as both provider and consumer of information. While emphasising on the group
collaboration, Bryan et al (2006) described social media as an evolving social interactive
technology that uses fast paced inexpensive online communication that allow users to
interact and collaborate in a group. This is in line with Buettner (2016) who sees social
media as a computer mediated tool that allow for group of people or companies,
organizations or institutions to create and share or exchange information, ideas, career
interest, pictures, videos etc. to group of like minds through virtual communities on the
network.
This suggests that through social media, group of professionals can trade profitable
information that can enhance knowledge sharing and professional interest and skills,
while students can share ideas in a group project thereby improving their grades.
Therefore, social media enhances group collaboration; some of these social networks that
are used nowadays to achieve this are Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, skype, google+,
whatsup etc. as indicated in Figure 2 below.
12

Figure 2: Social Media platforms
Source: itpulse.com (2017)
Nevertheless, social media has drew the attention of researchers globally where different
industries are exploring how best to use this technology to create highly interactive
platforms through which individuals and communities can create, share, discuss, and
modify user-generated content to achieve common goal and create competitive
advantage.
2.1.1 Use of Social Media: Global Perspectives
There is a growing number of social media users globally. According to Whizsky (2018),
out of the total world population of 7.6 billion, there are 4.2 billion internets users
worldwide. The publisher further stated that out of the 4.2 billion internet users, there are
more than 3 billion active social media users in the world and the number keeps growing
by 7% every year (Smart, 2018). This indicates that active social media users constitute
about 71% of the global internet users. It further reported that more than 64 percent of
brands are using two or more social media channels. It has also been discovered that 81
percent of all small and medium businesses around the world use some kind of social
13

platform. Smart (2018) maintained that social media users grew by 121 million between
second quarter of 2017 and third quarter of 2017. There is an assumption that a new user
is joining social media every 15 seconds with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
handling 60 billion messages a day (Whizsky, 2018).
Figure 3: Estimated Social Media Users 2018
Source: Whizsky (2018)
The 2018 statistics of social media users as indicated in Fig.3 above showed that
Facebook has more users with over 2 billion users.
Generally, the use of social media globally is increasing, as companies across industries
connect directly to consumers through social media which has great opportunities. This is
especially due to heavy users, who spend over three hours per day on social media. It has
been discovered that Generation X (ages between 35-49) spends the most time on social
14

media. This group of the society are estimated to spend almost 7 hours per week on social
media (Sean 2017). Nielsen (2017) revealed that 25% of female spend most of their time
on social media in relation to 19% of their males’ counterparts and this has spread across
cultures.
Figure 4: Percentage of Time Spent on Social Media
Source: Nielsen NPOWER/National Panel; RADAR; Nielsen Netview; Nielsen VideoCensus and Nielsen Electronic Mobile Measurement
2.1.2 Use of Social Media in the United States of America
In the United States of America for example, Smart (2018) observed that research
conducted in 2015 on social media penetration on smartphone owners between the ages
18 and above indicated that between October to December 2015, Facebook dominated the
landscape. Not only did it take the top spot, but it's other platforms like Facebook
messenger and Instagram also took 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Facebook Messenger
has an impressive 47% penetration, and Instagram comes 2nd for engagement as
indicated in Fig.5 below. No doubt, social media penetration in both the developed and
developing countries is incredible.
15

Figure 5: Most Dominant Social Media in US.
Source: Forester’s Mobile Audio Data, Oct. to Dec. 2015 (Smart Insight 2018)
2.1.3 Use of Social Media in Nigeria
According to Punch Newspaper (2017), 75 per cent of Nigeria’s online population uses
social media; the report further showed that the number keeps growing on both blogging
and other social networking sites. This is attributed to people’s quest for information and
willingness to interact via online community that is full of opportunities.
According to the Nielsen (2016), the size of global daily use of social media is
overwhelming, as at June 2016, there were about 80 million tweets per day and over one
billion Facebook chat messages daily. While in Nigeria, Titilola (2018) revealed that
there are about 26 million Nigerians who log in on the social networking site every
month. The report by Techpoint Africa (2018) disclosed that Nigeria is mobile-first as
about 25 million Nigerians access the Facebook platform through their mobile devices.
Furthermore, the report suggested that as at February 2016, Facebook released its last
official report which indicated that over 16 million Nigerians used Facebook actively
every month Techpoint Africa (2018). This showed that between 2016 and 2018, about
16

10 million more Nigerians are active on Facebook. This is an indication that mobile
penetration in Nigeria is growing significantly and the use of social media is equally
growing as well. Therefore, social media can be a very important tool for any type of
organization to thrive in Nigeria.
2.2 Social Media in Education
The impact of social media is not only limited to businss alone; as a matter of fact, in
recent times social media communities are influencing education as well. The social
media revolution has engulfed the entire organizations including education and scholars
are looking forward to leveraging on the potentials of this technology for educational
purposes (Magda and Hana, 2012).
Although, there are divergence views as to whether social media is a barrier or facilitator
to education, Ezekiel, Ruth and Leo (2013) argued that students are addicted to the use of
social media in Nigeria and this take most of their times. They maintained that students
chat even in highly organized places of worships like churches, mosques and even in
lecture venues. They also opined that social media is a barrier to academic performance
as most students who engage in social media perform poorly in the class.
In line with the above argument, Oberiri (2016) noted that most of the platforms used by
students are WhatsApp, Facebook and twitter they use them to interact and share
information about post relating to common interest, friendship, relationships, beliefs and
businesses etc. while little or no attention is given to their academic work. He maintained
that social media has not been harnessed in most of the developing countries for effective
utilization for academic purposes. This is because most of the institutions in these
developing countries still rely on traditional learning process.
17

Magda and Hana (2012) suggested that although social media can be harmful to young
students such that they can lose focus in school as well as reduce their academic
performance. They pointed out that social media can be beneficial for both teachers and
adult students in enhancing teaching and learning. This is achievable even in young stars
if it is used correctly and responsibly under the monitoring of parents and teachers of the
young students. However, despite some negative perception of social media on students’
education, it can still be leveraged to benefit students and teachers alike. It is a known
fact, that online learning has been intensified in recent times, as many colleges and
universities are devising means of teaching their courses online using different social
media tools, this is because provision of learning materials online is seen as beneficial to
students. In their contributions Bety and Susan (2013) disclosed that social media is a
good facilitator and can significantly improve students’ academic performance. Paul
(2013) asserted that social media is a good facilitator of academic performance. He
discovered that social media tools like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, myspace, and
Google+, are increasingly visible in educational settings in developed countries as it
promotes active learning of students.
Similarly, Elham and Ali (2014) disclosed that the world has changed due to rapid
technological innovations, so also, learning has changed from the traditional classroom
methods to a more sophisticated online learning community. They reiterated that the
increase in popularization of mobile and computer technologies, classroom teaching that
use chalk board or markers has now become obsolete as the use of multimedia
presentations, social networks and blogging has become the modern learning technologies
that makes learning a fun. In their contribution, Tham and Werner (2005) stated that the
world of today has become the vast storehouse of information due to technological
advancement and use of Internet and other technologies are making learning interesting.
18

According to Jody (2015), he noted that there is importance in building learning
community to be able to improve academic performance. He argued that being a member
of a learning community means engaging in reciprocal learning activities, soaking in new
ideas and sharing perspectives and experiences to make meaning of the information. This
learning community can be achieved using social media. Equally, Aditi and David (2010)
maintained that interactive social media is a great learning community where students can
access, create and share knowledge by uploading pictures, videos, audios and other
learning materials that will improve their academic performance. To buttress this point,
Liccardi et al (2007) stated that social media is no longer a tool for communication alone,
but are widely used in education, lectures now are mediated by social media technologies
and academic engagements like peer assessment, collaborative work and intellectual
discussions can now be achieved through the use of social media. Research has shown
that about 30% of students use social media to communicate with other students, this
communication involves the use of posts on blogs, instance messaging etc. while over
52% use online podcasts, videos, wikis and blogs to access educational materials (Licardi
et al 2017). To support this assertion, Mazman and Usluel, (2010) added that social media
platforms support educational activities which in turn support students learning. They
reiterated that social media makes interaction, active participation, collaboration, critical
thinking, resource and information sharing possible.
2.2.1 Use of Facebook in Education
Elham et al (2014) described Facebook as a popular networking tool that is used for
communication, exchange of knowledge and sharing of information. They described the
platform as having special features for chatting with different people around the world.
Their choice of this tool is that they observed that most higher education students use this
platform. They observed that online social networks have offered brilliant opportunities
for users more especially students to interact and collaborate for sharing ideas and
education materials to advance their educational performance. However, they also stated
19

that most people are sceptical of this network due to security issues keeping in mind the
Cambridge analytical saga.
Similarly, a study by Mazen and Hawar (2015) to determine the impact of using social
network at University of Human Development Iran revealed that even though, Facebook
was not initially intended for instructive purposes, it was found to be an incredible
potential towards improving students’ knowledge. The study discovered that Facebook
can advance communitarian models of learning, associate students and teachers, build
learners' motivational level and make a more agreeable classroom atmosphere. The study
suggested that Facebook can make solid practical groups for showing and discovering
students’ experience by extending the learning process beyond the conventional
classroom. However, the constraint to this research was that, it is only applicable to the
study area which cannot be generalized and can be applicable due to its social status.
According to Hofstede and Hofstede (2001), the social differences between nations have
an impact on the importance individuals append to various parts of life. These distinctions
may impact students conduct, learning styles, desires and standards when using social
media for educational purposes.
2.2.2 Use of Twitter in Education
Twitter is one of the most popular services in micro-blogging and it is the best way to
discover what’s new in your world (Elham, 2014). The objective of this social media
platform is to share short messages constantly between friends and it is a veritable tool for
students to fast-tract sharing of information. Several students use this platform to
communicate happening arounds them and it keeps them abreast of the latest
development in their communities. They use it to share photos, videos and other related
academic materials that their classmates or people that like or share may be interested in.
Although tweet messages can play an important role on the users, especially students in
colleges and universities by receiving short news items and other posts relating to
20

business, fashion, health etc. It is still being argued as to whether it has direct impact on
students’ academic performance as huge users are said to be business and political class.
2.2.3 Use of WhatsApp in Education
This social media platform is a good resource for creating group members, teachers and
students alike use this platform to create groups to support teaching and learning. The
infiltration of smartphones in the tech market has initiated the use of WhatsApp to
support learning by allowing direct access to lots of online resources (Sonia and Alka
2017). WhatsApp is a convenient tool for teaching and learning because of the
combination of medium such as pictures, videos, text and voice messages alongside
constant availability of facilitator which makes learning available anytime anywhere. For
example, it has been observed that Coventry University students used WhatsApp
application to create Coursework groups where they interact and share ideas on their
group assignments. This improves their academic engagement and by extension, their
academic performance is boosted. Most students across the world uses this platform for
group projects, group coursework, group innovation etc. This also improve knowledge
sharing among group members. Although, WhatsApp is not officially recognized by
Coventry university, but it has helped students’ interaction for knowledge sharing.
2.2.4 Use of Google+ in Education
Google Plus has been discovered as a veritable social media tool that increases students’
engagement and learning (Betsy, Marie and Kelsey 2013). A research conducted at
Georgetown University's Teaching, Learning and Innovation Summer Institute discovered
that implementing Google+ in Electronic Commerce Course (OPIM 256) to build
learning community for frequent students’ interactions, was found to have increased
students’ academic performance. The platform was used to create learning communities
outside the classroom to keep students updated about lectures, assignments, and other
students’ engagements. It was also used to create online space to support classroom
21

discussion, personal chart with course mates and course lecturers as well as lecture
materials and live-streaming lectures on google hangout. This encouraged students’
participation, and the approach was found to be effective in improving students’ academic
performance.
However, the challenge with the platform was that some few students found it hard to
keep up with what was being posted. Instead, they only look at the account when they are
posting material for class. To resolve this problem, certain grades were rewarded to
students who posted on the platform. It was discovered that when students find out
something is part of their grade, they tend to think that as long as they participate on that
thing, they will satisfy the requirements. This motivated students to actively participate
and it changed their learning experience for better and as well improved their academic
performance. This platform was found to be very efficient in improving students’
academic performance and it is adopted in this research.
2.2.5 Other Social Media platforms used in Education
There are several social media platforms that are used in education apart from the ones
elaborated in this chapter. Other platforms like Classroom 2.0, YouTube, myspace and
many others are very good tool for teaching and learning (Kapuler, 2011). Students use
social media for different purposes; it has been discovered that around 60% students say
they use social media to discuss lessons learnt in the class outside school hours, and they
use it also to plan for their engagements in College (Masic et al, 2012). They also
suggested that students should use online communities, such as MySpace for chatting,
blogging, text messaging and other educational activities which include collaboration on
group projects. Yuen and Yuen (2008) revealed that the most tools used are Facebook,
YouTube and Twitter because they help students to interact and exchange knowledge
easily.
22

2.3 The Learning Process and Technology
Learning constitute a process of activities involving multidimensional interactions within
geographical, temporal and cultural enclave called institution (college, university etc).
These multi-dimensions of interaction include student to teacher interaction, student to
student interaction and student to world interactions. Academically, these activities are
referred to as curricular and extra-curricular activities (Rosita and Chaudhari 2010). In
recent times, technologies such as social media, multimedia, portals, websites etc are
being used to influence these interactions. Institutions of higher learning are making
series of investment in technology infrastructures such as internet connectivity,
computers, multimedia technologies, software etc. with an optimism that the investment
would result to utilization of these technologies by students to improve their performance
and teachers’ productivity to enhance the learning experiences. However, there is
growing concern as to whether the investments have achieved the desired goals of
improving students’ performance or teachers’ productivity. This perception has prompted
the researcher to explore use of one of these technologies (i.e social media) to improve
students’ academic performance in Nigeria. It is an established fact that several factors
motivate or hinders academic performance, these factors could be facilitators or barriers
of academic performance.
2.4 Academic Performance
Sandra and Jorge (2015) describe academic performance as representing efficacy level in
the consecution of the curricular objectives for a diversity of subjects expressed through a
qualifier, which are represented in value within a numeric interval. This is in line with
Melisa (2018) assertion that academic performance is a means of determining how well
students meet educational standards. The authors maintained that academic performance
can be represented in different values such as weighted average of students' grades using
CGPAs or students’ averages in certain areas such as professional, basic or
complimentary. Academic averages are normally calculated using grades from subjects
23

that make up each area in the study plan and such performances are presented as either
outstanding, average or failure. Therefore, academic performance means meeting certain
academic criteria measured in grades or certain accomplishments in some extracurricular
activities.
2.5 Facilitators and Barriers of Academic Performance
Facilitators and barriers play an important role in students’ learning process. Marisa etal
(2009) describe facilitators and barriers as factors that promote or hampers academic
performance. They maintained that presence of barrier and absence of facilitator, affects
students’ academic performance negatively. Similarly, Aina (2014) argued that
achievement or mass failure of students in public examinations could be attributed to
factors relating to absence of facilitators and presence of barriers, this may be caused by
parents, students, teachers, schools, the language of instruction, government or the
society. She maintained that in West Africa and Nigeria in particular, there are several
facilitators and barriers to academic performance that affect students’ learning outcome,
as this results to achievement or failure.
2.5.1 Facilitators of Academic Performance
Facilitator of academic performance promotes learning (Marina, 2009). He maintained
that there are several facilitators of academic performance that could promote learning if
considered prior to embarking on educational decisions. Similarly, Tesluk and Mathieu
(1999) identified some facilitators that can enhance learning. Some of the facilitators
identified by the authors that may positively improve students’ academic performance in
Nigeria include:
i. Information about programme of study prior to enrolment
ii.
Effective use of technologies (internet, social media, blogging, e-books etc) for
learning purposes
iii.
Previous knowledge, skill and training before enrolment
24

iv.
Tutoring time available
v. Access to computer labs, internet and email services
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
Tolerance and group discussion among colleagues
Photocopying services
Library opened with a photocopy machine at nights during examinations
Information service for students
x. Social support from family and friends
xi.
xii.
xiii.
xiv.
xv.
Good social relationship with teachers
Practical with few students
Timetable flexibility for practical
Feedback from teachers or colleagues
Transport to and from the university (frequent buses) and many more.
2.5.2 Barriers of Academic performance.
Similarly, barrier to academic performance was identified to be a factor that hampers
academic performance (Marisa etal 2009). Similarly, Marina (2009) stated that there are
several barriers that hinders student’s academic performance in Nigeria. Some of the
barrier identified by the authors are:
i. Lack of financial resources
ii.
iii.
iv.
Non-access to ICT facilities
Inadequate preparation for career opportunities
Problem with schedules (overlap class)
v. Overpopulation of students
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
Library with few books
Lack of personal training and background needed for studying
Lack of information about task to be done
Performance tasks that require too much concentration
x. Lack of good planning
25

xi.
xii.
xiii.
xiv.
High students’ enrolment with less facilities
Late coming from teachers / tutors
Teachers absenteeism
Lack of teamwork among others
Therefore, the learning process is motivated by facilitators and hindered by barriers of
academic performance some of which are enumerated above. Most of these facilitators
and barriers are factors that might affect academic performance of students in Nigeria and
indeed, West Africa.
2.6 Conclusion
In conclusion, most of the previous research that are included in this literature review left
some research gaps that this study seeks to fill. Some of the studies reviewed in this
chapter were carried out based entirely on literature review. For example, studies such as
Magda and Hana (2012), Ezekiel, Ruth and Leo (2013) and Oberiri (2016). They believed
that social media have negative implication to academic performance of students. Their
researches were based on the social information processing and media equation theory.
Although, some of the studies were based on empirical evidence such as eg. Ezekiel, Ruth
and Leo, 2013, but because the authors were from non-IT background, they might have
provided a potential source of bias in their analysis. Their interviewees accounts were
limited by pre-coded parameters which formed part of the questions in their
questionnaires. Therefore, the studies could have missed collecting in-depth data that
could have explained and provided further elaboration of the phenomenon under
investigation.
However, most of the studies conducted in developed countries such as researches
conducted by Bety and Susan (2013), Paul (2013, Elham and Ali (2014), Tham and
Werner (2005), Jody (2015), Aditi and David (2010) and Liccardi et al (2007) all
supported social media as a veritable tool for building learning communities that fosters
26

academic achievements. Such studies were conducted in developed countries with
positive results that social media is a great tool for improving academic performance.
Therefore, the current study is based on the case study method using in-depth interviews,
survey questionnaires and observation as the principle data collection technique which
seeks to fill research gaps that were left by previous studies conducted in developing
country like Nigeria where penetration of social media is unprecedented, with the view to
exploring the use of social media to improve students’ academic performance. The next
chapter will present the methodology and research paradigm that guided this study.
27

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter discusses the research methodology used in this study and the justification
for the choices of the methodology is provided. The philosophy behind the research and
the guiding research paradigm chosen for the study and reasons for their choices is given.
The purpose for choosing survey and case study strategies used for conducting this study
are presented. The chapter also delineated the research design for the case study,
sampling technique and the criteria for obtaining the sample have been elaborated. It
further highlighted the benefits for conducting interview and survey for this study. The
data collection techniques, procedures, ethical consideration and limitations have been
addressed. The chapter also discussed the method and approach used for analysing the
data obtained and various ways for achieving credibility are also outlined.
3.1 Research Methodology
Research methodology is important to any study when conducting a research. It simply
means a procedure for gathering data Bryman and Bell (2007). Research methodology
supports types of question that can be tackled and nature of evidence that can be gathered
(Clark, 1984). In other words, business research can be defined as an organized,
systematic, critical and objective scientific investigation or inquiry into a specific
problem which is undertaken with the intention to proffer solution or get an answer to a
problem (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Miller (1983) argued that methodology is a body of
knowledge that allow scholars to analyse and describe methods. Cooper and Schindler
(2000) proposes that management research may cover studies that are descriptive or
predictive, reporting or explanatory. Similarly, Saunders et al. (2012) defined research as
process by which individuals attempts to learn things in systemic way for the purpose of
increasing their knowledge.
The purpose of this study is to explore the use of social media to improve students’
academic performance in Nigeria. Therefore, this chapter presents the research
methodology employed in this study, including research design, the target population,
28

sampling procedures as well as the sample itself. The instrumentation for data collection,
procedures and data analysis will also be described.
3.2 The Research Onion
The research onion developed by Saunders et al. (2007) illustrates stages involve in
developing a research strategy. It consists of 6 layers and each layer of the onion
describes a detailed stage of a research process (Saunders et al., 2007).
It provides progression through which an effective research methodology can be designed
and used in variety of contexts (Bryman, 2012). The research onion describes the
philosophy, approach, methodological choice, strategies, time horizon, techniques and
procedures for data collection and analysis used in a research.
According to Saunders et al (2007), research process can be represented as an onion with
several layers and approaches available that must be consistently employed when
conducting a research. In accordance with the research onion, several issues must be
considered before the central point of the onion, that is, the data collection and data
analysis is addressed. The figure below, illustrates the content of the onion layers and the
subsections the follows, explains the contents of the onion: philosophies, approaches,
strategies, choice, time horizons, techniques and procedures adopted in this study.
Figure 6: The Research Onions
Source: @Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Andrian Thornhill 2011
29

3.3 Research Philosophy
Bryman (2012) described research philosophy as arrangements of convictions relating to
realities of the truth being explored. Considering that this research is finding the
acceptable knowledge and tries to address the facts or realities based on findings, this
study adapted the use of epistemology using interpretivist theoretical perspective which
aims to obtain detailed data to be able to simplify transferability of findings (Pickard,
2007).
Crotty (2003) asserts that objectivist epistemology holds that, meaning and reality exists
apart from the operation of any consciousness. He further maintains that this
epistemology using the positivist stance assumes that truth or reality exits in the objects
and only waiting to be discovered by means of careful study. The positivist’s theoretical
viewpoint suggests that another researcher who follow the same procedure and methods
of study can always achieve the same results, thus leading to generalization of findings
(Crotty, 2003). However, the purpose of this study was not to generalize findings.
Therefore, the study was guided by the interpretivist theoretical perspective aims at
obtaining detailed data to simplify transferability of findings (Pickard, 2007). The
transferability should however be based on similarity of context. Therefore, the
interpretivist stance transferability depends on contextual applicability (Erlandson, Harris,
Skipper & Allen, 1993).
Based on the above theory, this study is based on constructivist epistemology which
desires that truth can only be made through interaction of the investigator with the
subjects of investigation (Crotty 2003). The aim of this study is to explore the use of
social media to improve students’ academic performance. The researcher found it
necessary to construct meaning or reality by interacting with the subjects who are
engaged in academic activities (students). This study was carried out using interviews and
survey questionnaires as means of interaction with interviewees and respondents at
Taraba State University.
30

The results presented as truth in this research, could not be assumed to have existed
before this interaction took place in the study area. The researcher, in agreeing with the
constructivist approach, believed that the truth about the investigation is a product of the
interaction with the subjects as described by Patton (2002). The researcher anticipated
results that could reflect his interaction with the subjects. Therefore, the researcher
acknowledge that social media may influence academic performance, however, there are
other facilitators that contribute to this development that were not investigated due to time
constraints. This study mainly focused on the use of social media to improve students’
academic performance.
The ideas of the researcher about social media had to tally with his experience of the
subjects’ accounts after investigation. The researcher’s initial interpretation of social
media in this study is in conformity to the experience of the phenomenon by interpreting
views from the subjects about its use to improve students’ academic performance at
Taraba State University. The researcher was open to alternative explanation of the
phenomenon throughout the research process, he focused on the descriptions and
explanations while continually checking the likelihood of alternative interpretation of the
phenomenon.
3.4 Research Approach
Research approach is the 2 nd layer of Saunders’ research onion (Saunders et al, 2009).
The research approach is classified into deductive approach and inductive approach. The
deductive approach focusses on using the literature to identify ideas and theories that the
researcher will test using data, while the inductive approach focuses on collecting data
and developing a theory based on the results of data analysis (Saunders et al, 2009). This
study focused on collecting data and developing a theory based on the results of data
analysed. Therefore, this study is of the inductive orientation.
3.5 Methodological Choice
This research adopted qualitative methodology in line with Patton (2002) which states
that qualitative methods facilitate study of issues in depth and detail, as this is what the
study intended to do to achieve its earlier stated aim. Gorman & Clayton (2005) state that
31

while quantitative methodology assumes objective reality of social facts, the qualitative
methodology assumes social constructions of reality. To achieve the purpose of this study
it was necessary for the researcher to spend substantial amount of time interacting and
obtaining information from the subjects to achieve social construction of the reality.
Furthermore, quantitative methodology requires use of standardized measures such that
experiences and varying perspectives of people can be fitted into limited numbers of
predetermined responses to which numbers are assigned. This limitation is viewed by the
researcher as something that would only inhibit the interviewees or respondents’ potential
responses, yet the detailed responses would be invaluable in explaining use of social
media to improve students’ academic performance. This justifies the reason for the choice
of qualitative methodology over quantitative methodology.
Moreover, the quantitative approach enables measurement of reactions of many people
which leads to generalizable set of findings (Patton, 2002). The implication of this
assertion was not however the interest of this study, instead of generalizing its findings,
this study sought to obtain detailed data regarding the phenomena under investigation and
therefore, allow the findings open to alternative probable explanations. The alternative
interpretations should however depend on the context to which they may be related.
Therefore, for the purposes of this study, qualitative methodology was used.
3.6 Research Strategies
Case study and survey are two possible methods that could be used to study use of social
media to improve students’ academic performance in educational institutions.
Notwithstanding, the study used triangulation for credibility such that interviewees are
asked the same questions in the same way during survey research while their potential
responses are restricted within pre-coded parameters (Pickard, 2007).
Using pre-coded parameter only as research method are viewed by the researcher as
limitation that may restrict the emergent nature of the research and limit the much-needed
detail and multidirectional character in the subjects’ responses. This would have deprived
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the research some valuable information that may explain the phenomenon and build a
case for further interpretation. Survey designs produces a generalization within the
population while case study deals with empirical inquiry that investigates an in-depth
contemporary phenomenon and its real-life context more especially when the boundaries
between the phenomenon and context are not clear (Yin, 2009).
Social media is a contemporary phenomenon whose boundaries in education are indistinct
which justifies the use of the case study method to define these boundaries. As outlined
by Yin (2009), case study methods should be used to deeply understand real-life
phenomenon, but such understanding contains important contextual conditions which are
highly relevant to the phenomenon. In this study, the contextual condition is academic
performance in Taraba University which may have a relationship with the phenomenon of
social media.
Moreover, ethnography would have been another possible method to use for conducting
this research, although, ethnography focuses on describing and interpreting a cultural and
social group while the focus of a case study is to develop an in-depth analysis of a single
case (Pickard, 2007). It is pertinent to note that the focus of this study was to conduct an
in-depth analysis of the chosen case. Besides, a case study site is typically visited at
regular intervals to engage in data collection that can be largely predefined while
ethnography stresses on prolonged engagement within context (Creswell, 1998). Due to
constraints of time and resources, the case study method was considered more feasible
than ethnography for this study.
Pickard (2007) describe case study research as a method designed to study within context
with a very specific purpose. The purpose of the research is to explore the use of social
media to improve students’ academic performance at Taraba State University. Emphasis
was placed on exploring the phenomenon of social media and this demands for use of
instrumental case study (Pickard, 2007) while the purpose of the study is to investigate
the phenomenon defined here as social media and the case is therefore a vehicle for the
investigation.
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Furtherance to this, Yin (2009) pointed out that one of the most important applications for
case studies is to explain the presumed underlying links in real-life involvements that are
too complex for the survey. Social media being one of such underlying links in real life,
justifies the use of case study method for explaining it. The researcher further maintained
that the case study is the most preferred method especially when research questions seek
answers to “why” and “how”, this is because such questions deal with operational links
that need to be traced over period of time such as the ones posed for this study rather than
only questions that seek to find out mere frequencies.
3.6.1 Research Design
The main purpose of a research design is to help avoid the situation in which the evidence
does not address the initial research questions (Yin, 2009). The researcher contends that
design addresses logical problems than logistical problems. Therefore, to be able to
obtain logical results, it was imperative that this study explicitly made the components of
the research design. Yin (2009), outlined case study research design to include a study
question as shown earlier in Section 1.4 in Chapter One of this research; units of analysis;
proposition; logic linking the data to propositions and the criteria for interpreting
findings.
The proposition for this study is the use of social media in education while the unit of
analysis is social media, but the embedded units of analysis is the use of social media in
Taraba State University and the contextual event surrounding unit of analysis in this study
is academic performance at Taraba State University.
3.6.2 Sampling
Sampling is used when it is not practical to include the entire research population in your
study (Pickard, 2007), therefore, the researcher considered students of Institutions of
Higher Learning in Nigeria as the wider population and students at Taraba State
University were sampled. Since the emphasis of the study was on quality rather than
quantity, purposive sampling was adopted over random sampling or probability. The
objective of the research was not to maximize numbers but rather to become saturated
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with information on the phenomenon under study in line with purposive sampling
(Padgett, 1998).
Patton (2002) asserts that power and logic of probability sampling is derive from a
purpose; generalization, the purpose this study didn’t seek to pursue. He further
maintained that the power of purposeful sampling, is derived from the emphasis on indepth
understanding which is a desirable component for a case study such like the one
under investigation. For an in-depth study of the case, this study engaged purposive
sampling.
Purposeful sampling logic relies on selecting information rich-cases for in-depth study
(Patton, 2002). Elaborating on this, Pickard (2007) maintained that information rich cases
are those that one can learn great deal of important issues central to the purpose and
emergent nature of the research. For an interactive study, the researcher used snowball
sampling. Snowball sampling is qualitative and keeps the emergent nature of the research
(Pickard, 2007). While using snowball, the researcher made initial contacts with the key
informant from the Educational Institution. This informant pointed to other potential
interviewees and next subjects in turn pointed to others as the research progressed; this
was to maximize information (Pickard, 2007). The sample was terminated at a point when
no new information was obtained from new interviewees during the investigation. This
made it impossible to pre-determine size of the sample. Information redundancy was used
as criterion to determine when saturation was achieved. Saturation was reached when no
new information was obtained concerning the phenomenon under investigation. This
occurred after interviewing 10 interviewees.
To determine the survey sample size of the study area. The entire population of students
of Taraba State University Jalingo is about 6000 (Source: www.tsuniversity.edu.ng,
2016). To determine the sample of the study, Taro Yamane’s formula will be adopted to
determine the sample of this study as follows:
N= N .
1+ N (e)2
Where: N = sample size sought
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e = Level of error (0.10) 2
N = Population size 6000
N = 6000 .
1 + 6000 (0.10) 2
N= 6000 .
1+6000 (0.01)
N = 6000
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N = 100
Therefore, 100 participants were contacted via email with the link to the online survey
questionnaire.
3.7 Time Horizon
Time horizons is the fourth layer of Saunders et al (2012) research onion. The question to
be considered is whether this study should be described as causal, exploratory, or
descriptive after determining the inductive orientation as the research approach for this
study and considering the intention of collecting large amount of data from sizeable
population economically and efficiently. The researcher believed that cross-sectional
‘snapshot’ descriptive survey is the appropriate option for this study as it is conducted
within a short time frame.
3.8. Techniques and Procedures:
3.8.1 Data Collection:
Interview:
The research adopted the interview data collection technique to enable the researcher to
obtain qualitative descriptive in-depth data specific to individual subjects. Interview is
meant to access what is in the interviewee’s mind (Patton, 2002). Apart from the
administered questionnaire, interviews allow some degree of interaction between the
researcher and the subject (Pickard, 2007). This provided an opportunity for the
researcher to interact with the subject which led to construction of meanings and it
provided vital information about the phenomenon under investigation.
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The interviews were in-depth and were guided by an interview guide which was prepared
earlier (Appendix 1). The interview guide assisted in keeping focus of the phenomenon
while creating sufficient time for the interviewees to control the process while answered
question relating to the interview. Interview guide provides subjects area or topic within
which the interviewer is free to probe, explore or ask questions that will illuminate or
elucidate the subject area (Patton, 2002).
The researcher used a basic checklist to ensure that during the interview, all relevant areas
of the topic were covered, this allowed space for him to probe, explore and ask questions.
The check list included topics like the subject’s students’ perception of social media, how
use of social media improves academic performance and others related to the subject of
investigation. This interview approach is useful for eliciting information about specific
topics as described by Pickard (2007).
After obtaining ethical approval from Coventry University, the researcher then sought for
permission from Taraba State University Management Team to conduct a research in the
university on the study area. After permission was granted, the researcher then decided to
take one of the student of university informant. An introductory e-mail message with the
request for an interview was sent to this first interviewee and a positive response
indicating date and time for the interview was received 2 days later.
The first interview was conducted which lasted for about 15 minutes, after the first
interview, subsequent interviews lasted for about 10 minutes and were recorded on a
personal mobile phone to provide backup in case of any unforeseen circumstances. While
the recording was going on during the interviews, important notes were taken by the
researcher using pen in a note book for easier analysis and transcription. When question
was asked, the question number was recorded in the note book and important notes
corresponding to the question number were taken.
After an interview, the audio recording copy of the interview was uploaded on a laptop as
backup. All interviews were conducted via mobile phone. Each time an interviewee
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recommended another potential interviewee, an email was sent to the target interviewee
introducing the researcher and the aim of the interview including the request date and
time for the interview. As mentioned earlier, the saturation point was reached after
interviewing ten interviewees.
Online Survey:
Best and Kahn (2006) asserts that survey research is characterized with an open problem
and well-defined objective which requires a watchful data collection, analysis and
interpretation, and logical reporting of findings. Survey means a research study design
where participants are asked to answer certain questions. Survey can also be defined as a
data collection tool commonly used in a research to gather information from individuals
on a subject matter through responses to questions. Survey research design describes a
given state of event at a particular time. The method uses questionnaires or interviews or
both for the collection of data from a population based on appropriate sampling
techniques. This research design is usually used in behavioural sciences more especially
in educational research. It provides information for further research in experimental
studies. Survey research comprises a clear definition of problems, collection of related,
skilled and professional reporting of the outcomes after analysis and interpretation of the
data collected. Online Survey was administered after conducting the interview to further
obtain data about the study for proper interpretation. Most questionnaires were almost the
same with the interview questions.
Questionnaire are data gathering tool through which respondent answer question to
statements in written to enable them to express themselves freely, especially for those that
may not have time to attend to personal interview (Best and Khan, 2006). In this
research, the questionnaire was designed by the researcher and it relates to topic and the
research questions raised. The close ended questions where used to help in obtaining
more accurate data.
The questionnaire was categories into two parts, the First Part consists of 4 questions
relating to student’s profile and the Second Part consist of 4 Sections with close ended
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questions relating to the subject area: Section A of Part 2 contains 3 close-ended
questions relating to student’s perception of social media; Section B contains a multiple
choice question; Section C contains a question relating to use of social media to improve
student’s academic performance (with 10 options to be answered in a 5 Likert scale
measurement) while Section D contains question relating to factors affecting use of social
media (with 4 multiple choice options). Therefore, in all the questionnaire in this research
work consist of 10 main questions with 20 sub-questions which are directly related to the
research questions. The population of Taraba State University students consists of 5000
undergraduate and 1000 Postgraduate students (Opuke,2016). The study used Taro
Yame’s formula to sample 100 students as explained in 3.6.2 above.
Observation
Observations are useful when a case is carried out in a natural setting where some
relevant behaviour or environmental conditions are available for observation, such
observations serve as source of evidence (Yin, 2009). The researcher took advantage of
this fact to use the observation technique as a source of evidence to observe students
online while using the template designed as solution to this research. The researcher at
times used the observation technique less formally to serve as additional source of
evidence when other evidences like interview was being collected in line with Yin’s
suggestion. Students interaction on the University’s social media group was observed this
was to compare real time students’ use of social media to responses gave during interview
and survey.
3.8.2 Data Analysis
Yin (2009) pointed that case studies should have general analytic strategy to be able to
determine what to be analysed. He further maintained that, in the first place, no data
manipulation method should replace an adoption of a strategy. He offers four general
strategies: theoretical propositions, case description including development of descriptive
framework, examination of rival explanations and finally using both descriptive and
qualitative data.
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This study followed the strategy of relying on theoretical proposition. This is because,
this strategy suits case study whose objectives and design are based on proposition and
are reflected in the literature review and study’s research questionnaires” (Yin 2009).
Therefore, this case study is clearly guided by its objectives which is well reflected in the
research questions in Section 1.4 in Chapter One; this justifies choice of the general
strategy. This suggests that the case study design was important in guiding the analyst to
determine which data to focus on and which one to discard.
Due to the inductive and emergent nature of the study, constant comparative analysis was
used for analysing the data. Melia (1997) states that using constant comparative method
to careful analyse data items leads to emergence of conceptual categories that would be
useful in explaining and describing the phenomenon under study. Gathering and analysis
of data was concurrently done during the interview to create room for further
consultations should necessity for further clarification on data arises, this was done as the
study progresses. Pickard, (2007) described qualitative analysis as involving a constant
interaction of data and analysis; data informing analysis, and analysis informing data as
the case may be.
To be able to identify similarities and differences, data from different sources were
compared to develop conceptualization of pieces of data. The researcher resisted the
temptation of using prior knowledge as much as possible, but moderately used raw data in
creating categories as illustrated by Glaser and Strauss (1967) in their grounded theory
methodology.
This is in line with Pickard (2007) when the researcher stressed that constant comparative
analysis requires that creation of categories should be driven by raw data and not
established by a prior research, although, it is unavoidable that prior research may
identify some salient issues. To maintain this notion, the interview transcript analysis and
observation notes were based on inductive approach geared towards identifying patterns
in the data through thematic codes (Gibbs 2007). Patton (2002) pointed out that inductive
analysis comprises of discovering themes, patterns and categories in one’s data. He
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further clarifies that findings emerges out of a data through analyst’s interaction with the
data.
The analyst didn’t wait to complete the entire interview process before transcription,
rather transcription was done immediately after interview. This enabled the analyst to
contact the interviewees by phone to seek clarification in grey areas, this gave the study
some form of iteration. This was helpful in keeping an emergent design and constitutes a
case study strength because it allows for confirmation or repudiation of emerging themes
earlier before end of data collection (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
3.8.3 Formation of Categories for Data Analysis
Similar data were grouped in categories and set of properties were assigned to each
category based on thematic codes used in identifying data that addresses similar issues.
This is referred to as an open coding which means being open to data (Strauss & Corbin,
1998). Double page note book was used to transcribed interviews, this was done on the
right-hand side of the page and the left-hand side was preserved for analysis. Analysis
was done by reading through all the transcript interview data and comments were made
on important points of the data. This was to identify topics and similar data. Similar,
phrases of passages were coded, then arrows were used to point to the codes on the
opposite pages, this provided basis for formation of categories. Eg. Code like “SM”
which represented social media tool was assigned to where ever data representing the tool
appears.
In case of survey questionnaire, the Online Survey platform used (Bristol Online Survey).
The online resources automatically analysed data received from the respondents and this
gave the researcher opportunity to interpret the data without stress. In addition, tools like
SPSS was used to analyse and appropriate interpret data.
3.9 Credibility
Triangulation is often used as a way of establishing credibility in qualitative
methodology, such as triangulation of investigators, theory techniques or sources
(Denzin, 1978). To ensure credibility for this research, this study did not only used
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interview data collection technique but also survey questionnaires and observation of
websites. This is in line with Patton (2002) who maintained that the combination of
interviews, survey questionnaires and observations in a study leads to attainment of
triangulation in a qualitative investigation. Also, Yin (2009) suggests that the purpose of
triangulation is to collect information from multiple sources then corroborate the same
facts or phenomenon. Therefore, the researcher looked out for similarities from different
data sources obtained that explains the phenomenon.
The researcher was also mindful of the fact that different kinds of data may yield slightly
different results, because different kinds of inquiry are sensitive to different real-world
experiences (Patton (2002). Following this assertion, the researcher treated such
inconsistencies as illuminative, then offer an opportunity for deeper understanding of the
relationship between the inquiry approach and the phenomenon under investigation.
3.10 Ethical Considerations
Data was not collected until the researcher obtained ethical approval from Coventry
University. This was followed by request seeking for permission to conduct research at
Taraba State University from the university’s management team. After receiving the
permission, the interviewees and prospective online survey participants were sent an e-
mail indicating the purpose of the interview or survey, before commencement. This was
followed with a statement that the interview and survey was being conducted purely for
academic research purposes. The interviewees and online survey participants were
promised anonymity during the discussion of findings.
3.11 Conclusion
This chapter provided detailed discussions on the methodology used for this research as
well as the research paradigm that guided the study. The research onion methodology was
adopted, the approach, strategy, methodology, time horizon, techniques and procedures
for data collection and analysis were discussed including the justification for the choice
and the research design was elaborated. Sampling criteria and means for achieving
credibility for the research were provided. Finally, the chapter provided ethical
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considerations and limitations for the study. The next chapter will present data analysis
and findings obtained using the methods mentioned above.
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CHAPTER FOUR
ANALAYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction
This chapter presents findings and analysis of the data collected during the study. The
chapter will first present the institutional background information of Taraba State
University, Jalingo, Nigeria. This information is significant in defining the context within
which the study was conducted. Secondly, data collected from interviews, online survey
questionnaires and observations made on student’s engagement in social media
conversations as it corroborates the evidences given orally during the interviews were
presented. Lastly, data presented will be analysed and the outcome will help in
responding to research questions raised in chapter one.
4.1 Background of Taraba State University
Taraba State University Jalingo was established by the Taraba State Government in 2008,
to expand access to university education for Taraba State indigenes and to promote
economic development of the state and the country at large (Taraba State University,
2018). The University is one of the 40 state universities approved by the National
Universities Commission (NUC), which is the regulatory body for all universities in
Nigeria to enhance access to quality university education and to produce skilled and
competent graduates in Nigeria (National Universities Commission, 2017).
Taraba State University is a modern public institution of higher learning, its main
strengths lie in the fields of Arts and social sciences with a strong and growing
component of science and technology as well as teacher training and educational
research. As a modern university, the university has good information technology
infrastructures which is one of its strength in achieving competitive advantage. The
university is funded by the Taraba state government with support from Tertiary Education
Trust Fund (TETFund, 2018). It is the 64 th ranked university in Nigeria out of the 162
universities in the country (UniRank, 2018) consisting of 5 faculties. The population of
the university is about 6000 students, as well as over 200 faculty members and research
44

fellows (Taraba State University, 2018). The institution offers postgraduate,
undergraduate as well as diploma courses and is one of the fastest growing universities in
Nigeria.
4.2 Strategic Analysis of Taraba State University
There are several strategic tools that can be used to analyse Taraba State University’s
strategic position such as SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces, Mckinsey 7s, Porter’s Value chain
etc. This research will adopt porter’s value chain model to analyse the university.
4.2.1 Porter’s Value Chain Model
Strategic value chain is one of the tools used to analyse strategic position of educational
institutions. Sison et al (2000) in their research, identified Porter’s Value Chain as a
framework to examined processes of an educational institution that describes a system to
support education. Educational value chain as introduced by van der Merwe and Cronje
(2004) is a "graphical tool" that is used in identifying possible bottlenecks that are likely
to occur and to provide route to follow when determining the value-added elements using
technology. A high-level process model, which is the structure representing all the
primary processes and their relations to accomplishing high-level objectives of the
modelling exercise is applied. The researchers noted that educational value chain
processes should only include the high-level essential processes which are necessary to
reach a predetermined outcome as in figure below.
Figure 7: Educational value chain model
Source: van der Merwe and Cronje, 2004
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The following are steps to determine the value chain focussed on the outcomes as
suggested by van der Merwe & Cronje (2004).
1. Define the outcome on which the value chain will focus.
2. Identify a requirements elicitation methodology that focuses on identifying the
high-level processes within the application domain.
3. Identify the high-level processes within the application domain.
4. Use the high-level process model to derive the sequence of processes needed to
achieve predefined outcome.
As seen in the figure above, with good support activities supporting the primary activities,
there is a tendency for Taraba State University to achieve competitive advantage by
applying the concept of the value chain to explain and expand its educational goal which
in this case, the value chain will focus on using technology (student system) by deploying
the use of google+ in course development which will result to improving students’
academic performance as this will give the university a competitive advantage. Many
researchers believe that education institutions should develop their own value chain to
achieve competitive advantage.
Taraba State University provides environment that encourages intellectual and personal
growth of all its members (staff and students alike) and proclaim its core values of
academic quality through research and teaching, it need to create a value chain model
using high-level process model that could derive the sequence of processes needed to
achieve the outcome.
The aim of this research is to explore use of social media to improve students’ academic
performance which is one of the support activities in value chain (technology) and the
goal is to improve students’ academic performance. This will make the university to
become one of the best universities in Nigeria with a strong science and technology base
which is achievable due to its flexible and collegial learning environment and personal
that guaranteed academic freedom to both staff and students. Developing porter’s value
chain model will improve the quality requirements for high quality teaching, learning and
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innovation which are the catalyst for national development. This will place the university
strategically in achieving its competitive advantage and preserve its core academic,
cultural and spiritual values.
4.3 Data Presentation and Analysis
4.3.1 Interview
The interview was conducted on 10 students and anonymity of the interviewees were
maintained to uphold ethical values as their identities were concealed. For easy analysis,
interviewees were assigned numbers to be able to know which interviewee said what.
Interviews were transcript as soon as possible after they are conducted to avoid built up of
audio recordings. The following sections outline interview accounts from the
interviewees, the sections are grouped into 4 (A to D) based on the questions
administered to the interviewees.
A) Participant’s Profile
This section was used to identify participants through their names, levels and course of
study. Then their gender and age groups which was classified into 4 categories of 18-25,
26-35, 36 – 40 and above 40 were identified. Most of the interviewees were male with
age between 26 to 35 and were mostly students from science related courses. This
information was concealed and used only for this study.
B) Students Perception of Social Media
This section discusses how the interviewees perceived social media. This was intended to
find out how students in higher education in Nigeria and specifically at Taraba State
University perceived social media. Most interviewees perceived social media to be a
website or application that enable users to create and share contents e.g. in YouTube or
blogging or to participate in social networking like Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter etc. One
interviewee pointed out that social media is about Facebook and twitter and is used only
for socialization. This indicated that most of the interviewees have good perception of
social media and its usage.
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On how frequently they use social media, most interviewees admitted that they frequently
use social media to connect with friends and fellow course mates. One of the interviewee
stated that he uses social media only during his free period. Other interviewees confessed
that they frequently use social media.
When asked, which of the social media platforms do they use to discuss educational
matters? All the interviewees pointed out that they mostly use Facebook, WhatsApp and
twitter to discuss educational matters. This shows the interviewees utilizes social media
for educational purposes.
Therefore, the interviewees’ responses indicated that they perceive social media as
application that enable users to create and share contents and the results on this section
shows that they are conversant with the use of Facebook, WhatsApp and twitter which
they normally use to interact and share ideas relating to their courses.
C) How social media can improve academic performance
To find out whether social media can be used to improve students’ academic
performance, a question was raised to the interviewees to understand the level at which
they agree or disagree with the statements that social media can improve students’
academic performance. Most of the interviewees strongly agreed and two of the
interviewees agreed that group members on social media provide more help to their
education and this improves their academic performance.
All the interviewees admitted that social media is flexible for them to learn anytime and
this improves their academic performance. They further agreed that they benefit from the
contents that people share on social media and they in turn also contribute by sharing
contents or links they deemed useful to their colleagues.
Moreover, most of the interviewees strongly agreed that they understand better if other
students explain a topic that is not clear to them in the class on social media than in faceto-face
discussion, because on social media, they use contents to illustrate their ideas.
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One of the interviewee gave an example that he receives videos from YouTube and read
blogging contents shared by other educators and this improved his understanding.
The interviewees admitted that relying on class lecture alone is not adequate to boost their
understanding, they said, some of their books in the library are outdated. While one of the
interviewee added that sometimes he prefers to use YouTube for practical demonstration
than to attend practical classes. All the interviewees strongly disagree that social media
doesn’t contribute to their education.
Finally, the interviewees strongly agreed that social media can be used to improve their
academic performance, more especially, that most of their libraries have outdated
textbooks. They were happy to be introduced to a new social media platform that could
improve their academic performance.
D) Factors affecting use of social media
While interviewing on what could possibly affect their use of social media, all the
interviewees identified lack of internet connectivity and lack of motivation from their
lecturers as factors that could affect their use of social media. They emphasized that
without internet connectivity, is not possible to connect to social media. They also
identified non-possession of appropriate smart phone as a factor that may affect their use
of social media. They said, without having a smart phone capable of connecting them to
the internet, they may not have access to social media. Two of the interviewees from
Mass Communication department of the university mentioned that some of their lecturers
discourage them from using social media. This they said is discouraging them.
On what they think will motivate their use of social media on campus, all the
interviewees responded that if course materials are uploaded on social media and certain
marks are attached to how frequent students participate in discussions relating to the
uploaded content, it will encourage them to engage much on social media on campus.
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In summary, the interviewees understood what social media is and they admitted frequent
use of the media to check for contents relating to their courses. They are aware that social
media can improve their academic performance.
Although, the university doesn’t have official social media platform for academic
engagement, but the students are happy to be introduced to one; especially, a social media
platform that will have educational contents and marks attached to it. They pointed out
lack of internet connectivity, lack of appropriate smart phone and discouragement from
some lecturers as some of the factors that may affect their use of social media. They
stressed that attaching marks to group participation on social media will encourage
students to engage much on intellectual discuss on social media; as this will improve their
academic performance.
4.3.2 Online Survey Questionnaires
Although, this study adopted qualitative methodology, however, online survey
questionnaire was used alongside other methods for data collection to deepen understand
of the phenomenon for proper interpretation. Questionnaires were design using Bristol
Online Survey (BOS) with mostly same question as in the interview and the link to the
survey was sent to participants electronically through their email addresses. Unlike the
interview, where Snowball sampling was used to identify participants; here, 100
participants representing the population size as discussed in 3.6.2 in chapter three, were
randomly selected and emailed with the link to the online survey. All the participants that
were sent email, participated in the survey (i.e. 100% of the respondents participated).
The results of the survey which are mostly to show the frequency distribution as this
research uses qualitative approach as opposed to quantitative are presented. The
questionnaires were categorised into two main parts. Part one deals with student’s profile
while Part Two deals with questionnaires relating to the subject of this study. Part two is
further sub-divided into 4 sections (A to D).
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Part One: Respondent’s Profile (Questions 1-4)
Question 1: What is your Gender?
Figure 8: Respondents’ Gender
Findings from the data gathered as indicated in Figure 8 above, revealed that 62
respondents representing 62% out of the 100 respondents are male and 38 respondents
representing 38% are female. This implies that most respondents were male.
Question 2: What is your Age group?
Figure 9: Respondents’ Age groups
From the data gathered as indicated in Figure 9 above, 27 respondents representing 27%
out of the 100 respondents fall between the ages of 18-25, 33(33%) out of the 100
respondents fall between the ages of 26-35, while 18 (18%) fall between the ages of 36-
40 and 22(22%) fall above 40 years. This implies that most of the respondents fall
between the ages of 26-35 which are referred to as millennia age group.
Question 3: What is the level of your study?
Figure 10: Respondents Level of Study
From Figure 10 above, 22 (22%) out of the 100 respondents are studying diploma
programme at Taraba State University, 49(49%) out of the 100 respondents are bachelor’s
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degree students, while 29(29%) are postgraduate students of the university. This indicates
that most of the respondents were bachelor’s degree students of the university.
Question 4: Which of the following area relates to your Course of study?
Figure 11: Respondent’s Course of Study
From Figure 11 above, 29 (29%) out of the 100 respondents are students from ICT related
Courses, 36(36%) out of the 100 respondents are students from Science related courses,
while 35(35%) are students from Arts and Humanities related courses. This implies that
most of the respondents were students from science related course backgrounds.
PART 2: Questions relating to the study area (Questions 5 - 10)
SECTION A: Student’s perception of social media (Questions 5- 7)
Question 5: Which of the following best describe social media?
Figure 12: Description of Social media
From Figure 12 above, 24 (24%) out of the 100 respondents describe social media as an
internet connectivity platform for making friends, 69(69%) out of the 100 respondents
describe social media as a website or application that enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social networking, 6(6%) out of the 100 respondents describe
social media as Facebook and twitter only, while 1(1%) out of the 100 respondents has no
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idea of what social media is. This implies that most of the respondents understand what
social media is and can describe it well.
Question 6: Do you use the following social networking site(s)?
Figure 13: Most used Social Networking sites
From Figure 13 above, 95 (95%) out of the 100 respondents use Facebook and
WhatsApp, 46(46%) out of the 100 respondents use twitter, 22(22%) out of the 100
respondents use LinkedIn, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents use Flickr, 74(74%) out of
the 100 respondents use google+, while 24(24%) out of the 100 respondents use other
social media platforms. This implies that most of the respondents use different social
media platforms.
Question 7: How often do you use social media?
Figure 14: Frequency of Social Media Usage
As indicated in Figure 14 above, 53 (53%) out of the 100 respondents use social media
frequently, 34(34%) out of the 100 respondents use social media during free period, while
13(13%) out of the 100 respondents use social media occasionally. This implies that most
of the respondents use social media frequently.
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SECTION B: Use of social media within the academic context (Question 8 multichoice)
Question 8: What are your reasons for using social media as a student?
Figure 15: Reasons for using social media as a student
The above question is a multi-choice question where respondents can choose more than
one answer. As indicated in Figure 15 above,75 (75%) from the 100 respondents use
social media to get online resources for their courses, 59(59%) from the 100 respondents
use social media to meet other students online and built connections, 65(65%) from the
100 respondents use social media to compensate inadequate information in class,
47(47%) from the 100 respondents use social media to enjoy free period after lectures,
28%(28) out of the 100 respondents use social media because all their friends use it,
while 66(66%) from the 100 respondents use social media because is a comfortable and
more effective way of learning.
This implies that most of the respondents use social media for academic purposes.
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SECTION C: Use of social media to improve students’ academic performance (Question 9i-x)
(1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neither agree nor disagree, 4 agree, 5 strongly agree)
Question 9: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about use of
social media to improve your academic performance?
i) Group members on social media provide more help, this improves my understanding and
grades
Figure 16: Group members on social media provide more help
As indicated in Figure 16 above, 26 (26%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (i) above, 5(5%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 16(16%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 18(18%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 35(35%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that group members on social media provide more help
and this improves their understanding and grades.
ii) I understand a topic better in social media than the traditional class lectures
Figure 17: Understand topic better on social media than traditional class
As indicated in Figure 17 above, 19 (19%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (ii) above, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 16(16%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 31(31%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 26(26%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
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the respondents agreed that they understand a topic better in social media than the
traditional class lectures and it improve their understanding and grades.
iii) Social media is flexible such that I can learn anytime and anywhere, this improves my
performance.
Figure 18: Flexibility of social media improves performance
As indicated in Figure 18 above, 19 (19%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (iii) above, 6(6%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 11(11%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 21(21%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 43(43%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that social media is flexible such that they can learn
anytime and anywhere, this improves their academic performance.
iv)
I normally refer to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter if a topic is not clear, it helps my
academic performance.
Figure 19: Referring to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter to clarify topics
As indicated in Figure 19 above, 17 (17%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (iv) above, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 14(14%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 31(31%) out of the 100 respondents
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agree, while 30(30%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
the respondents agreed that they normally refer to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter if a
topic is not clear, it helps their academic performance.
v) Social networks help me develop more communication skills, this help me in achieving
well during presentations in class.
Figure 20: Social media help develop more communication skills
As indicated in Figure 20 above, 19 (19%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (v) above, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 11(11%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 30(30%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 32(32%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This shows that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that social networks help them develop more
communication skills, this help them in achieving well during presentations in class.
vi) Using social media increases my technology skill.
Figure 21: Using social media increase technology skill
As indicated in Figure 21 above, 16 (16%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (vi) above, 5(5%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 6(6%) out of
the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 28(28%) out of the 100 respondents
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agree, while 45(45%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This shows that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that using social media increases their technology skill.
vii)
Using social media encourages me to work in a group, this helps me collaborate well with
class mates.
Figure 22: Using social media increase group work
As indicated in Figure 22 above, 23 (23%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (vii) above, 6(6%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 11(11%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 25(25%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 35(35%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This shows that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that using social media encourage them to work in a
group, this help them collaborate well with class mates.
viii)
Online interaction gives me confidence than in the classroom.
Figure 23: Online interaction gives confidence in the classroom
As indicated in Figure 23 above, 18 (18%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (viii) above, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 13(13%)
out of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 28(28%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 33(33%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
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the respondents strongly agreed that online interaction give them confidence than in the
classroom.
ix) Using social media helps me get more ideas and opinions from group members online.
Figure 24: Social Media help with more ideas from group members
As indicated in Figure 24 above, 15 (15%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (ix) above, 9(9%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 11(11%) out
of the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 21(21%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 44(44%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
the respondents strongly agreed that using social media help them get more ideas and
opinions from group members online.
x) I generally belief social media has positive impact on my education and will improve my
academic performance.
Figure 25: Social Media has positive impact on students’ education
As indicated in Figure 25 above, 15 (15%) out of the 100 respondents strongly disagree
with the statement in (x) above, 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents disagree, 8(8%) out of
the 100 respondents neither agree nor disagree, 21(21%) out of the 100 respondents
agree, while 48(48%) out of the 100 respondents strongly agree. This implies that most of
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the respondents strongly agreed that social media has positive impact on their education
and will improve their academic performance.
SECTION D: Factors influencing the use of social media (Question 10)
Question 10: What motivates you to use social media as a student
Figure 26: Factors motivating students use of social media
From Figure 26 above, 72 (72%) out of the 100 respondents indicates that what motivates
them to use social media is to access educational materials and connect with people
online that will help achieve their educational goals, 13(13%) out of the 100 respondents
indicates that what motivates them to use social media is to connect with more friends for
socialization, 7(7%) out of the 100 respondents indicates that what motivates them to use
social media is to meet new friends and have fun, while 8(8%) out of the 100 respondents
indicates that what motivates them to use social media is to read other’s opinion on what
is trending in the news. This implies that most of the respondents indicated that accessing
educational materials and connecting with people online to help them achieve their
educational goals is what motivates them to use social media.
4.3.3 Observation
After interview and online survey, the researcher further observed some students of
Taraba State University on Facebook and WhatsApp group charts as this was the most
populous used social networks by the university’s students to be able corroborate the
results obtained from both interview and online survey. The researcher discovered that
students of the university truly interact on Facebook and WhatsApp group charts to
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discuss their academic issues. This corroborated the results obtained from interview and
online survey which was the main reason for using triangulation sampling.
4.4 Conclusion
This chapter presented data analysis and findings of the study. The university’s strategic
position is analysed, and the institution’s background information provided an overview
of the context of the case and various results obtained from data collection were analysed.
The findings showed that social media can be used to improve students’ academic
performance, however, the university has no official social media platform to build
learning communities. To provide further discussions to this study, the next chapter will
present discussion and findings as it relates to the literature review and recommendations
are provided.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction
This chapter deals with discussions and recommendations based on the outcomes of the
analysis made in chapter four of this study. Thus, remarks are made to the research
problem, research questions and suggestions for future research initiatives. This study is
qualitative in nature in line with Yin (2009) and therefore, should not be an attempt to
generalize the findings presented. The findings of this thesis may further be studied in
other forms in subsequent research attempts.
5.1 The Research Questions
This study provided answers to the research questions raised earlier in this study which
was derived from the research objectives in Chapter One of this thesis. The following
discusses further about the results.
5.2 Perception of Social Media
This section aims at answering the research question 1 as presented earlier in 1.4 of
chapter one.
Research question 1
How social media is perceived at Taraba State University?
The interviewees and respondents perceived social media as a website or
application that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social
networking. They agreed that social media as a website can enable users to create
and share contents e.g. on YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter etc or on
blogging sites. This indicates that most students of Taraba State University Jalingo
have awareness of social media and its benefits in sharing useful contents online.
This is in line with the view of authors discussed earlier in the literature review in
chapter two, where Michael (2010) described social media as a group of internet-
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based applications that are built on the technological foundations of web 2.0 that
allows for the creation and exchange of user generated contents. This was further
elaborating by Kietzmann and Hermkens (2011) where they assert that social media
eases communication among people regardless of geographical location, thereby
making it open to everyone to easily share information such as files, pictures,
videos etc.
5.3 Use of Social Media for Educational Purposes
This section aims at answering the research question 2 as presented earlier in 1.4 of
chapter one.
Research question 2
How do students use social media for educational purposes?
The interviewees and respondents identified a wide range of ways in which they used
social media within the academic context to:
• get online resources for their courses
• meet other students online to build connections
• to compensate inadequate information that is provided in the class and
• to enjoy the comfortability and effective way of learning through social media
than the traditional one.
The above view of the participants are in line with Paul (2013) where he asserts that
social media is a good facilitator of academic performance and further elaborated by
Elham and Ali (2014) where they disclosed that the world has changed due to highly
technological innovations, and learning has changed from the traditional classroom
methods to a more sophisticated online learning community. They reiterated that the
increase in popularization of mobile and computer technologies has made classroom
teaching using chalk board or markers obsolete.
5.4 Improving Students’ Academic Performance Using Social Media
This section aims to answer research question 3 as presented earlier in 1.4 of Chapter
One.
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Research question 3
How does use of social media improve students’ academic performance in Taraba State
University?
The interviewees and respondents strongly believed that social media can improve their
academic performance. They identified the following as a result of the use of social
media and has change their learning outcomes for better:
• Group members on social media provide more help and this improves their
understanding and grades
• They understand a topic better in social media than the traditional class lectures
• Social media is flexible such that they learn anytime, anywhere and this improve
their performances
• They refer to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter if a topic is not clear, it helps their
academic performances
• Social networks help them develop more communication skills, this has helped in
achieving well during presentations in class
• Using social media increases their technology skills
• Using social media encourages them to work in a group, this has helped them
collaborate well with their class mates and other students around the world
• Online interaction gives them confidence than in the classroom
• Using social media helps them get more ideas and opinions from group members
online
• They generally belief social media has positive impact on their education and
improves their academic performances.
These results have justified the assertion by Jody (2015) where he maintained that there is
importance in building learning community to be able to improve academic performance,
this was further reiterated by Liccardi et al (2007) who assert that social media is no
longer a tool for communication alone, but are widely used in education, lectures now are
mediated by social media technologies and academic engagements like peer assessment,
collaborative work and intellectual discussions can now be achieved through the use of
social media.
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5.5 Factors Influencing use of social media
This section aims to answer research question 4 as presented earlier in 1.4 of Chapter
One.
Research question 4
What factors influence the use of social media in Taraba State University?
The interviewees and respondents identified access to educational materials and
willingness to connect with people that will help them achieve their educational goals
online as some of the factors that influence their use of social media at Taraba State
University. However, they identified lack of internet connectivity, inappropriate mobile
phone, lack of encouragement from their lecturers and lack of official social media
platform as some of the problems that may hinder their use of social media.
This is in line with Aditi and David (2010) who maintained that interactive social media is
a great learning community where students access, create and share knowledge by
uploading pictures, videos, audios and other learning materials to improve their academic
performances, but this is accessible only through internet connectivity. Elaborating further,
Sonia and Alka (2017) discovered that the infiltration of smartphones in the tech market
has initiated the use of WhatsApp and other social media to support learning which is
accessible by appropriate smartphones. Also, Betsy, Marie and Kelsey (2013) discovered
that Google Plus is a veritable social media tool that increases student’s engagement and
learning, they recommended it’s use at Georgetown University's Teaching, Learning and
Innovation Summer Institute which was officially used to build learning community for
students. This witnessed an incredible learning outcome that improved students’ academic
performance.
5.6 Recommendations
This study identified lack of internet connectivity, lack of encouragement from lecturers
and lack of official social media platform that will enable students build learning
community in the university as challenges facing use of social media in Taraba State
University. Therefore, the recommendations given below are based on the identified
challenges in the study area which if implemented, will build a strong learning
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community where students will interact and collaborate through social media as this will
improve their academic performance.
5.6.1 Short Term Recommendations
The following short-term recommendations are aim at improving students’ collaboration
to improve their academic performance, this will resolve some of the problems identified
in this study.
• Taraba State university to invest on reliable internet connectivity for the benefits
of students of the university
• Students should be encouraged to organise group sessions on social media for
intellectual discuss
• The university should create forums through departments where students can rob
minds on topics discussed in class and coursework tips.
• Lecturers should create blogs where some important academic materials can be
uploaded for student’s access.
• Students should be encouraged to buy good smartphones that can enable them
connect to the internet and access educational contents from social media.
5.6.2 Long term Recommendation
Results from this study revealed that Taraba State University Jalingo has no official social
media platform where learning community is built for students’ collaboration. Therefore,
this study proposes the use of Google Plus (google+) to help build learning communities
where students can collaborate and brainstorm on academic issues that will improve their
academic performance. Such platform will be used by both students and lecturers of the
institution for discussions on critical areas of interest relating to various topics,
coursework and group projects.
5.7 Solution and Design Framework of Google Plus (google +)
5.7.1 Introduction
Students motivation and encouraging contact between students and their faculty to
enhance learning is what every teacher wants to achieve to facilitate students’ academic
performance. Google+ is one of such motivational platform with collections of
communication and connection tools that can facilitate learning (Eric, 2018).
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Google Plus is an internet based social network that is owned by Google. In school
settings, Google+ tools can be used for many valuable educational purposes
(Teachthought, 2018). The social network has strong application that can be used in
formal learning environment that allow activities such as live streaming, circles,
hangouts, hashtag support as well as messaging to be performed on its platform.
Figure 27: Google+ Window
5.7.2 Basic requirements
System Requirements
Google plus can run in all systems that have the capacity for google chrome as follows
Windows
✓ Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or later
✓ An Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE2 capable
✓ Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, or
Windows Server 2016
Mac
✓ OS X Yosemite 10.10 or later
Linux
✓ 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04+, Debian 8+, openSUSE 13.3+, or Fedora Linux 24+
✓ An Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE2 capable
Smart Phones
✓ Most smartphones that have access to the internet can access google+
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5.7.3 How to access and add content to google+
Step 1: Sign into Google+: The first thing to do to be able to access google+ is to log
into personal Google+ account. If you do not have a personal account, it can be created
before setting up a school page. This can be done from https://plus.google.com to set up
an account.
Figure 28: Google + sign up page
Step 2: Create a page: Once logged in, user can create a page. This can be access from
https://plus.google.com/pages/create
Figure 29: Google + Create page
In the above figure, the page will prompt for category of page to be created. This depends
on what type of institution the page is setup for, this can be chosen from the options. For
example, Taraba State University as in above example, then click next.
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User can then fill in basic details such as page name, website etc. Select who the page is
visible to from the options “Any Google User”; “Users 18 and older”; “Users 21 and
older” etc. “Any Google User“ is preferable. Click “Create“, this will create the page.
Step 3: Customise the page: This section deals with adding details to help people find
and search for the page, one need to think carefully about what information is placed in
this section.
Note: Short Tagline for about ten words that sum up the school can be written, this
perhaps may be motto of the school; google will use it to index the page.
Add Profile Photo: This can be anything, however, school logo or photo is probably the
best option. Ensure the image is high resolution as in figure below:
Figure: 30: Customizing School Google+ page
Step 4: Spread the word: The final stage gives the opportunity to tell the world (the
Google+ world) about the new page. A note can be written to personal feed so that circles
can see the new page and start following the school posts. The note should be sound
appealing and explanatory as to why followers (here students) would want to follow the
school or department.
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Step 5: Add contents: Google+ is very straight forward as it has same interface as
personal account. Contents such as videos, photos and links can be added. This can be
achieved drag-n-drop photos and videos or type URLs.
5.7.4 Adding, following people and sharing on Google +
People can be added on google+ and one can follow other people as well. The following
diagram show the add interface.
Figure 31: Adding and following people sharing on google+
Source: Google+ for Schools - Eric Curts (2018)
After adding, following people and sharing contents, one can choose who sees the
contents that shared on the google+ platform by selecting the options public, circle or
particular group or person as in the following diagram
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Figure 32: Sharing options on google+
Image: Eric Curts (2018)
There are other tools that google+ uses to support learning as in the following diagram
Figure 33: Google + Suite tools
Image: Google+ for Schools - Eric Curts (2018)
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5.7.5 Benefits of Using Google Plus in Education
A) Benefits Google Plus to Students
• Class communication: Lecturers can ask their students to sign up for Google Plus so that
they can create class Circles where they can collaborate and sharing information; offering
an outlet for interaction between students and their lecturers.
• Hangout office hours: Students who cannot go to campus due to unforeseen
circumstances can connect to the class via virtual class on Google Plus Hangouts.
• Improving search results: Google Plus offers personalized search results for users who
are logged in. Therefore, Professors and experts can share excellent resources on Google
Plus, and make it easy for students to get the most relevant information when they search.
• Sharing campus life: Google Plus is a natural spot to highlight university life and
activities. Schools like the Taraba State University can use google+ to share images of
their campus to the outside world.
• Student feedback: Using Google Plus is easy for students to ask for feedback on tests,
exams, coursework and many more, this will help them review their grades for better
focus.
• Information exchange: Using Google Plus, students can share their circles with others.
With this, students from computer science can follow everyone in computer science circle
and learn from experts they have connected with.
• Sharing assignments: Some lecturers post assignments on Google Plus, offering a way
for students to get clarification and updates in a convenient way.
• Google+ reference desk: University libraries can offer a convenient online reference
desk, set times or stay connected all the time for 24 hours help from friendly college
librarian.
• Optional review sessions: With Hangouts, lecturers can host chats, few nights a week
before final exams. This will offer review sessions and study hints for students to use.
• Connect with study abroad students: Hangouts make it easy for students to connect
with other students abroad, especially students who might be interested in going abroad in
the future. This gives wider networking.
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• Alumni relations: Google Plus Hangouts are a great place for alumni to connect with
other students, faculty members and staff to build connections and facilitate opportunities
within the university community.
B) Benefits of Google Plus to University Lecturers and Administrators
• Communication: University administrators can use Google+ for better campus
communication, especially for collaboration.
• Meetings: Google+ can help lecturers and officials of the university connect online for
team meetings and board meetings, as well as peer review and professional development
• Promoting student groups: Universities can highlight some of their most interesting and
popular student groups on Google Plus, this will attract prospective students.
• Engaging board members: For board members having hard times making it to meetings,
can use hangouts which will let them get together and talk face to face without even being
in the meeting room.
• Colleague sharing: Google Plus allows for lots of idea sharing. Therefore, lecturers can
get feedback on ideas from other colleagues without a lot of hassle. This will enable them
to get fast replies, so they can implement them immediately.
• Hangout collaboration: Faculty, students and staff can collaborate and share as a group
with the use of Google Plus Hangouts.
• Sharing university success: Lots of universities are using Google Plus to highlight the
achievements of their students. Great news about successes within the university
community can be shared to encourage other students.
• Virtual tours: Instead of manual brochures, Google+ offers universities the opportunity
for giving potential students and parents a virtual tour of campus, highlighting
achievements, attractive campus spots, amenities etc.
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5.8 Conclusion
This chapter discussed about the findings and results obtained in chapter four of this
thesis and recommendations on how to solve the problems identified from the findings
were made. Google plus was recommended to Taraba State university to build learning
community among students of the institution to improve their collaboration and
interaction, as this will improve their academic performance. The following chapter
roundup this research work, the limitation for this study and direction for further research
is also presented.
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CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION
6.1 Conclusion
This chapter roundup the entire research work, the thesis started with a brief background
to the study in Chapter One. The statement of the problem, research aims and objectives
including the research questions were presented in the same chapter. The chapter also
included significance of the study, summary for the methodology and definition of key
terms. The delimitation of the study and the outline of the thesis alongside the research
structure were also presented.
Chapter Two provided the literature review about vital topics that were deemed important
to the study. The review started by highlighting the different perceptions and
classification of the term Social Media as defined by previous researchers and its use in
the global context. The debates surrounding use of social media in education were also
pointed out, and some of the social media platforms used in education were discussed.
The chapter also discussed academic performance, the learning process and technology,
facilitators and barriers of academic performance as well as previous research about these
topics were discussed.
The methodology and research paradigm followed during the conduct of the research
were presented in Chapter Three. The chapter also presented method, data collection
techniques, the sampling criteria and the data analysis approach alongside reasons for
their choices over others were presented.
Chapter Four presented the results obtained from both interview and online survey
questions. The results were analysed, and findings presented.
Chapter Five presented discussions by relating the results of the research to the Literature
Reviews earlier presented in Chapter Two of this thesis. The chapter also answered
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various research questions raised in Chapter One and recommendations were made
alongside solution to the problems identified.
The Sixth Chapter provided conclusion to the study. The chapter further provided
limitations and directions for further research, while Chapter Seven provided details on
how the project was managed and some of the challenges encountered were presented.
6.2 Limitations
It is certain for studies to have some limitations, and this study is not an exception to such
a perception. This is because, this study is a case study research conducted with a small
sample size based on snowball sampling in the interview and online survey. Although it
adopted triangulation where other sources of data collection where used, it is challenging
to make comparisons to different contexts. However, using a qualitative approach, the
aim isn’t to generalize findings. Instead, the general concern for this work has been and is
still to enrich the reader with a greater understanding of how Social Media can be used to
improve students’ academic performance at Taraba State University Jalingo. Therefore,
comparisons should only be done after taking cognisance of the similarities between the
receiving context and Taraba State University. To facilitate transferability of findings, the
researcher collected sufficient data about the case and the phenomenon under study. The
study was focused on use of social media among students at the university and did not
include staff as subjects of the study.
6.3 Direction for Further Research
The literature review showed that only few research about use of social media to improve
students’ academic performance is focused on in developing countries. This research
therefore calls for more research in this area. Further research could be conducted to
investigate use of social media to improve academic collaboration between staff and
students of educational institutions. This will assist in building learning community to
boost academic performance in both private and public universities. The investigation of
why some students outperform others in their academic achievements at the university
could also be an interesting research area.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
7.0 Introduction
This Chapter provides detail of the research activities that began with research initiation
through its execution to close out. The chapter also discuss how the project progressed
and how time and tasks were managed. It further gives detail of some software used to
assist in managing and controlling the project. Basic project management tools such as
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Gantt Chart and Risk register were used.
7.2 Project Management
APM (2018) defined project management as “the application of processes, methods,
knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the project objectives” while Burke (2013)
asserts that project management is a set of efforts embarked upon to achieve an objective
to add value or bring change within a specified timeline and such projects must be
managed and controlled. Therefore, this research work about Use of Social Media to
Improve Students’ Academic Performance in Nigeria was managed and controlled to
meet the desired objectives. The researcher was mindful of the potential risks that may
occur, therefore a risk register was opened with list of the potential risks and their
mitigations to allow for successful project execution in line with Kerzner and Kerzner
(2017) where they suggested a proper project management technique to be applied to be
able to manage risk that might affect project’s completion.
7.3 Project Management Life Circle
A project life-cycle defines the inter-related phases of a project, programme or portfolio
and provides a structure for governing the progression of the work (APM, 2018). Project
management life cycle is typically broken down into four main phases of initiation,
planning, execution and closure. These phases make up the pathway through which the
project progresses from the beginning to the end. This research work went through those
phases.
77

Figure 34: Project Management Life-cycle
Source: Lucidchart (2018).
7.3.1 Project Initiation
In this phase of the project, the researcher identified the business needs, problem and
opportunity. The researcher presented an idea of improving students’ academic
performance in Nigeria using social media to the supervisor, together, they brainstormed
on how this problem will be solved and how to seize the opportunities using research to
solve the problem was discussed. The project Manager (the researcher) presented a
proposed topic on “Use of Social Media to improve Students’ Academic Performance in
Nigeria: A Study of Taraba State University Jalingo” and was ratified by the project
board (the Project Supervisor) as the research topic. Thereafter, the researcher figured out
the objectives and purpose of the study which was brainstormed-on, and the project was
deemed feasible. The major deliverables for the project were identified, sample interview
questions, proposed survey questionnaires and participants information were drafted by
the researcher and uploaded to Coventry University Ethics website for approval; these
served as the project initiation document. After perusal by the relevant authorities, the
project topic was approved and ethics certificate granted; this kickstarted the project.
78

7.3.2 Project Planning
After receiving the ethical approval, the project proceeded to planning phase. In this
phase, the project was broken down into smaller tasks i.e the project was classified into
chapters, the project manager (the researcher) braced up and prepared schedules for the
completion of every task. During this phase, smaller goals were created within the project
e.g. Chapter One has Introduction, background etc., relevant books and journals were
arranged, websites were sought, and timeline was set for each goal to ensure completion
within the time frame. To achieve this, work breakdown structure (WBS) was used to
breakdown each task, timeline was set for every task and quality plan alongside risk
register were developed to ensure success of the project.
i) Work Breakdown Structure
The following work breakdown structure (WBS) shows various deliverables of the
project, from the project Initiation to close out (Chapters One to Seven).
Figure 35: Work breakdown structure (WBS) showing project breakdown
79

ii) Gantt Chart
Gantt Chart was used to organize detail schedule for the project. The researcher used
Project Plan 365 to design the Gantt Chart specifying timeline for every task.
Figure 36: Gantt chart showing the project schedules
iii) Risk Register
The Risk Register was open during the initiation stage of the project, this showed
potential risks and mitigations to every risk identified were registered. This provided
means of tracking response to it. The process was meant to flag the project risks and
suggest actions to be taken as mitigation.
80

Table 1: Risk Register
ID
Date
Raised
Risk
Description
Likelihood Impact Severity Owner Mitigation
Action
Contingent
Action
Progress
on Action
Status
1 09/10/2018 There is a risk
that the budget
the researcher
estimated may
be inadequate
to complete the
project
2 23/10/2018 There is a risk
that sample
size may not
be met due to
poor responses
from
participants
3 23/10/2018 There is a risk
that data
collected may
get lost
Moderate High High Researcher -Revisit
the budget
and
review it
-Use
phone
interview
instead of
face-toface
Low Moderate High Researcher Constantly
remind
participant
s of need
to respond
to be able
to meet
dateline
for data
collection.
Moderate Moderate High Researcher Backup
data on
cloud
storage,
external
hard drive
Increase the
budget by
10% to
include
contingency
Increase
dateline for
data
collection
from BOS
by 2 weeks
Update
backup as
soon as
data is
updated
04/01/2019 Close
12/11/2018 Open
21/11/2018 Open
4 09/10/2018 There is risk of
not getting the
required marks
for the project
Low High High Researcher Work hard
to earn
High
Marks
Do extra
work
07/10/2019 Closed
7.3.3 Project Execution
The execution phase was action based. The researcher job in this phase was to keep the
project on track, control, manage timeline and ensure that the work was done according to
the original plan. Gant Chart designed earlier was followed and time lines for every phase
of the project was adhered to. Asana software was used to remind the researcher of every
pending task to ensure datelines for deliverables were met. The Execution Started with
the title page, declaration of originality, abstract, chapter one, chapter two, chapter three,
chapter four, chapter five, chapter six and finally chapter seven. After completion of
every deliverable (Chapters), the completed task was submitted to the Project Board
(Project Supervisor in this case) for review before commencement of the next deliverable;
This was to maintain quality and stick to original plan.
81

7.3.4 Closure
This is the final phase of the project management life cycle. At this phase, the project is
completed, and the desired outcome of the project achieved. In this case, all deliverables
were completed results were analysed, findings identified, and recommendations were
made alongside solution to the problem identified using google+ as a social media
platform to build learning community to improve students’ academic performance in the
study area. The outcomes were discussed with the supervisor, challenges faced, and
lessons learnt were reported as part of the project closure and finally steps required to
evaluate and document the project were followed eg. References and Appendices were
attached, and project was submitted for grading.
7.3 Challenges Faced
There were less challenges faced during the project, this was because, the supervisor was
very supportive to the researcher. The supervisor’s wealth of experience on research and
constant advise on how to go about with the research to avoid major challenges were
instrumental to the successful completion of the thesis. However, some research
methodology that was introduced based on supervisor’s advice, was challenging.
Although, it was a bulk of knowledge revealed to the researcher which assisted greatly in
the smooth progressed of the work.
Another challenge faced was a little delay in receiving permission authorizing the
conduct of the research in Taraba State University by the management team of the Taraba
State University due to strike action by Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria.
However, the Vice Chancellor was supportive by granting verbal permission to go ahead
since the project was medium risk; thereafter, the official permission was granted.
7.4 Lessons Learnt
The researcher learnt so much from the project work. First of all, the ability to execute a
project under the supervision of an experienced Principal Lecturer of Coventry University
gave the researcher the opportunity to tap from the wealth of knowledge of the
supervisor.
82

Secondly, the ability to manage time and resources and it gave me the impetus to utilize
the knowledge gained in previous modules learnt during 1 st and 2 nd semester of my
course, more especially, Research Methods, IT Project Management, Innovation and
Knowledge Management, Decision Support Systems, IT Strategy, Global Professional
Development, Networking Security, HICT and indeed Ubiquitous Computing. All the
knowledge gained in these courses were helpful to the success of this work.
The lessons learnt from the project will spur me to do more in my career and indeed
elevate my standard through promotion.
83

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90

Appendices
Appendix 1: Interview Guide
Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing
INTERVEW GUIDE
Use of social Media to Improve Students’ Academic Performance in Nigeria : A
study of Taraba State University, Jalingo.
My name is Amos Mathias, I am a postgraduate student of Coventry University. The
purpose of this interview is to explore the use of social media to improve students’
academic performance in Taraba State University Jalingo. All information supplied
will be treated in confidentially and use for the purpose of this research only. It will
take approximately 10 minutes.
a) Student’s Biodata
i.) Can you please tell me your name, your level and your Course?
ii) Is your gender Male or Female?
iii) Which of the following best describes your age group
(a) 18 – 25 (b) 26-35 (c) 36-40 (d) above 40
b) Student Perception of Social Media
iv) Which of the following statement is correct about social media?
a. An internet connectivity platform for making friends
b. A website or application that enable users to create and share content or to
participate in social network
c. Facebook and twitter only
d. No idea
v) How often do you use social media?
a. During my free period
b. Frequently
c. Occasionally
vi)
Which of the following social network do you use with your friends to discuss
educational matters?
a. Facebook
b. WhatsApp
91

c. Twitter
d. Others….. please can you mention it?
c) How does use of social media improve students’ academic performance?
vii) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? You may
add another thing you think is missing.
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree nor
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
1 2 3 4 5
Group members on social media provide
more help to my education
I understand better if other students
explain a topic for me in social media than
in face to face discussion.
Social media is flexible for me to learn
anytime and anywhere, this improves my
academic performance.
I normally refer to YouTube and blogging
if a topic is not clear, it helps my
understanding
Social media doesn’t contribute to my
education at all
viii)
Would you be happy to use a new social media that will improve your academic
performance?
d) Factors affecting use of social media
ix) Which of the following do you think may affect your use of social media? choose
anyone that applies, you are free to add any other factors.
Lack of internet connectivity
Lack of mobile phone
Lack of interest
Discouragement from your university
x) What do you think will motivate your use of social media in school?
Kindly nominate one other person that you think can contribute to this discussion among
your course mates.
Thank you very much for taking part in this interview and your contributing to this study.
92

Appendix 2:
Sample Questionnaires
Coventry University
Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing
Priory Street, CV1 5FB Coventry, UK.
Dear Respondent,
Use of Social Media to Improve Students’ Academic Performance in Nigeria: A
study of Taraba State University, Jalingo.
In recent times, Institutions of higher learning around the world are exploring various
technologies that encourages active learning. One of such technologies is using social media to
build learning communities for students’ collaboration to share ideas and brainstorm on
intellectual discuss that will boost their academic performance.
The purpose of this questionnaire is to explore the use of social media to improve students’
academic performance in Nigeria. Students of Taraba State University will be sampled, and data
gathered from the findings, will guide the researcher to explore various social media platforms as
used by students and a solution of the research will be to develop a template using google+ with
several online educational materials for use by students in Nigeria that will possibly improve
their academic performance.
I would appreciate if you could fill in the questionnaire which will take about 10 minutes please.
The participant’s biodata will be used anonymously, and data collected will be handled with
utmost confidentially and used purposely for this research only. The interview is voluntary, and
data collected will be discarded after use, please.
Thank you for participating.
Amos Mathias
Researcher.
93

Sample Questionnaires
PART 1: Student’s Profile
Instruction: Please select one as it relates to you:
i) What is your gender? Choose one that applies.
Male
Female
ii) What is your age group? Select one.
19 - 25
26 - 35
35- 40
Above 40
iii) What is the level of your study? Select one.
Diploma
Bachelor
Postgraduate
iv) Which of the following area relates to your Course of study? Choose one.
ICT related course
Science related course
Arts/Humanities related
PART 2: Questionnaires on the study area
A) Student’s perception of social media
v) Which of the following best describe social media? Select one.
An internet connectivity platform for making friends
A website or application that enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social networking
Facebook and twitter only
No idea
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vi) Do you use the following social networking site(s)? Select all that applies
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
LinkedIn
Flickr
Google+
Others
vii) How often do you use social media? Select one.
Frequently
During my free period
Occasionally
B) Use of social media for educational purposes
vii) What are your reasons for using social media as a student? Select all that applies
To get online resources for my course
To meet other students online to build connections
Adequate information is not provided in the class, which forces me to
resort to social media to compensate this.
To enjoy my free period after lectures
I use it because all my friends are using social media
Social networking is a comfortable and more effective way of learning
than the traditional one.
C) Use of social media to improve students’ academic performance.
ix) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement about use of
social media to improve your academic performance.
Group members on social media provide more
help this improves my understanding and
grades
I understand a topic better in social media than
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neither
Agree nor
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
1 2 3 4 5
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the traditional class lectures.
Social media is flexible such that I can learn
anytime and anywhere, this improves my
performance.
I normally refer to Facebook, YouTube or
Twitter if a topic is not clear, it helps my
academic performance.
Social networks help me develop more
communication skills, this help me in
achieving well during presentations in class.
Using social media increases my technology
skill,
Using social media encourages me to work in
a group, this helps me collaborate well with
class mates
Online interaction gives me confidence than in
the classroom
Using social media helps me get more ideas
and opinions from group members online
I generally belief social media has positive
impact on my education and will improve my
academic performance.
D) Factors influencing use of social media
x) What motivates you to use social media as a student? Select one.
To access educational materials and connect with people online that
will help me achieve my educational goals
To connect with more friends for socialization
To meet new friends and have fun
To read other’s opinion on what is trending in the news
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Appendix 3:
Participant’s Information Sheet
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA: A
STUDY OF TARABA STATE UNIVERSITY JALINGO
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
You are being invited to take part in research on Use of Social Media to Improve Students’ Academic Performance.
Amos Mathias, Postgraduate Student at Coventry University is leading this research. Before you decide to take part,
it is important you understand why the research is being conducted and what it will involve. Please take time to read
the following information carefully.
What is the purpose of the study?
The purpose of the study is to explore the use of social media as a facilitator to improve students’ academic
performance in Nigeria.
Why have I been chosen to take part?
You are invited to participate in this study because you are selected based on your status as student of the study area
and sharing your experience will enable the researcher to develop a solution using social media that will help
improve students’ academic performance in Nigeria.
What are the benefits of taking part?
By sharing your experiences with us, you will be helping the academic community and Coventry University to better
understand the use of social media in education.
Are there any risks associated with taking part?
This study has been reviewed and approved through Coventry University’s formal research ethics procedure. There
are no significant risks associated with participation.
Do I have to take part?
No – it is entirely up to you. If you do decide to take part, please keep this Information Sheet and complete the
Informed Consent Form to show that you understand your rights in relation to the research, and that you are happy to
participate. Please note down your participant number (which is on the Consent Form) and provide this to the lead
researcher if you seek to withdraw from the study at a later date. You are free to withdraw your information from the
project data set at any time. You should note that your data may be used in the production of formal research
outputs (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, theses and reports) prior to this date and so you are advised to
contact the university at the earliest opportunity should you wish to withdraw from the study. To withdraw, please
contact the lead researcher (contact details are provided below). Please also contact the Research Support Office
(Email: esx072@coventry.ac.uk, Telephone: +44 (0) 24 7765 7688) so that your request can be dealt with promptly
in the event of the lead researcher’s absence. You do not need to give a reason. A decision to withdraw, or not to
take part, will not affect you in any way.
What will happen if I decide to take part?
You will be asked a number of questions regarding Your Biodata, your perception of social media and how often
you use it, effect of social media on your education etc. The questionnaire will be online survey and interview will
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take place via phone at a time that is convenient to you. Ideally, we would like to audio record your responses (and
will require your consent for this), so the location should be in a fairly quiet area. The questionnaire/interview
should take around 10 minutes to complete.
Data Protection and Confidentiality
Your data will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) and the Data
Protection Act 2018. All information collected about you will be kept strictly confidential. Unless they are fully
anonymised in our records, your data will be referred to by a unique participant number rather than by name. If you
consent to being audio recorded, all recordings will be destroyed once they have been transcribed. Your data will
only be viewed by the researcher/research team. All electronic data will be stored on a password-protected computer
file on the researcher’s laptop. All paper records will be stored in a locked filing cabinet in Coventry University
Faculty Office. Your consent information will be kept separately from your responses in order to minimise risk in
the event of a data breach. The lead researcher will take responsibility for data destruction and all collected data will
be destroyed on or before 30 January, 2019.
Data Protection Rights
Coventry University is a Data Controller for the information you provide. You have the right to access information
held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and
the Data Protection Act 2018. You also have other rights including rights of correction, erasure, objection, and data
portability. For more details, including the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office,
please visit www.ico.org.uk. Questions, comments and requests about your personal data can also be sent to the
University Data Protection Officer - enquiry.ipu@coventry.ac.uk
What will happen with the results of this study?
The results of this study may be summarised in published articles, reports and presentations. Quotes or key findings
will always be made anonymous in any formal outputs unless we have your prior and explicit written permission to
attribute them to you by name.
Making a Complaint
If you are unhappy with any aspect of this research, please first contact the lead researcher, Amos Mathias, School of
Postgraduate, Management of Information Technology, Coventry University. If you still have concerns and wish to
make a formal complaint, please write to:
Dr. Rochelle Sassman
Supervisor / Principal Lecturer Information Systems
Coventry University
Coventry CV1 5FB
Email: csx243@coventry.ac.uk
In your letter please provide information about the research project, specify the name of the researcher and detail the
nature of your complaint.
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Appendix 4:
Ethics Approval Certificate
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