Research Methods in Engineering: Globalization and Engineering - Assignment Example

Research Methods in Engineering: Globalization and Engineering You need to describe how you would conduct this research where the only data source available to you is a questionnaire-based survey. You need to develop a hypothesis, choose an appropriate sample, describe potential data collection methods, identify ways for analysing the data and finally highlight the limitations of your research process. Section 1: Introduction A. Background (Concise Literature Review) In an increasingly globalized world, the tech industry has been atwitter with Twitter. According to Young (2009), “[One Twitter user] posts about 25 times a day, mostly musing on the future of journalism and on how Twitter and other technologies are changing the profession…But the real value of Twitter…is what [one] learns by watching…messages coming in — from college students, venture capitalists, journalists, and others [one] follows.” Twitter and web globalization go hand in hand. Many companies are getting Twitter accounts. According to Yunker (2009),“ICANN[, a major company,] recently launched its own Twitter feed. And since ICANN is a global organization, it launched more than one language feed — one in English and one in Spanish.” Twitter is exploding at an astounding rate. According to Pence (2007), “Some have called the current generation of college students the Web generation…The pace of technology change continues to quicken. The effects of globalization and social networking have not yet had their full impact.” Indeed, this is a social media revolution that will not be underestimated. Pence (2007) says that “…the media revolution is changing so fast that in a decade we will be dealing with college-age students as different from todays college students as current college students are different from their teachers.” Supposedly, social media networks such as Twitter build community trust in the online community. Barton et. al. (2009) “…the operation of trust and inspiration in networking and teamwork [is a key] to become change agents in small groups and networks. This research sheds light on the mechanisms by which the process of e-learning adoption relies on social networks and connections. Thus, as one can see, social media plays an important role in today’s globalized world. It is obvious that the more follower and, thus, influence, one has on Twitter, the more leverage electronic engineers have to harness the power of Twitter for globalization of their organization. Innovative approaches to technology in the globalization industry will have a great impact on the engineering field. Wineman et. al. (2009) says that , “…the knowledge bases of social network [indicate the] preliminary…effects of…social network structure and the support of innovation.” B. Problem Definition 
 The problem that will be analyzed is how to increase global influence on Twitter with electronic engineering technologies. C. Project Description and Significance This project will be accomplished through the creation of a survey for Twitter users regarding what an electronic engineer should do in order to help his or her company become more globalized. Section 2: Factors Influencing the Project A. Research Design: Survey Development The survey to be developed will incorporate the information of Twitter users with 500 or more followers on twitter (up to about 3 million or so) in order to facilitate what kind of knowledge is needed to spread globalization for one’s company as an electronic engineer. B. Data Sources 
 As mentioned in the section above, specific Twitter users will be queried, based on how many followers they have. The survey will basically cover people who are from various age ranges, socioeconomic backgrounds, and professions. The minimum amount of followers required (500) is set so that the survey administrator knows that the person being surveyed has at least some modicum of influence on Twitter. If necessary, peoples’ usernames can be entered in the Twitalyzer at http://www.twitalyzer.com in order to analyze their influence on Twitter. The Twitalyzer basically analyzes five things: influence; signal, generosity; velocity; and clout. Influence is basically measured by the measure of followers one has. Authority, related to influence, is based on how many times one is “retweeted.” Generosity in the influence category is based on the number of times one “retweets” others. Clout in the influence category is based on the number of times one is referenced by others. Velocity, related to influence, is based on the number of updates one published over a seven-day period. Signal-to-noise ratio is based on the ratio of useful information versus useless inforation. Signal is based on a number of references to other people, links to URLs, hashtags explored and participated with, and retweets of other people (a.k.a. passing along information. Generosity is based on how many times one “retweets” other people. Velocity is the rate one contributes to Twitter. Clout is how much influence has on Twitter. The survey will be designed based on information from the Twitalyzer as well as other questions asked of 30 participants, which is a statistically ample sample size for the n value. Data Collection 
 C. Data Handling and Analysis (How to Analyze the Data) Based on the Twitalyzer and the survey questions, how an electronic engineer can make his or her company more competitive in a globalized world will be analyzed. D. Research Ethics 
 It is extremely ethical to use Twitter as a research tool because there are vast amounts of people who use Twitter who are extremely educated, including the user named @TechCrunch. TechCrunch has a web site that talks about technology. Recently, there was a scandal called Twittergate. A hacker by the username HackerKroll hacked into the Twitter and e-mail accounts of top Twitter CEOs and personnel. It is important to realize that hacking is a serious offense. Any kind of survey that impinges upon the privacy of users should be avoided. E. Study Limitations Only 30 people will be used in the sample size for the survey, since this is a statistically significant number of people to utilize in a survey. Conclusion Twitter is the social media networking explosion of the future. For an electronics engineer who is trying to ensure that his or her company is able to compete in a globalized marketplace, it is important to remember that there are many factors involved in conducting a questionnaire. The factors affecting how Twitter users’ impact on the Web (relating to Twitter users who will take the survey) include: influence; signal, generosity; velocity; and clout. Each of these factors is significant. With regards to the way the survey itself will be conducted, there will be various questions asked to Twitter users on the questionnaire. These questions are including but not limited to a variety of methods of inquiry. Such aspects such as age, location, sex, education, and utilization frequency of the social networking site Twitter will be analyzed. Globalization on the Net is increasingly becoming a subject that the astute electronics engineer must face. In fact, it is of premier importance. As such, as an electronics engineer, one must take into account various factors that will be analyzed on the survey of Twitter users. These factors will be questions such as, “How many posts, on average, do you make per day on Twitter?” Other questions that might be relevant include the ratios of how many posts (or “tweets”) a user has in relation to how many followers they have. If one Twitter user (“tweeter” or “twitterer”) seems to garner more attention (read: followers) with less tweets than another user, this should be duly noted in the survey. Analyzing the usefulness of Twitter to a sample size of 30 Twitter users (as well as using the Twitalyzer), will aid the astute electronics engineer to advance globalization. REFERENCES Barton, S.M., Corbitt, B., & Nguyen, L., 2009. Academic social networks affecting the adoption of E-learning in Turkey. International Journal on E-Learning, 8 (4), pp. 561-575. Pence, H., 2007. Preparing for the real web generation. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 35 (3), pp. 346-356. Wineman, J.D., Kabo, F.W., & Davis, G.F., 2009. Spatial and social networks in organizational innovation. Environment and Behavior, 41 (3), pp. 427-442. Young, J.R., 2009. 10 high fliers on twitter. [Online Article] Available at: http://chronicle.com/article/10-High-Fliers-on-Twitter/16488 Retrieved 27 Oct 2009. Yunker, J., 2009. Twitter and web globalization. [Online Article] Available at: http://www.globalbydesign.com/blog/2009/05/20/twitter-and-web- globalization/comment-page-1/ Retrieved 27 Oct 2009. Read More