Purpose
Previous research by other researchers indicates a positive correlation between Instagram addiction and self-esteem by high school students depending on the time spent on the social platforms. However, little is known about the extent and the reasons for social media addiction. Besides, it is unclear how social media addiction affects teenagers who spend much time on social network sites. Therefore, the general goal of this study is to seek an in-depth understanding of how social media Instagram addiction impacts self-esteem in high school students and understand the correlation between the two variables among high school students in Kuwait.
Methods
Study Site
The study will take place in Kuwait, and it will involve an online survey sent to students on Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp. In addition, the study will involve a robust infrastructure to enroll the students at the high school level in the study region that includes numerous cohort stratifications based on gender, age, and Instagram usage.
Study design
The study will involve a self-explanatory mixed-method research design comprising qualitative and quantitative strands embedded within high school students’ existing social media usage in Kuwait. The qualitative strand will apply several social questionnaires and data collection techniques, including focus group discussion, informal conversations, participant observation, and determinants of key performance indicators. Similarly, the quantitative strand will involve a knowledge attitude and practice online survey related to the psycho-social impact of Instagram addiction on the self-esteem of the study participants (Hou et al., 2019). Using the online surveys maximizes the technique’s strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of bias because the triangulation improves the data validity. Similarly, the mixed design method answers questions that other methods cannot because it provides proper inferences and allows the presentation of various perspectives.
The study will incorporate emergent design flexibility, a core theme of qualitative inquiry, and adapt the participant’s selection. The number of frequencies of interviews as information is acquired when situations change. The emergent design will allow the researcher to respond to the new information and flexibility in the design and sampling. According to Hau, this design will maximize the potential of acquiring the desired information for both qualitative and quantitative components. The triangulation increases the data validity and credibility. It provides an in-depth insight into how social media Instagram addiction affects students’ self-esteem and the broader impact of social interaction.
Participants
The survey will include High school-going teenagers in Kuwait in an online study blinded where they will fill a form indicating the hours they spend on social media and how it affects their self-esteem. Participants will be purposefully selected from the selected institutions because it allows units based on specific purposes and guides the maximum variation and gradual selection process.
Data collection procedures
Informed consent
The researcher will obtain a written online informed consent from each participant. The consent procedure will seek participants’ permission for study participation as it assures them that the data is purely for research and not personal use. Thus, each respondent will get an assurance that the participation is voluntary and that the choice not to participate in the study will not affect them in any way. Also, the consent process will explain to the participants that they are free to leave the study at any time if they do not feel comfortable with the questions embedded in the survey. The researcher will administer the informed consent in languages that the correspondents will understand. However, verbal consent will be the appropriate tool for informal conversations and participant observation since the interviewees are not at risk of physical or psychological harm. Whenever consent is not obtained, the participants will automatically be excluded from the study.
Surveys
The researcher will post mixed surveys, including close-ended and open-ended questions. The survey will allow quantitative data to assess the participants’ awareness and use of social media platforms at this study stage. The other questions will be regarding their thoughts on the impact of Instagram on their self-esteem. The online survey will last for almost 5 minutes, and the focused group interviews will involve transcription verbatim by researchers involved in the face-to-face interviews.
Data Handling Procedures
Surveys and data collected from the focused group interviews will be transcribed verbatim by the researchers involved in the data collection process. The data handling process will follow the standardized qualitative interview guidelines developed for this project to ensure clarity and consistency. Following the standard procedure, transcripts will not bear the names of the participants to conceal their personal information (Pinto-Llorente et al., 2020). Transcript and data collected will be password protected and stored electronically locally by the researcher. Accessing the transcripts will be limited to staff only. After transcription, the data manager will review it for accuracy and, the digital recordings will be permanently erased from the project database. The researcher will convert the demographic data into electronic files, verify, archive, and destroy any paper version using a shredder.
Quality Control and Assurance
The researcher will produce a detailed summary of the data collected from the surveys. In case of field collection, the researcher will conduct a debrief between the field workers and the lead scientist to discuss the interview details and a standard way of interpreting the responses to improve the quality of data obtained. The debrief will also allow the personnel involved to raise the emerging issues, themes, and ideas as they take notes. Trained social scientists will conduct the meaning-based translation because they understand the local language and can translate to English. The surveys will be administered to personal devices using an open-source data kit software as a survey instrument (Pinto-Llorente et al., 2020). The surveys will be available on the participants’ smartphones to allow skipping patterns, loops, and data validation at data entry. The program will involve innovative logic features, auto-correct features, and checks to ensure that the interviewee responds correctly. Before the actual day of data collection, the researcher will conduct a pretest among colleagues to allow an opportunity to identify the challenges and make corrections.
Data Analysis Procedures
Qualitative data analysis
After data transcription, transcripts will be grouped into tens or interview summaries, and the lead scientist will develop a generic coding framework to define the analytical terms. The transcripts codes will align with the research questions and lie between the relevant matrices (Pinto-Llorente et al., 2020). A thematic analysis approach will be used using a QSR international approved Nvivo software or equivalent software.
Quantitative data analysis
The study plans to summarize the data into categorical variables using frequency counts, continuous variables, interquartile ranges, and percentiles. Within the general linear regression model, the study will use binomial regression with a log link to determine the estimated uni-variables and multi-variable adjusted odds ratios (Campbell-Scherer et al., 2021). Besides, a chi-square test with a test cut-off of 0.1 will be used to determine the variable selections into the multi-variable model and check the two-way relationship for the application of backward elimination (Pinto-Llorente et al., 2020). Finally, the analysis will control the confounding factors by using the meaningful change of 10% in the mean, standard error regression estimates. The researcher will conduct the data analysis on r studio system version 3.6.3 and SAS version 9.4, both for windows computers.
Risks, Discomfort, and Benefits
Three are no direct benefits to taking part in the study, and participants will be assured that the information will be kept private. However, there is a potential risk in taking part in the focus group discussions because other participants may leak the information. Therefore, FGDs will be advised to keep the information shared privately. Because of this risk, FGDs will be allowed to share their knowledge of the attitudes and beliefs of users of social media rather than sharing their personal information.
Costs and Compensation
Participants who visit for the focus group discussion will receive reimbursement for transport expenses ($5 US) and a light refreshment (soft drinks and snacks). Online participants will not be reimbursed.
References
Campbell-Scherer, D., Chiu, Y., Ofosu, N., Luig, T., Hunter, K., & Jabbour, B. et al. (2021). Illuminating and mitigating the evolving impacts of COVID-19 on ethnocultural communities: a participatory action mixed-methods study. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 193(31), E1203-E1212.
Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., & Wang, Q. (2019). Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research On Cyberspace, 13(1).
Pinto-Llorente, A., Sánchez-Gómez, M., & Pedro Costa, A. (2020). Qualitative and mixed methods researches in social sciences. Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality.