Role of Social Media in Arab Spring, Research Proposal Example

Introduction

Before the recent revolutions, social media in the Arab world was depicted as minor, elitist and alternative and their effect was low due to minimal access to the internet. The events of 2011 in the Arab have brought a lot of focus on the social media due to its impact in the revolutions. Many have credited sites such as Twitter, Facebook and bloggers on the internet with these revelations. This is just an assumption since there has been no research done on the subject to demonstrate the truth of the statement. Moreover, there exists variation in the significance and role of the social media during the recent happenings in the Arab world. Researches done in the past have not been conclusive and hence the need for this study.

Statement of Hypothesis

There is a relationship between the spring in the Arab world and the increased use of social media.

Literature review

The tools of social media cannot be appreciated without being placed in context with the Arab culture. The Arab world has experienced a fast rise in its technological knowledge and use over the past decade (Howard, 2011). From the words of Bernard Lewis, the most important technological advancement in the Middle East is the development of the internet (Bernard, 2011). Although the penetration of the internet has gone up over the past years, its abilities were taken for granted until recent years when its capabilities were realized (Jawad, 2011). As access of the internet has propagated across the region, a confused and complex connection has been created between the government and the media. This relationship has led to increase in internet accessibility and hence a creation of a freedom in the internet that knows no boundaries that is based on social networks (Sahar & Katherine, 2011).

Research Methodology

The study will analyze the relationship between domestic violence and adolescent behavior. It will also show the causative agents of domestic violence. In this chapter, the methodology of the study will consist of four parts. These are the research instruments, participants, methods, and data analysis. The sampling procedure will be based on a systematic approach.

The participants for this research will be obtained from various social sites after confirmation that they hail from the Middle East. The participants of this study will consist of 1500 participants from various families in an expanse area from the 20^th of April to 8^th Aug 2014. Data will be collected using questionnaires administered through the social sites.

After collecting questionnaires, the percentages and frequencies are used in calculating and analyzing the raw data in the questionnaires. Gap analysis and descriptive statistics of standard deviations and means will be used in making comparisons between the Arab up rise and the use of social media.

Ethical Considerations

The ethical considerations that were considered in the study included, seeking of approval from the management of the social media, statutory, regulatory authorities, and the relevant ethics committee to conduct the research. The identity of all the participants was also made confidential while unnecessary information destroyed. Finally, the results of the research are to be reported correctly and accurately in an honest manner.

Limitations of the Research

The participants may not reveal the information truthfully because of lack of physical presence of the researcher. The high number of participants will also make it difficult to access the correct information and make perfect inferences.

Discussion

The outcome of this research will help in the determination of whether the increase in the use of social sites had an impact in the Arab spring. The interactions with various social network users will help confirm the truth behind the uprising. The research will also help us examine the significance of the social media in the uprising.

Future Plans

After the research is done, a record will be kept of all the activities of the social site users to enable us track the impact of the sites on the political landscape of various nations across the world.

References

Bernard L. (2011), “Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East”, The New Arab Revolt, New York: The Council on Foreign Relations,

Dr. Sahar K., & Katherine V, (2011), “Cyberactivism in the Egyptian Revolution”, Arab Media and Society

Howard P.N., (2011), The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam, (Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jawad A., (2010) CEO, Arab Advisors Group, “An Overview of the Arab Telecom and Broadband Markets and Broadcast Media Industry” Georgetown University for Contemporary Arab Studies Symposium, “Information Evolution in the Arab World”, accessed 15April, 2011.