Bethany Miller 1 Media Research Methods MDIA_2302

Assignment #2

The academic paper on Research priorities for YouTube and video-sharing technologies: A Delphi study was chosen to be analysed for effectiveness in its research. YouTube is a medium highly frequented by adults and university students, and before further research can be done it is best to ensure that the current research is accurate (Everson, M, Gundlach, E & Miller, J. 2013). It is important that the priorities of research are defined accurately so crucial areas are not left out in th research field.

The research was not commissioned by an agency, but instead self commissioned by faculty members of the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University. Each of the faculty members has a strong link to video technologies in their academic background. The research was done to help their future research as well as others studying a similar field in video sharing technologies. The researchers aimed to help identify the most important areas of YouTube to research, as they believed there is much literature about the video sharing site but little on the importance of research or the priorities of the research (Snelson, C, Rice, K & Constance, W 2012). This research topic helped the researchers gain knowledge about their field of study as well as helping other experts in the field, addressing the needs of the researchers and other third parties.

The research was on YouTube in particular because it has become a big discussion point in academics as there are many unanswered questions, possibilities and

problems that come from social media needing to be explored (Everson, M, Gundlach, E & Miller, J. 2013). While there is much literature about the video sharing site there is little on the importance of research or the areas that most need exploring. The Delphi method was used in this body of research because the researchers identified other studies it had been effective in, and believed it would work well for this study (Snelson, C, Rice, K & Constance, W 2012).

The methods used in the study for research did not differ much. Secondary research was done in the earlier stages of the project to decide on the methods to be used, and find experts in the field to use for the primary research in the Delphi method. A literature review was conducted to find leading researchers in the YouTube field, finding 188 articles, revealing 315 scholars who are investigating YouTube as a part of research. 35 of them were considered to be the experts, many of them with multiple YouTube studies in their background. All 35 were contacted to be in the study, 17 agreeing, and 14 of them completing all rounds. Experts were found this way, as YouTube is a fairly new field of study, so experts could be found in the academic publications available. If it had been a much older field of study such as education, the literature review likely would have been too extensive to effectively find a small group of experts. If all 35 experts had participated in the study, the group would have been too large to work effectively as experts would continually be changing their responses. This way of finding experts could be called a nonprobability volunteer purposive sample (Weerakkody, N.D, 2008).

The bulk of the research was mostly primary, used with the Delphi method. The

Bethany Miller 3 Media Research Methods MDIA_2302

Assignment #2

Delphi method is a type of focus group interviewing but they do not have to physically meet, and they generally dont interact before the study (Effective Engagement: Delphi Study, 2013). Participants remain anonymous as they are asked questions, but can change their responses after others have posted their own response. Once responses are set, the group is then given follow-up questions. This method is used in mostly studies were experts are needed such as importance of areas in a research field, like the YouTube study. Experts for the Delphi method were found by a literature review of academic papers and narrowed down. There were three rounds of questions in this study. The first round asked respondents what should be the research priorities in video sharing technologies (particularly YouTube). The responses were narrowed down into seven categories, and the second round asked experts to rate each of the 63 statements on a scale of 1, highest priority to 7, lowest priority. The third final online questionnaire showed the results of the last question, and respondents re-ranked the statements. They were also given the seven research categories and asked to rank them.

The researchers chose the Delphi method of research for a number of reasons. Firstly, it allowed them to avoid demographic challenges by doing the questioning online (Cole, Z.D, Donohoe, H.M & Stellefson, M.L 2013). Secondly, the anonymity of the Delphi method allows the experts to be as upfront as possible without fear of being recognised. Thirdly, it is one of the most cost effective research methods. Fourthly, it encouraged interaction and also allowed the experts to see what other

experts in the field were saying about the same question, and they then could change their response. The method had also been proven to be effective in reviewing other papers that took a similar methodology as this one and this was stated with references to two different academic papers.

At the conclusion of the study, the researchers had the answers they wanted. Because the original aim was of an open-ended question and could take any direction it did not matter what the expert responses to the Delphi round of questions were (OReilly, K, 2012). They discovered that experts believed that users, groups and communities are the most important area of necessary research for YouTube. This category was defined as impacts on groups of people from YouTube and why they watch what they do. Closely followed was Teaching/Learning, how YouTube could be used as a resource for educational purposes. On the bottom of the list were commercial interests, to determine copyright issues on videos such as notfor-profit. While this study provides a good understanding of what needs to be researched, it must be noted that the importance of an area of research depends on the agency commissioning the research. For example, if it had been experts in marketing answering the questions they may put commercial interests and media management higher on the scale, and teaching/learning lower. It should be noted that a literature review is not necessarily going to uncover a variety of experts on YouTube, they are probably going to all be academics. Some content creators or developers on the video site are likely to know as much or possibly more than experts about YouTube.

Bethany Miller 5 Media Research Methods MDIA_2302

Assignment #2

It should also be noted that until an academic publications release in 2013, Delphi studies done through the Internet had not been critically reviewed academically (Cole, Z.D, Donohoe, H.M & Stellefson, M.L 2013). The study method merely took on an adapted form, and no research had been completed to determine wether or not the Delphi method could work effectively on the Internet. The YouTube study was available online in 2012, a full year before the first research paper on Internet-Based Delphi Research. The paper concludes however, that in the practice of using Delphi studies on the Internet, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Users should still remain aware of the issues that occur with any internet study in using this method (Cole, Z.D, Donohoe, H.M & Stellefson, M.L 2013).They include problems with transmission, accountability with anonymous sources and Internet based problems. The YouTube study did not mention any of these problems so it must be assumed none were encountered. It did show that the number of participants in the study dropped from the first to the last round.

As the Delphi Method was the only research method used in the primary research of the topic, it could be argued that the conclusion of this study should have been followed up with other research methods (Kennedy, H.P 2003). As only experts were used in the study, it also raises the question that if non-experts had been queried about the same questions, would they have come to the same conclusion? In the study analysed it could be said that because the research is about experts, and for experts, only experts could have been effectively used to create the outcome.

In conclusion, the paper Research priorities for YouTube and video -sharing technologies: A Delphi study is an effective piece of media research. While debate could spark over the original secondary research to find experts, the research was looking for academic experts in the YouTube research field. The literature review, which was then narrowed down to scholars with multiple studies, was an efficient way to find the experts. The Delphi method was shown to be successful in its use in the study, backed up by secondary research of other studies that had also productively used the method. By asking an open ended question in the surveying, the researchers allowed the study to take them in any direction with no bias, further shown because the study was not commissioned by an agency. This report is a sound piece of research, with only a few minor inconsistences or bias.

Bethany Miller 7 Media Research Methods MDIA_2302

Assignment #2

Reference List:

Cole, Z.D, Donohoe, H.M & Stellefson, M.L 2013, Internet-Based Delphi Research: Case Based Dicussion, Environmental Management. Vol. 51, No. 3 pp 511 -523.

Everson, M, Gundlach, E & Miller, J. 2013. Social Media and the Introductory Statistics Course. Computers in Human Behavior. Viewed 29 April 2013 (electronic ScienceDirect)

Effective Engagement: Delphi Study, 2013, Department of Environment and Primary Industries, State Government of Victoria. Delphi Study, viewed 25th April 2013, <http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/effective-engagement/toolkit/tool-delphi-study>

Kennedy, H.P 2003, Enhancing Delphi research: methods and results. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol 45, No.5 pp 504 511.

OReilly, Karen, 2012, Interviews: asking questions of individuals and groups Ethnographic Methods, 2nd ed., London: Routledge, 116-140 Snelson, C, Rice, K & Constance, W 2012, Research priorities for YouTube and videosharing technologies: A Delphi study. British Journal of Educational Technology. Vol. 43. No. 1 p119-129

Weerakkody, Niranjala D. 2008, Sampling, Research Methods for Media and Communication, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 92-108