Report

A Formal Report
 THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON
THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
OF THE STUDENTS

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Executive Summary

The purpose of this research study is to examine the influence of Social Media on the Academic

Performance of students. Three Research questions and three Research hypotheses guided the

study. To achieve this, the survey methodology research design was adopted. The study focused

on Georgetown University. Hence, population consists of all the 20,105 full-time undergraduate

students. The simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 378 students.

Findings showed that the use of social media had affected academic performance of the students

badly. From conclusion, we came to know that social media sites are not being used for

academic purpose. To this end, there are some recommendations that social media should be

used for educational purposes as well; Social Networking Sites should be expanded and new

pages should be created to enhance academic activities and avoid problem in the students’
academic performance; and Students should be monitored by teachers and parents on how they

use these sites This is to create a balance between social media and academic activities of

students to avoid complication in the academic performance of the students.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF
TABLES……………………………………………. iv
LIST OF
FIGURES……………………………………………. v

ABSTRACT…………………………………………….

SECTION I
INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY……………………………

Introduction…………..……………………………………… 1
 Background Information……………………………………… 1-2
Statement of the
Problem ……………………………………..……………………..….2

Significance of the Study……………………………………….. 2-3

Review of related Literature ……….……………………………... 3-4

Method of the Study……………………………………………… 4-6

Scope of the study ……………………………………………….. 6

Limitation………………………………………………………… 6-7

Source of
Data …………………………………………………….. 12

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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Usage of social networking site and student’s academic performance…… 5
2. Percentage of usages of social networking sites by respondents…………. 8
 v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
1. Relationship between academic performance and time spent…………. 7
3. Relationship between academic performance and use of social media… 8
The Effect of Social Media on
The Academic Performance
Of the Students

SECTION I

Introduction to the Study

Introduction
Today, many students are undergoing with the effects causing by the usage of social network on

academic performance of students. Social media effects can be either positive or negative. What

is perceived as positive effects by one person can be perceived as negative effect by another.

However, everyone takes the situation in a different way. According to Tuckman (1965), the

negative effects of these social networking sites surpass the negative one.

Background Information

Popularity of these networking sites increased quickly in the last decade because of its immense

use. Students are suffering from it than anyone else because when they are studying and
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searching material online they get enchanted from these sites to kill their boredom in their study

time, diverting their attention from their work. They spend most of the time in chatting and

making new friends on social media. Parents are worried that their children have not enough time

for their studies. As a result, they are scoring low grades. They depend on virtual environment as

compare to getting knowledge from the real world.

Statement of the Problem

It is the most important part of report. The main purpose of this report is to determine the

“Effects of social media on student’s academic performance”. According to research,

approximately 73% of teenagers have joined networking sites by the end of 2009 and app. 38%

visiting these sites daily. It is assumed that academic performance of students is suffering a lot of

challenges and neglect. To address the issue of excessive use of social networking sites, the

question raised in this analysis is:

“For what purpose is the student utilizing social networking”.

Significance of the study

This study is significant for the teachers, parents and students. This study will help the teachers

to be aware of the influence that social media has on their students. In order to assist them to

inform and create awareness to the students about the probable effects it has on them. The study

is beneficial to parents in the sense that they will know the possible effects of these social media

usage has on their children, so they can keep an eye on their children when they are using social

networking site. The study will enable the students of the senior level so that they will be aware

of it, apart from the social benefits of this social networking site, using the sites more than
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necessary will pose possible dangers to their health. This study has broad purpose to show the

relationship between social media usage by the students and their academic achievements.

Review of Related Literature

According to Lenhart (2010), about 57% of social media users are 18-29 years old and have a

personal profile on different social media websites. In a study by Pempek, Yermolayeva and

Calvert (2009), the amount of time spent daily on social network sites varied greatly. However,

an analysis of the data indicated most participants spent approximately 2 hours a day socializing,

mostly during the evening hours between 9p.m to 12a.m students spent an average of 6-7 hours a

day on Facebook. More than 50% of college students go on a social networking sites several

times a day (Sheldon, 2008). Quan-Haase and Young (2010), found that 82% of college students

reported logging into Facebook several times a day. Younger students tended to use Facebook

more frequently than older students to keep in touch with friends from high school or from their

hometown (Pempek, 2009).

Furthermore, a study conducted by Karpinski and Duberstein (2009), of Ohio Dominican

university on college students who use social network have significantly lower grade point

averages (GPAs) than those who do not. They also mentioned that among various unique

distractions of every single generation, Facebook remains a major distraction of current

generation. According to Khan (2009), Facebook users often time experience poor performance

academically. Similarly, Englander (2010), says that social media is negatively associated with

academic performance of student and is a lot more momentous than its advantages. Internet

addiction consequently gave rise to internet usage within the last couple decades. Nalwa and
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Anand (2008), recommended that addicted users prefer using internet setting back their personal

and responsibilities which ultimately leads to poor academic performance.

San Miguel (2009), focused on the relationship between time spent on Facebook and the

academic performance of students. The overall findings indicated “more time on Facebook

equals slightly lower grades”. In his study, the average Facebook user had a GPA of 2.5 to 3,

while the non-Facebook user had a GPA of 3.0 – 3.8. It has been revealed that students who

multi-task between social networking sites and home work are likely to have 20% lower grades

than a student who does not have a social networking site. He believes that even running a social

networking site on the background on a student’s PC while studying or doing homework could

lower a student’s grade. He believes that “the problem is that most people have Facebook or

other social networking sites, their e-mails and may be instant messaging constantly running in

the background while they are carrying out their tasks”.

Method of the study

The report was an analytical report and this section will explain the methodology used for the

research under study. It is basically a confirmation that the problem under study has been

analyzed. The critical analysis was carried with the help of facts and figure. In this study both

primary and secondary data will be included.

Primary data

The primary data for this research is collected using a quantitative sample.

Population
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The target population for the study was the university students of an undergraduate program.

Quantitative sample

Student’s Academic Performance

Usage of Social

Networking Sites Female Male

1-3 hour 92% 94%

3-6 hour 85% 87%

6-9 hour 72% 75%

9-12 hour 60-70% 65%

12-15 hour Below 60% Below 60%

Table 1

The sample was composed of 378 participants in which 189 are females and 189 are boys and

investigation uses convenient sampling. Using facts and figure, we analyze the data easily by

comparing the student’s academic performance and effects of networking sites usage. Following

table shows the response of participants on their grades:

Variables

In this analysis following variables were used:

1. Student’s Academic performance as dependent variable

2. Time spent and usage of social media as independent variable

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The report is analyzed by using mathematical calculation and statistical algorithms for exact and

accurate result. This may help whether the respondents agree or not that social media have an

impact on their academic performance.

Secondary data

The secondary data, which have been collected from different online websites and published,

research articles.

Scope of the study

The study is restricted to the effect of social media on student's academic performance in

learning and listening comprehension. People are exposed to various kinds of social networking

sites on the Internet and this study will help how the social networking sites can be improved to

be used as a platform for educational learning. This study also tells us that how we can control

the distraction of students’ academic performance. Researchers should improve these sites.

People should learn new things, exchange ideas and work on enhancing networking skills as it

can provide practical understanding technology. So, use it in a positive way as spending too

much time promotes negativity and often lead to social media addiction.

Limitations

As the method of investigation included both primary and secondary data so the focus of this

study is limited with students who use social media and its impact on academic performance,

recognizing that academic performance is a multi-dimensional form that involves many variables

that include home environment, individual intelligence and availability of study materials and

so on. The limitation of this analysis is small range that was conducted in university to test the
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effects of social media. The report is also limited to the study of websites, journal articles and

online resources and does not cover each and every dimension of social effects on academic

performance. This study includes what social networking sites students visit and their effects on

student.

SECTION II

Findings and Discussion

Graph 1: Relationship between academic performance and time spent

Below graph shows a positive relationship between academic performance (Dependent Variable)

and time spent (Independent Variable). There is a significant impact on frequency of time spend

on social media and academic performance. As more time is spend on social media contributes to

low academic performance. Graph shows a correlation as student spend 1 hour on study, having

an academic performance of 0.922. The researchers said that the time spent on social media

increases, the academic performance is seen to be degenerated.

Relationship between academic performance and

time spend

1508
1508
1 0
0.922 0.028

0.922 0.028 1508 1

0
1508

Figure 1
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Graph 2: Relation between academic performance and use of social media

Similarly, effect the below graph shows a positive relationship between academic performance

(Dependent Variable) and use of social media (Independent Variable). It shows average

academic performance of students affected by the usage of networking sites. For example

Facebook users had a lower GPA than non-users of Facebook because they spent more time on

their studies.

Relationship between academic performance and

use of social media

1508
1508
0.752 0.003
1 0
1 0
1508 0.752
0.001
1508

Figure 2

This study includes what social networking sites students visit.

To explore the relationship between academic performance and use of social media, we take a
sample of students. Students use these sites for different purpose such as downloading music,
videos, posting pictures, blogging, chatting and so on. The following table shows the percentage
for which purposes these sites are being used.

Purposes % of respondents
Download music / video 60%
Uploading music / video 6%
Posting photos 18%
Chatting 40%
Blogging 8%
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Creating polls / quizzes or surveys 8%

Submitting articles to websites 14%
Communication with class fellows 14%
Any other 18%
Table 2

Research Questions

The following questions were raised:

1. To which extent student’s habit-forming to social network affects their academic

performance?

2. Is there any gender difference in the student’s usage of social media network?

3. In what way do younger and older students influence the use of social media?

Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses are generated by the researcher and were tested in this study:

1. Students’ addictiveness to social network has no significant influence on their academic

performance.

2. There is no significant difference between male and female students usage of social media

network.

3. Age does not have significant influence on the use of social media.
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Conclusion

The study was done to examine the impact of students’ use of social media sites on their

academic performance. It shows that the majority of the people had mobile phones with internet

facility and had knowledge of the existence of social media sites. As a result they visit their

social media sites and spend between 6-7 hours every day. In addition, the study also revealed

that the use of social media had affected academic performance of the students badly and further

confirmed that there was a strong positive relationship between the use of social media and

academic performance. The hypothesis Graph 1 and 2 tested on time spent on the use of social

media sites and relationship between use of social media and academic performance revealed a

strong positive relationship at significant level of 0.922. The study further reveled that most of

the people use the social media sites to chat other than academic purpose. Spending more time

on social network results in getting lower grades. Technology is slowly destroying the minds of

teenagers through their physical and mental health. However, social media addiction will rise in

future.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions, following recommendations are made:

 Students having internet facility in their phone should be encouraged to use it for

educational purpose rather than the usual chatting with friends all the time.

 Students should be advised to limit the time they spend on social media sites per day and

encourage them to spend those hours to read novels and relevant academic books to

improve their knowledge.

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 There is an urgent need for the introduction of students to the availability of novels and

other information resource or materials in the library that can help them academically.

 It is further recommended that an orientation should be conducted on the disadvantages

of its addiction of these social networking sites.

 They should be introduced to sites that can add values to their academic work and

research.

 The government and educational institutes should encourage hard work by rewarding

successful students through scholarship schemes and other incentives.

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References

Flad, K. (2010). “The Influence of Social Networking Participation on Student Academic

Performance”

Qazi, I. A. ( 2011). “A look out for academic impacts of Social networking sites (SNSs)”.

A.C. Karpinski, 2009. “A description of Facebook use and academic performance among

Undergraduate and graduate students,” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the

American Educational Research Association, San Diego, Cali.

Duven, C. and Timm, D. (2008). “Privacy and social networking sites”; New directions

For student service.

Morahan-Martin, J., & Schumacher, P. (2000). “Incidence and correlates of pathological

Internet use among students.” Computers in Human Behavior, 16, 13–29.

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Appendix A

Questionnaire

The Effects of Social Media on Student’s Academic performance

Students in the Graduate School of Business at Georgetown University are conducting

this survey to find out perception of the effects of social media on the academic

performance of students. Please read carefully and tick () the suitable column for each

statement as soon as possible.

SA- Strongly Agree, A- Agree, D- Disagree, SD- Strongly Disagree

S/N ITEMS SA A D SD
STUDENTS ADDICTIVENESS TO SOCIAL
NETWORK AND ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE

1 Social network addiction is a serious issue that

affects my academic life.
2 Social network distracts me from my studies.

3 Hours spent online can never be measured to the

number of hours I spend reading.
4 There is no enhancement in my grades since I
became busy into these social networking sites.
GENDER USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

5 Male and female students use social media networks

differently in different frequencies.
6 Female students use social networking sites more to
clearly stimulate social association.
7 Gender dictates the level of social media network
usage.
8 Males are more effectual at using social networking
sites for non-academic purposes.
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AGE USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

9 Age has influence on the use of social media.

10 Social media has become boredom as I grow older.

11 Social media is not related to people of older

generation.
12 The younger generations are the most active users of
social media.