Research Project

Based on our discussion at the end of class last week, I decided that I would post my research project for the class here. That way you can guys can look over it and make comments or suggestions at your own leisure.

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Research Question:
What factors influence the adoption of webcast technologies among college students?


Webcast Definition:
Any LIVE broadcast over the internet that allows the user some type of interaction.


Theories:
Roger's Diffusion of Innovations identifies 5 characteristics of an innovation that will determine its adoption. They are: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, and Observability.

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis predicts that Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) will indicate a user's attitude toward a technology and that attitude will indicate acceptance of.

Based on definitions given in the texts for Perceived Ease of Use and Complexity, it is seen that the two concepts measure roughly the same thing. Additionally Perceived usefulness and Relative Advantage are seen to be approximately the same.

Therefore, TAM and Diffusion can be combined into a single study that measures 5 variables and uses them as an indication of a person’s attitude toward a technology and the likely acceptance / adoption of that technology.


Target Population:
Both Graduate and Undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee


Method:
A survey containing likert scale questions has been developed which in prior studies has been shown to be reliable in measuring the 5 variables. The survey will be hosted online and participants will be solicited through e-mail, classroom announcement, and hopefully through the snowballing effect. Data will be analyzed using SPSS.

For this Class:
My hope is that I will get 25 participants to take the survey for this class. That will give me some data so that I can run the factor analysis and reliability tests on the data to ensure that my measurements are correct.

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If anyone has questions or comments on the design of my study, I would love to hear them. This is my first research project ever and I am still learning most of this stuff. An understanding of any of the concepts or constructs that aren’t clear to my classmates would help indicate what I need to look for when I complete the study and attempt to write it up.