HLSS 699 American Public University Aspects of a Research Study Discussion Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions. You may

HLSS 699 American Public University Aspects of a Research Study Discussion Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions. You may challenge, support or supplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from the required readings. Also, do not be afraid to respectfully disagree where you feel appropriate; as this should be part of your analysis process at this academic level.

Forum posts are graded on timeliness, relevance, knowledge of the weekly readings, and the quality of original ideas. While proper APA is not required, attribution to sources that informed your posting should be included. Refer to the grading rubric for additional details concerning grading criteria.

There are no doubts that the literature review is one of the most important aspects of a research study. Knowing where sources came from and their relevance to the topic at hand is very useful when conducting research on a specific topic. Without the proper sources, a researcher can lose their academic credibility and produce very under-par work. To me, the literature view is the most pressing, yet most fun part of the academic research process. I love to see differing and similar opinions amongst researchers from different countries and academic backgrounds.

The technique that I have been utilizing the most in my research is the advanced search. I have been going through the APUS Trefry Library and identifying keywords and phrases that were relevant to my topic. So for example, my research is covering crisis communication and social media, so when I search for an article, I include both of those things in my search to try to come up with other sources to use. I also utilize databases when I am searching for articles. I have found that using specific databases that relate to the topic at hand really makes it easier to find good quality articles to use. A specific technique that I have used a lot for this research study was the Boolean Operator technique, where you utilize the words AND, OR, and NOT. By using this strategy, researchers are able to “eliminates unwanted results, only displaying the information needed to accomplish the research goal” (Indiana Wesleyan University, n.d.). I have found this technique to be very beneficial to use and it saves so much time when conducting research.

For my research project, I have decided to study the negative effect that social media can have on the crisis communication process, with a focus on terrorist attacks, specifically the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. I had to redo my thesis proposal, so I am hoping that this is the topic that I will be sticking with and researching completely. Social media is a very valuable tool with crisis communication, as it can spread information across the internet to a large audience in a matter of minutes. Utilizing social media to pass along important information during a terrorist attack is something that the world is beginning to do more and more as things happen because a majority of our society is switching to living their lives digitally. For example, one of the articles that I have used in my research states that social media is very effective with the younger generations because they are more likely to turn to Facebook or Twitter for the news instead of watching television or the news (Reissová et al, 2018). But, everything has its negatives, so information has the potential to be misconstrued and falsified very quickly because of the fact that there are so many different perspectives and opinions on the internet. In order to have an effective crisis communication process in the United States, it is important that we utilize social media in the best way possible.

References

Indiana Wesleyan University. (n.d.). Boolean Operators and Search Strategies. Off-Campus Library Services. Retrieved from https://ocls.indwes.edu/boole.htm.

Reissová, A., Žambochová, M., & Sláma, V. (2018). The Role of Mass Mass in Crisis Communication. Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice. Series D. Faculty of Economics and Administration, 42.