Masaryk university
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- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK METHODS
- Theoretical Framework
- Research Methods
- Online Synchronous Interview
- The Validity Reliability of Methods
Research QuestionThe central question this thesis attempts to answer is: How does Weibo use affect people’s collective action involvement? In order to answer this question, two related questions are asked: 1. What kinds of people use Weibo and why? 2. Who are Weibo activists?
This chapter establishes the theoretical framework for this thesis and introduces the research methods used in my research. To understand Weibo’s impact on collective action participation, the theoretical structure connects individual factors, Weibo use patterns, and collective action participation. The relationship model hypothesizes that the relationship between individual levels of predictors and patterns of Weibo use would have behavioral consequences on collective action participation. The methods section reviews the research methods used in this research, which are online surveys and synchronous online interviews. The merits and flaws of each method were also discussed in this section.
To understand Weibo use’s influence in collective action participation, this study specifically investigates the relationship between individual factors, Weibo activism, and collective action participation. The conceptual framework is constructed as a three-stage model, which was operationalized as follows: First of all, I analyzed whether Weibo users use it primarily for informational purposes. The correlational relationships between Weibo use frequency and Weibo use motives were tested. Second, I examined who Weibo activists are. The correlational relationships between individual factors, Weibo use patterns, and Weibo activism were tested. Finally, I explored whether Weibo use affected collective action involvement. The causal relationships of factors that contribute to the impact of Weibo activism on collective action involvement were explored through binary logistic models. Ultimately, this study aims at answering the question of whether Weibo will have the power to mobilize collective action in China. Figure 2 The Main-Relationship Model 
As previous studies show, using social network sites (SNSs) for different purposes can have different consequences for usage. Certain groups are more likely to use SNSs for political purposes, such as young males with higher education, and the more affluent (Laer 2010). Partially, this is due to the fact that these people were more concerned about politics before they used SNSs, and SNSs provide a platform for them to receive political information more easily and distribute information to a wider audience. In this study, demographic variables, such as education and monthly income are selected out as predictors because they may have an important impact on political Weibo use. The information motive is singled out as the other main individual factor driving Weibo use. Unlike traditional media or other websites, Weibo offers a variety of information that is faster moving and subject to relatively less restriction. Research has shown that different types of Weibo usage lead to different results (Shah, Kwak, and Holbert 2001). For instance, informational use might have positive impacts on users’ political engagement, but social and recreational use might not. That is why, in order to understand the impact of Weibo usage in collective action participation, one must also take into account the motive that drives people to use Weibo. The consequences of Weibo use include several forms of collective action participation: petition, boycott, online protest, offline protest, and Weibo-driven events. Admittedly, macro-level factors, such as economic development and political context, might also influence Weibo use patterns and collective action engagement. However, macro-level factors would be very difficult to measure and operationalize in a study of this scope. Thus, this thesis will only focus on measuring the impact of micro-level factors.
This section discusses research design, sampling, and the validity of the research methods used. Most of the research process was completed through the Internet. Participants completed a self-administered online questionnaire (see Appendix A for survey questionnaire). A sample of 206 participants was taken using the snowball technique. A message was randomly sent to users of Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo with a link to the questionnaire asking users to participate in a sociological survey about Weibo. The reason why I choose only these two Weibo websites is because they are the two Weibo websites in China with the largest number of users. By the end of 2011, Sina Weibo had 300 million registered users, and about 27 million active users (Shuang 2012). Tencent Weibo had 373 million registered users and about 68 million active users (Zhao 2012). The snowball technique was also used in sampling partial networks among Weibo users. Upon successful completion of the questionnaire, the respondents would be invited to post the questionnaire link to their Weibo. They would get an opportunity to join an online lottery game with electronic products as prizes. Before the respondents proceeded to the lottery, a link would be offered that, when clicked, brought the user to their Sina Weibo with an automatically entered invitation to take the questionnaire. Thus, the user could share the questionnaire with their followers. However, this step was not required. Why an online questionnaire? Internet surveys have many advantages. First of all, they are cheaper than traditional postal questionnaires and can get faster responses. In addition, the researcher doesn’t have to record data from handwritten questionnaires to the computer. It is easy for the researcher to monitor the responses and analyze data. According to Bryman (2008), online questionnaires have no geographic constraint in coverage. The results were also used to provide guidance for interviews in the second phase. Respondents were encouraged to fill in their contact details if they were willing to participate in an interview. The results of the questionnaire could also be used to check the reliability of the interview results. There are two types of questions in the questionnaire: closed-ended and open-ended questions. Taking into account the response rate, most of the questions are closed-ended questions in which respondents are forced to choose one of the answers. In order to minimize measurement error that “may arise from the respondent (lack of motivation, comprehension problems, deliberate distortion, etc.) or from instrument (poor wording or design, technical flaws, etc.)” (Couper 2000), a pilot questionnaire was distributed among a small group of students before mass distribution. Although it is often assumed in the West that Chinese respondents may not feel free to talk about their true opinions, more recent studies have showed that Chinese respondents feel much freer to express their views and feelings in surveys than is expected in the West (Chen 2004; Shi 1997). As Chen (2004) argued, this is partially because Chinese regulations on survey research at the grassroots level are inconsistent and ineffective.
In addition to the online questionnaire, I conducted semi-structured online interviews with voluntary respondents to get further details of their ideas regarding the research questions. Specifically, I used semi-structured synchronous individual online interviews. Qualitative information was gathered through online interviews with voluntary respondents recruited from the online questionnaire. The questions were structured to tap into the previously overlooked topics, such as Weibo slacktivism. During the interview, interviewees were first asked about their personal background, such as gender, age, education, and current occupation. Then three main questions were explored throughout the conversation: 1) What do you generally use Weibo for? 2) Have you participated in collective action through Weibo? Why or why not? 3) What do you think about Weibo slacktivism?
Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this research. The two methods each have their merits and flaws. Online questionnaire Ideally, a random sample would be used to understand Weibo use and its political consequences. However, obtaining a sample that could represent the whole population of Weibo users in China would be close to impossible and certainly impractical. There are two reasons for that: first, it is very costly to generate a random sample; and second, there many “zombie” users on Weibo who mindlessly follow others in order to spread advertisements. Thus, this research uses the snowball sampling method to collect a convenient sample from the total Weibo user population. Using the snowball technique does have a risk of introducing bias, since the technique itself substantially increases the likelihood that the sample will not be representative of the population. However, the results of this study can still provide some insights and inferences about why people use Weibo and how they use it for political purposes. Furthermore, for both probability and non-probability-based samples, larger sample sizes do not necessarily mean the sample is more representative of any greater population: a sample can be biased whether it is large or small (Ronald D. Fricker 2008). Given the complexity of studying issues related to politics in China, the questionnaire was designed with behavioral questions instead of attitude questions towards sensitive issues in order to minimize measurement error (when the survey responses differ from the ‘true’ response). As one of the first scholars to collect survey data in China, Shi (1997) pointed out that attitude questions are more likely to worry Chinese respondents than behavioral questions. Attitudinal questions were asked only when absolutely necessary in the survey. Furthermore, the respondents were assured of the confidentiality of their answers and encouraged to choose the answer which was the closest to their true feelings. Online synchronous interview There are both merits and flaws in the online synchronous interview method. First of all, the researcher can not only confirm what is already known from the earlier questionnaire, but also learn more about the reasons for the answers. The interviewees are given the opportunity to make arguments, rather than answer the questions routinely. Since the respondents are recruited through the internet, it is much cheaper and more convenient compared to the face-to-face interview. Second, there is no need for transcription, which saves the enormous time and cost involved in getting recorded interview sessions transcribed (Bryman 2008). Last but not least, individual interviews are considered to be more suitable than focus group discussions, because they allow for a more free, open, and informal discussion (Liu 2007). Participants’ keyboard skills will not be a factor, and it allows participants to arrange a suitable time and comfortable place to be interviewed, which may facilitate their willingness to talk about their real opinions. However, there are also significant disadvantages of the online synchronous interview. First and foremost, it can be more difficult for the interviewer to establish rapport and to engage with interviewees. Second, online interviewees are more likely to hide their real identity or drop out of the interview (Bryman 2008). In order to overcome those disadvantages, I followed the online interview process: engagement, interaction, and communication. First, I sent my personal biography in order to “initiate the disclosure process” (Madge and O'Connor). The questions were arranged from easy to hard. During the interview, the respondents were encouraged to improvise, make their own argument, and correlate different issues. The topic of the interview could be adjusted to the situation. After successful completion of the interview, incentives were offered.
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