Perceptions of Saudi male and female postgraduate students regarding the impact of social networking sites and apps on their academic life and social capital: A study of Umm Al-Qura University - Makkah
Creators: name: Abdulelah Ahmed Alghamdi
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: The use of Social Networking
Sites and Apps (SNSAs) in Saudi Arabia has been reported as extensive, even on
a world basis. Saudi Arabia presents an important context for exploring the use
of social networking, as while technologically equipped to enable intensive
engagement, the social and cultural mores of the country present challenges
that are distinct and little researched. University students, and particularly
postgraduate students, appear to be most engaged with social networking, and
while an extensive body of Western literature has examined the academic and
social impacts of SNSAs use on students’ lives, there has been little
comparative research conducted in non-Western settings, and particularly in
contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where cultural traditions are quite distinctive,
even within the Arab world. A particular area of interest within this context
relates to gender, as educational segregation has often presented challenges
for mixed gender research. <br>
   Within the existing body of literature examining the impact of
social networking within the university student population, two main areas have
been studied – academic and social impacts. In terms of academic impacts, both
academic engagement and academic relationships have been focused on, while
social impacts have often been examined in relation to social capital, which
can be measured according to domains of life satisfaction, social trust, civic
participation, and political engagement. <br>
   The current study was a case study of one large university in
Saudi Arabia. Utilising a mixed methods approach, both qualitative and
quantitative data were gathered, and a concurrent nested triangulation design
was used to analyse the data. The second generation of Activity Theory (AT) was
used as a theoretical lens to guide the data analysis and present the findings
relating to the use of SNSAs by Saudi male and female postgraduate students.
Within the framework of data collection, 606 students completed surveys, 16
students participated in semi-structured individual interviews and 61 students
participated in 8 focus group discussions. <br>
   The quantitative and qualitative findings indicated moderate
use of SNSAs for academic and social purposes by both male and female
postgraduate students in the study. The students perceived more positive than
negative impacts associated with the use of SNSAs in both the academic and
social contexts of their lives. Interestingly, gender differences were not
extensive however, the quantitative analysis highlighted more prominent
involvement with SNSAs by females for the purposes of academic engagement and
for developing their academic relationships. Male participants reported higher
use of SNSAs for the purposes of civic and political participation. Although
the domains of life satisfaction and social trust did not show any
statistically significant differences between genders, the qualitative findings
highlighted distinctive levels of experiences in these two domains. These
differences in both quantitative and qualitative findings are not unexpected
within the socio-cultural context of Saudi society. <br>
   Correlational analysis illustrated the existence of positive
correlations between all the main domains. Large correlations existed between
academic engagement and academic relationships and between civic participation
and political engagement, with medium correlations found between academic
relationships, civic participation and political engagement and between life
satisfaction and social trust. These correlations revealed strong relationships
within the domains of academic life and social capital of participants, which
was also supported by the findings of the qualitative data analysis. AT, as a
theoretical framework, provided a valuable tool for understanding the different
associations among the various components in the use of SNSAs by Saudi
postgraduate students. <br>
   Overall, this study provided a large range of data relating
to perceived academic and social impacts associated with the use of SNSAs.
Designing a study within a cultural context involving gender segregation
resulted in a number of distinctive challenges. However, it was important to be
able to provide comparative data to help fill the identified gaps in knowledge
resulting from the dearth of mixed gender studies in Saudi Arabia regarding
social networking. As such, the study provides a viable framework for mixed
gender studies in segregated contexts. The findings illustrated that while
males and females engaged with SNSAs on a frequent basis, the focus for females
was academic, while males engaged with SNSAs for social purposes more often
than females. This finding is of interest, in light of social restrictions
experienced by females in Saudi society. Gendered differences in relation to
civic and political involvement through SNSAs were also an important finding,
but possibly not surprising, within the context of the study. A particularly
significant aspect of the study was the support it provided for the use of
second generation AT as a valuable theoretical lens, resulting in the identification
of three levels of interaction related specifically to the Saudi context but
possibly of broader applicability.