Applied Research Methods for Communication

Applied Research Methods for Communication 1
APPLIED RESEARCH METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION
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Applied Research Methods for Communication 2
Applied Research Methods for Communication
Part A
Practical Task: App Walk Through Method
I reviewed the Facebook app using the app walkthrough method. Facebook is a social
networking app available for smartphones and web applications. The app vision is purely social
networking, which has recently been leveraged by businesses to create product awareness
through social advertising, as seen in the article by Dehghani and Tumer (2015, p. 597).
Facebook app target individuals, businesses, and government organization and institutions which
can use the app for purposed of communication and interactions. Through its individual and
group-based profile as well as page options, users have a wide ally of options of the platform
suitable to their social needs. Facebook vision is communicated in its frequently asked questions
(FAQs) beside it is easy to navigate through various functionalities.
Facebook was purely meant for communication between friends when Mark developed it.
However, as its popularity grew, it opened the era of social advertising. Thus, a business model
was needed to guide it to revenue generation. Facebook mainly depends on advertising, which
accounts for 98 percent of its revenue. It allows the creation of pages through which individuals
or organizations can customize their communications to target groups using Facebook user
targeting and analytics. According to Black business model has earned Facebook more than
$55.01 billion in revenue in 2018 (Black, 2018). The app continues to make profits as its user
base grows.
Moreover, Facebook app governance contains the terms of use. Unlike other apps, the
terms of use offer global user connectivity and networking free without any charge. However, it
is surprising how it trades its free access with access and use of data in its data policy. The app

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collects information, and content users provide, including usage, transactions, and networks.
Interestingly, it uses this information to sell to advertisers for revenue. Notably, Facebook is very
strict on the usage, especially on the posts made in timelines. It discourages violence and
criminal posts and behaviors and has a mechanism to filter undesirable contents and those that
breach their terms of use.
Additionally, Facebook is one of the easiest apps to acquire, register, and enter. Unlike
many apps, it is free for virtually all its social vision. The user only needs a contact detail to set a
free account and customize the profile, which is optional, which makes it convenient and
preferable over some premium apps. Unlike many apps which require subscriptions, it free for a
lifetime and does not segment its users as either elite or premium. It is one of the widely used
apps in the world.
Besides, the app is widely used for social networking and online advertising. Users have
options to create either an individual profile or a group/page. The preference between the three is
dependent on the intention of creating the account. These accounts are free except that page
accounts are paid only when the user intends to use users’ data with Facebook for advertising.
Most businesses use pages and groups for purposes of advertising. Overall, the app is easy to use
and navigate through its various functionalities and options.
However, the app does not make it easy for the user to suspend, close, or leave an active
account. The app uses cookies which track the usage and save usage history for ease of access
even after logout. When closing the account, a user is prompted with messages which discourage
leaving your friends who will miss you. The app also gives options to deactivate the account
temporarily and reactivate it after considerations. In essence, the app tries to enclose and create

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virtual loyalty with its users through prompts messages that are encouraging to stay and use of
cookies for convenience.
Practical Task: Content Analysis
For this task, I selected two articles reported by CNN, namely “A gunman slaughtered 11
Jewish worshippers. Then people hunted for hate online” and “15-year-old school shooting
survivor says it's 'scary not knowing what's going to come next'” which relate to the reporting on
gun violence in the United States. The first article was written by Mallory Simon and Sara Sidner
and reports on online searches which have mentioned the hate against Jews people in America.
The article reports on how Americans have resorted to searching anti-Semitic words on google
such as “Jews must die,” “kill Jews,” and other terms which gave discriminatory and hateful
results (Simon and Sidner, 2019). Notably, these searches increased after the October attack,
which led to the death of 11 Jews and other injuries. The authors mention that there was an
increase in anti-Semitic google searches after every attack, also citing Passover shooting in
Poway, in California in April. However, it was not balanced in reporting gun violence against
Jews people. It used emphasis frames, which brings bias on how Jews are perceived and violence
against them. For instance, the repeated use of “Kill Jews,” and “Jews must die” is emphasizing
on the vice and hence give it more limelight in the media than necessary. The article failed to
balance its reporting by spreading hate sentiments spread against Jews.
On the other hand, the second article was reported by Holly Yan and Scott McLean on
CNN. It reports on Colorado School shooting that killed a teenager. The authors report on
students, and other stakeholders view the shooting. It also explains parents’ concerns with
recurrent shooting in schools, which makes their children vulnerable to attacks. Besides, it
discusses the apprehension of an alleged attacker being aligned to the court to face murder