Research Methods and Design: Misuse of Internet at Workplace

Running head: RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN 1
Research Methods and Design
Name of Student
Institution affiliation

RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN 2
Research Methods and Design: Misuse of Internet at Workplace
Purpose of the Research
Since the integration of new strategic work process and the electronic environment in the
workplace, there has been a tremendous rise in implementation of information systems, computer
technologies, and internet technology as well as misuse of those technologies (Alharthi, 2018;
Farivar, 2016). The misuse of the internet at the workplace for other activities other than, also
known as cyberslacking or cyberloafing or cyberbludging, has been on the rising daily has been
associations with varying implications across the corporate world and other entities (Hernández
et al., 2016). The problem of misuse of internet at workplace involves using workplace’s internet
for work unrelated activities such accessing social networking sites for personal use, spending
hours to shop online, utilizing work internet to manage personal data, and using work internet to
visit pornographic websites, among other activities (James, 2010; Kamil, 2014). Managers,
employers, observers, and practitioners have noted a worrying trend of diminishing productivity
in the workplace in both public and private sectors attributed to cyberslacking (Jandaghi et al.,
2015). Therefore, the proliferation of internet misuse in the workplace, in both public and
private institutions, warrants a research study.
Today, employers have become gravely concerned about inappropriate internet usage.
According to America Management Association (AMA), 66% of employers monitor internet
connections, while 65% use software to block connections to inappropriate websites (Köleoğlu,
2017). Further, the study reveals that 30% of employers who have fired employees because of
inappropriate internet usage have cited their main reasons as viewing, downloading, or uploading
inappropriate content, breach of confidentiality rules, excessive personal use, and violation of
company policy. Moreover, another study report that on average, workers spend approximately
21 hours each month using the internet for personal reasons. The rising internet misuse has been
associated with major effects across various institutions.
One major cost of cyberslacking to institutions is lower productivity (Kuschnaroff &
Bayma, 2014). For instance, when workers utilize workplace internet and PCs for personal use,
evidently, the productivity of the organization will decrease. However, it is not satisfactory to
make a conclusion on the relationship between an organization’s productivity and cyberslacking
without providing sufficient statistical evidence. The main reason for conducting this research
study is to assess the impact of internet misuse on the performance/productivity of employees.

RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN 3
The research will assess the extent of worker’s report on their own internet misuse activities as
well as their co-workers, and the impact of these activities on the productivity or perceived
ethical severity of these activities. Another reason to perform this study is to assess any
significant difference in cyberslacking activities based on years of working at the institution, job
level, age, gender, and level of education.
It is crucial that an institution should be able to identify internet misuse problem and the
financial consequences of these activities. Internet misuse at the workplace is linked to three
main problems including the exhaustive use of company resources, productivity and financial
loss, and legal liability (ÖRÜCÜ & YILDIZ, 2014). Even though cyberslacking presents an
obvious challenge to organizations, the extent of its proliferation has not been fully studied.
Meanwhile, internet misuse is becoming a huge problem in the corporate world that many firms
are starting to crack down. Therefore, it is recommended that companies should support studies
of workers internet misuse of resources to minimize loss of productivity and legal liability (Ozler
& POLAT, 2012).
Variables
The main goal of this study is to examine the amount of time spent and frequency (self-
reported extent) to which employees and their co-workers engage in internet misuse at
workplace, to determine the relationship between internet misuse and diminishing productivity,
and to evaluate any statistical difference of these activities based on level of education, age, year
of experience, and gender. Therefore, there are two key variables in this study: the frequency of
cyberslacking activities and the perceived ethical severity of these cyberslacking activities. The
dependent variable is the perceived ethical severity of the cyberslacking activities because we are
investigating how it is influenced by the frequency of the cyberslacking activities. The frequency
of the cyberslacking activities is the dependent variable. The frequency of the internet misuse
variable is measured based on 20 items using a 7-point scale which ranges from 1-never to 77-
several times a day. The perceived ethical severity variable is also measured based on 20 items
using a 7-point scale which ranges from 1-Highly Unethical to 7-Highly Ethical. The control
variables are age, gender, education, and work experience.
Research Model
This research study will apply a regression model or XY model to ascertain the perceived
ethical severity of internet misuse activities. X is the independent/ explanatory variable which is

RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN 4
the frequency of engagement in internet misuse activities. Y is the dependent variable which is
been influenced by the independent variables, in this case, Y is the perceived ethical severity of
internet misuse activities (Christensen et al., 2011). The model can be represented in the form of
an equation as follows.
Y =mX +C
Where m is the coefficient of regression and C is a constant (Gliner, Morgan, & Leech,
(2011). A positive value of m means a high frequency of engagement in cyberslacking activities
is associated with an increase in ethical severity, while a negative value implies a diminishing
ethical severity. The model can be graphed as shown below.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Ethical Severity/Production(Y)
Ethical
Severity/
Production(Y)
Frequency of Internet Misuse Activities (X)
Ethical Severity/
Performance
Conceptual Model on the Impact of Frequency and Time Spent on Internet Misuse on Ethical
Severity