The Impact of Social Media on Student Mental Health and Academics

This research project investigates the correlation between social media usage and students' mental health and academic performance. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to analyze the impact of social media on these variables. Primary data was collected through surveys, gathering information from a sample of students aged 18-22, while secondary data was obtained from existing research articles. The research design includes stratified sampling, data analysis involving statistical measures such as mean, median, mode, and correlation, and addresses ethical considerations related to participant anonymity and data protection. The findings suggest a negative correlation between social media usage and both mental health and academic performance, supporting the initial hypothesis. The project also discusses the validity, reliability, and ethical challenges encountered during the research process, providing a comprehensive overview of the study's methodology, findings, and implications.

INTRODUCTION
The rapid developments in technology and communication in the 21st century bring a
necessity for human beings to access information and use it in the most effective way. In
today's world, the fastest and most practical way to reach information is undoubtedly the
Internet (Tektaş, 2014). Internet technology is rapidly evolving today and social
networking is increasing the number of users every day. (Kırık et al., 2015).
Social media creates a world beyond the limitations of the physical world and differs in
perceptions such as time, speed, and space. This virtual world is as fast and temporary as
the real world cannot be. This keeps users more active in the virtual world. The
individual in the virtual space creates a new virtual identity, can hide real-life mistakes,
and can eliminate the physical defects with the help of an editing program (Alanka and
Cezik, 2016).
Children born since the early 2000s have grown up in a world that has been reliant on
technology as an integral part of their lives, making it impossible to imagine life without
being connected. This has been referred to as an ‘always on’ lifestyle and being ‘on’ has
become the status quo. (Kuss and Griffiths, 2017). Endrit
Research question
Research question: “How social media has affected students' mental health and academic
performance?” te lutem
Hypothesis
In this study, we intend to find the correlation between social media and students' mental
health and academic performance. Our hypothesis is that social media negatively affects
both mental health and academic performance of students. na
Literature review
Internet addiction, which refers to the obvious social and psychological damage created
by excessive use of social media and causes serious mental health problems in people,
has gained the attention of academia in recent years. (Jie et al., 2014).
Chandani et al. (2019) said that college students' use of social media has a negative
impact on their academic performance. Additionally, if users are addicted to social
media, it may have a negative impact on their subjective well-being.
Keywords: social media usage, mental health, academic performance jep
Methodology

In this research project, we will be using qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Both methodologies will be used because the variables that are being studied need both
types of data. The variables are social media usage, mental health and academic
performance. Social media usage requires quantitative data but mental health and
academic performance require qualitative data. pike
Methods
Surveys were used to collect primary data on the effect of social media on mental health
and academic performance. They were used because it is a safe and fast way of collecting
valid and reliable data. Secondary data will come from already existing research papers
or other academic sources.
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Instruments
The primary data for this research study will be collected through a survey; the data of
the survey will be collected from 50~100 respondents to have reliability and enough data
to accurately, it serves as the primary source of data for the analysis of this research. At
the same time literature review of this research study will provide the secondary data.
Source of secondary data which is gathered from published research articles.
Primary data was collected through a survey. The survey consists of ___ questions and
was constructed with closed ended, partially open-ended questions and rating scales.
Close-ended questions were used on questions that gathered generic information about
the research .Partially open-ended questions were used to give participants more freedom
on their answers in case the listed answers did not fully portray their opinion. The rating
scales were used so the respondent could easily express their opinion.
Sample and sampling
The survey sample is concentrated around a specified stratum which is students,
preferably students with the age of 18-22. The initial sample size is big in order to get a
wide range of responses and in this way, there would be very low chances for a biassed
survey, and hopefully many responses will be recorded to lower the chances of any biases
and to increase the validity of the survey. A low number of responses may cause a bias
because the people that took the survey might have only been affected negatively by
social media or the opposite. The sampling strategy used in this study is stratified
sampling.
The survey sample is concentrated around a specified stratum which is students,
preferably students of the age of 18-22. The initial sample size was supposed to be big to
lower the chances of any biases and to increase the validity of the survey. But due to time
restrictions a low number of responses was recorded. The number of respondents is __
and the sampling strategy used is stratified sampling.
Data analysis
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The first step of data analysis is to operationalize the research question. From this we
identify three variables that we want to measure : social media usage, mental health and
academic performance. After identifying the variables we constructed the survey and
recorded the responses. After the responses are taken we sort the data into their respective
types: quantitative and qualitative. First we analyse quantitative data. For each set of data
we find the mean, median, mode and standard deviation then we display the data by using
charts and graphs. For qualitative data we only find the mode for each set of data. After
the analysis we took our three variables and found the correlation between them. We
calculated the correlation between the variables and found that it was negative meaning
that when one variable increases the other one decreases. This correlation proved our
hypothesis.
Validity and reliability
We will try to avoid factors that induce a bias in the recorded responses and reduce any
factor in which adversely alters the way in which a participant performs. We will also
look for reliability in similar studies.
To construct validity we will make sure that the research measures what it claims to
measure. We will make sure that the research findings can be generalised to other
relevant settings and groups. We will also look for correlations with established
instruments in the field as evidence of validity.
Ethical challenges
The ethical challenges we will face during this study are protection of identity and
prevention of leaked data. At first we will make sure the participant knows what the study
is about and has the right to withdraw at any given time. If he gives his full consent we
will ensure full anonymity by not collecting any personal information except the needed
demographics. We will disclose all the potential risks with the participants before the
study and if there is any risk or harm done to the participant we will provide the
necessary resources and services needed.
Resources
Kırık, A.M., Arslan, A., Çetinkaya, A., Gül, M. (2015). A Quantitative Research on the
Level of Social Media Addiction among Young People in Turkey, International Journal
of Science Culture and Sport, 3(3), 108-122
Tektaş, N. (2014). Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Sosyal Ağları Kullanımlarına Yönelik Bir
Araştırma, Journal of History School,(7)17, 851-870, DOI: 10.14225/Joh474
Alanka, Ö., Cezik, A. (2016), Dijital Kibir: Sosyal Medyadaki Narsistik ARitüellere
İlişkin Bir İnceleme, TRT Akademi, (1)2-Dijital Medya Sayısı, 548-570, ISSN: 2149-
9446.
Jie et al., (2014). T. Jie, Y. Yizhen, D. Yukai, M. Ying, Z. Dongying, W. Jiaji Addictive
Behaviors Prevalence of internet addiction and its association with stressful life events
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and psychological symptoms among adolescent internet users Addictive Behaviors, 39
(3) (2014), pp. 744-747
Chandani, A., Daji, A., Sawhney, A., Mehta, M., Islam, T., Prakash, P., & Neeraja, B.
(2019). The Relationship between Mobile Phone & Laptop Use on Physical Well-Being
of College Students in India. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development,
10(8).
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