HBC201: How Social Media Users in Singapore Responded to Fake News they Encountered on Social Media and Possible Reasons for Their Responses: Research Methods for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Essay, SUSS, Singapore

HBC201 Tutor-Marked Assignment

Fake news is a type of disinformation, which intentionally misleads readers with false information packaged as news.

There has been increasing research on fake news in recent years, as the spread of fake news can influence various aspects of our society, such as politics, economy, etc. Tandoc, Lim, and Ling (2020) investigated how social media users in Singapore responded to fake news they encountered on social media and possible reasons for their responses.

In this study, the researchers used both survey and interview methods to investigate the research questions. Read the article (see reference below; you can access the article via the SUSS library).

Tandoc, E. C., Lim, D., & Ling, R. (2020). Diffusion of disinformation: How social media users respond to fake news and why. Journalism, 21(3), 381–398. Analyze and critique the given study.

Apply relevant concepts and information from course materials, the required reading, and additional research to answer the following questions.

(a) Recognize and appreciate ethical issues concerning research participants in this study. Specifically, Examine at least two ethical concerns about the protection of research participants in the context of the given study.   For each ethical concern, you identify, discuss action(s) the researchers took or could have taken, to protect the research participants in this study.

(b) Examine the advantages and disadvantages of using quantitative versus qualitative methods to study social media users’ reactions to fake news. Specifically,

• Discuss at least two advantages of using quantitative methods, as compared to qualitative methods, in the context of this study.
•  Discuss at least two advantages of using qualitative methods, as compared to quantitative methods, in the context of this study.

(c) In this study, the researchers investigated individuals’ reactions to fake news on social media using a survey. Propose ways to improve the survey. Specifically,

• Propose one improvement that can be made to the survey to obtain a better understating of individuals’ reactions to fake news on social media in Singapore, and explain your rationale.
• Discuss how you can collect evidence to assess the validity and reliability of the survey.

(d) Explain the importance of studying individuals’ responses to fake news on social media in Singapore, and why it is preferable to study this issue through social and behavioral science research rather than non-scientific ways (such as personal experiences).