prohibiting social networking at work

PROHIBITING SOCIAL NETWORK AT WORKPLACE
OPERATIONAL DEFINATIONS For the purpose of this study the following terms are defined:
Social Networking: Social Networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups like rural communities.
Social Networking sites: Social networking sites are the websites that function like an online community of internet users.
Facebook: Facebook is a social networking service and website where users can create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages including automatic notifications when they update their profile.
Twitter: Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service utilizing instant messaging, SMS and a web interface. It enables its users to send and read messages called tweets.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a business related social networking site which is mainly used for professional networking.
Prohibiting: Formally forbid a person or group from doing something.
Engage: Occupy the attention or be involved.
Smart phones: It is an electronic handheld device that performs the functions of a mobile phone as well as the personal digital assistant from which you can access internet and connect to the world.
Productive: Producing readily or abundantly.
System: A set of detailed methods, procedures and routines created to carry out a specific activity, perform a duty, or solve a problem
Leaked: Confidential information released to public.
Connections: An action of linking one person to another.
Hackers: A person who tried to find sensitive information by poking around.
Viruses: Computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another
Sample: The group of people who participate in a study. Sample in this study are employees of all the private companies with a 5 mile radius from University of Amberton at Garland and Frisco.
Survey: Questioning individuals on a topic or topics and then describing their responses.
Likert rating Scale: a type of numerical rating scale
Chi-square test: A test that uses the chi-square statistic to test the fit between a theoretical frequency distribution and a frequency distribution of observed data for which each observation may fall into one of several classes.
Anova: an inferential statistical test for comparing the means of three or more groups.
Spss (statistical package for social science): It is a computer program used for survey.
Cronbach’s alpha: It is used as a measure of the internal consistency or reliability of a psychometric test score for a sample of examinees.
METHODOLODY
Hypothesis and/or Research Questions
Research Question The research question can be stated as:
“Does prohibiting the use of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more during office hours affect the productivity of employees?”
Hypothesis
The researcher states the hypothesis as follows: Prohibiting the use of social networking websites during office hours will not affect the productivity of the employee. The hypothesis and research question will examine the current problem of the workplace. It will check whether the use of social networking websites reduces the productivity. Upon completion of the study, data will be collected and will be analyzed.
Methods
For the project, a survey will be conducted among all the private companies with a 5 mile radius from University of Amberton at Garland and Frisco. Survey questionnaires will be distributed to all the employees and employers and will be confidential. The respondents will fill the survey and the data will be collected at the individual respective companies through the help of the managers of respective companies. Online survey will also be placed and send out to the emails of all the individual employees. The survey will be conducted with from February 5 to February 15. This research will take place in a field or wherever the participants normally conduct their activities and are often referred as field research. The research will be looking at data gathered from each individual and each response will be treated as individual data source and kept confidential. So the unit of analysis will be individual. When talking about time horizon, this research will be a cross-sectional as data will be gathered only once. It will be conducted under natural environment. The researcher will be conducting a survey among all the private companies with a 5 mile radius from Amberton University at Garland and Frisco. Survey questionnaires will be distributed to all the employees and employers and will be confidential.
The survey questions will be set in a Likert scale with answers ranging from 1 to 5. 1 will be “strongly agree” and 5 will be “strongly disagree”, followed by 2 as “agree”, 3 as “neither agree nor disagree”, and 4 as “disagree”. The respondent will be questioned about the banning the use of social networking during office hours and its effect on various dependent variable.
Description of Purposed Sample The researcher is choosing all the private companies which are within 5 miles in radius near University of Amberton in Garland location as well as Frisco location. The sample will consist of all the employees who use some kind of social networking websites while they are at work.
Description of Proposed Procedures for Data
The researcher will find out the name of the businesses which is 5 miles in radius near University of Amberton in Garland and Frisco Area. The researcher will then contact all the private companies near Garland and Frisco in order to receive permission to conduct this study as well as cooperation. The first step of this study is to obtain permission from the private companies to conduct a survey regarding the particular topic. Once this permission is obtained, the researcher will gather information on employees who use the social networking websites while they are working. The survey will take place from February 5 to February 15.
Study Design This research will be a co-relational study as it explains the relationship between Independent and Dependent Variable. This project will explain the nature of relationship that exists between the independent variable and the dependent variable. So as we will be using hypotheses, this project will be categorized under hypothesis testing. This research will be a non-contrived study as the research will be conducted under natural environment. As the research will be a co relational study conducted under natural setting, it will be categorized under field study. The research will be looking on data gathered from each individual and each response will be treated as individual data source and kept confidential. So the unit of analysis will be individual. When talking about time horizon, this research will be a cross-sectional/one shot research as data will be gathered only once.
Data Analysis After the data is collected we will analyze the data by running simple and multiple regressions. Chi-Square test will be used to find the significance of the relationship between variables. ANOVA will be used to measure the differences in the interval scale information provided in the surveys and was accordingly utilized to examine the hypotheses. Frequencies will be used to find the median, mean and mode. Cronbach’s alpha will be used to determine the reliability of the research. Also, Pearson correlation will also used to find the degree to which the variables are related. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) will be used to run the data from the survey and find the regression analysis and all other analyses.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Probable Results and Conclusions Based upon the literature reviewed and personal experience, the researcher will most likely discover that prohibiting the use of these social networking sites like facebook, twitter will increase the work productivity. The researcher expects to find that those employees who spend more time on these social networking websites are not giving 100% at work and work productivity can be increased by prohibiting all these websites. The researcher also intends to find out that prohibiting social networking at work will help them from loosing vital information of the company.
Generalizations
It would be difficult to generalize the data in all the other companies and all the employees with different age. There could be various factors that might affect the productivity rather than just using the social networking websites. The generalization of just because the social networking is a trend they may consider they have to keep up with it.
Study of Implications This data could allow all the companies to be aware if they are losing productivity. This data could help companies make important decisions on the usage of networking websites. This data could help companies find out if prohibiting the use of these social networking websites helps them increase the work productivity. This research can also help employers find out if they can use the social networking towards their benefit.
Limitations
The researcher acknowledges several limitations. Time frame is the main limitation. The other major limitation if the funding for the research since, the study is not funded and paid for out of pocket. The sample size can be too small since the researcher is conducting survey within 5 miles from the University of Amberton. Since statistical tests normally require a larger sample size to ensure the correct result. Another potential limitation is that some of the employees may not answer honestly knowing the cause of the survey.
Suggestions for Future Research A suggestion for future research would be to use this gathered data to find out more results. It would help to find out other results related to the use of social networking websites at workplace. For future, it can be researched if prohibiting the use of social networking websites during office hours will not influence employee morale or prohibiting the use of social networking websites during office hours will not result in job switching.

References
Asunda, P. (2010). Productivity, Social Networks and Net
Communities in the Workplace. Techniques: Connecting Education and Careers, 85(5), 38-41. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.amberton.edu/ehost/detail?sid=afac12ea-2fb1-4ee5-b02c-f8881370f073%40sessionmgr4&vid=1&hid=11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ909577 Boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites:
Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html
Gold, L. (2009). Social networking @ work. Accounting Today,
23(2), 3-30. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.amberton.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=933bfa6f-a712-4991-ba85-21c09995da1c%40sessionmgr104&vid=8&hid=11 Dorsch, M., & Greenberg, P. (2009). What you need to know about
Social Networking. State Legislatures, 35(7), 62. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.amberton.edu/ehost/detail?vid=22&hid=111&sid=1b4fae34-a274-43f8-9af4-1d621144ca89%40sessionmgr111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=43616512 Howell, W. J. (2010). No Tweeting Allowed. H&HN: Hospitals &
Health Networks, 84(6), 10. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.amberton.edu/ehost/detail?sid=2c06e144-42a3-49b8-be38-fe09caf59830%40sessionmgr113&vid=12&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=51745920 Lyncheski, J. E. (2010). Social media in the workplace: Do you know, need to know, what your employees are tweeting?. Long-Term Living: For the Continuing Care Professional, 59(10), 32.

References: Asunda, P. (2010). Productivity, Social Networks and Net Communities in the Workplace Dorsch, M., & Greenberg, P. (2009). What you need to know about Social Networking Lyncheski, J. E. (2010). Social media in the workplace: Do you know, need to know, what your employees are tweeting?