RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter deals with the objectives, hypothesis, sampling details, the
design, tests and scales used for the collection of data, procedure for conducting
the study and the statistical methods to be used for analysis.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

“A study of well-being among teenagers in relation to social media”

OBJECTIVES
The following objectives were laid down for the present study-

a) To study the level of well-being for teenagers-

I. To ascertain the effect of gender on well-being.

II. To analysis the role of social media addiction to determine teenagers’ level
of well-being.

III. To study the variance in male and female teenagers’ level of well-being in
relation to their status of social media addiction.

b) To measure the emotional expression of teenagers-

I. To compare the male and female on their measure of emotional expression.

II. To compare the social media addict teenagers with non-addict teenagers on
their measure of emotional expression.

III. To study the effect of gender on emotional expression measures in relation

to status of social media addiction among teenagers.

c) To study the prevalence of death anxiety among teenagers.

I. To compare the male and female in their level of death anxiety.

II. To study the effect of social media addiction on teenagers’ death anxiety.

III. To study the effect of gender on death anxiety in relation to status of social
media addiction among teenagers.

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d) To study the teenagers’ body image.

I. To study the difference between male and female teenagers in their body
image.

II. To analysis the role of social media addiction to determine teenagers’ body
image.

III. To study the variance in male and female teenagers’ body-image in relation
to their status of social media addiction.

e) To measure the psychological counselling need among teenagers.

I. To ascertain the effect of gender on teenagers’ need of psychological

counselling.

II. To compare the social media addict teenagers with non-addict teenagers on
their measure of psychological counselling need.

III. To find out the difference between male and female teenagers in their need
of psychological counselling in relation to status of social media addiction
among teenagers.

f) To investigate the significance of cognitive behavioral therapeutic module

(CBTM) for social media addict teenagers on their-

 Social Media Addiction

 Well-being.

 Emotional expression

 Body Image

 Death anxiety

 PCNS

HYPOTHESIS

On the basis of available literature following hypotheses were framed-

g) Male and female teenagers will not be significantly different in their level of
well-being.

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h) Social media addict teenagers will be poor in their level of well-being as
compared to non-addict teenagers.

i) Male and female teenagers will be significantly different in their level of well-
being in relation to their status of social media addiction.

j) Male and female teenagers will not be significantly different in their emotional
expression.

k) Social media addict and non-addict teenagers will not be significantly different
in their emotional expression.

l) Social media addict male and female teenagers will be inferior in their
expression of emotions as compared to social media non-addict male and female
teenagers.

m) Gender will not be significant on measure of death anxiety for teenagers.

n) There will be no significant difference between social media addict and social
media non-addict teenagers in their level of death anxiety.

o) Male and female teenagers of social media addict group will be significantly
higher from male and female teenagers of social media non-addict group on their
measure of death anxiety.

p) There will be no significant difference between male and female teenagers on

their measure of body image.

q) Social media addiction status will be significant on measure of body image of

teenagers.

r) Body image will not be significantly different for gender in relation to their
status of Social media addiction.

s) Male and female teenagers will not be significantly different in their need of
psychological counselling.

t) Social media addict teenagers will be significantly higher in their need of

psychological counselling as compared to social media non-addict teenagers.

u) Social media addict status and gender will not be significantly interacting to
determine teenagers’ needs of psychological counselling.

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v) Cognitive behavioural therapeutic module (CBTM) will be significant
intervention for social media addict teenagers’-

 Social Media Addiction

 Well-being.

 Emotional expression

 Body Image

 Death anxiety

 Psychological counselling need

METHODS AND PROCEDURE

As per objectives, the present investigation was conducted under two
phases as described below. All methodological aspects were dealt accordance
with these two phases-

PHASE-1: This phase was intended to ascertain the effect of gender, social media
addiction status and its interaction as well as on all psychological Variables namely
social media addiction, well-being, emotional expression, death anxiety, body image
and psychological counselling need.

PHASE-2: This stage was meant to analyze the significance of cognitive behavioral
therapeutic module (CBTM) through personal counselling as therapeutic intervention
to reduce social media addiction and its associated adversity on psychological health
aspects includes social media addiction, well-being, emotional expression, death
anxiety, body image and psychological counselling need for social media addict
teenagers.

SAMPLE
Sample details for both phases are described as follows-

PHASE-1: The total sample was comprised of 120 respondents, their age range of 15
to 19 years from various academic institutes situated in Udaipur city of Rajasthan,
India. Purposive sampling Technique was used to constitute the sample as teenagers;
those reported their involvement in social media activities were selected for the study.
The sample was made up with two sub-groups namely social media addict group

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(n=60) and social media non-addict group (n=60) based on their score on social media
addiction checklist by Chouhan and Joshi (2016). These both sub-groups were
consisted of equal number of male (n=30) and female (n=30), hence the whole sample
consists of four experimental groups as depicted follows-

Figure 3.1

Sample Distribution

Respondents
N=120

Male Female
N = 60 N = 60

Social Media Social Media Social Media Social Media

Addict Non-Addict Addict Non-Addict
N=30 N=30 N=30 N=30

PHASE-2: 12 respondents from the social media addict group were selected for
therapeutic intervention.

Figure 3.2

Sample for therapeutic intervention

Pre-Test Therapeutic Post-Test

N=12 Intervention N=12
(CBTM)

VARIABLES
Variables treated as independent and dependent in the present research are

Independent variable
1. Gender (A)

 Male (A1)

 Female (A2)

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2. Addiction Status (B)
 Addictive (B1)
 Non- addictive (B2)
3. Therapeutic Intervention
 Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic Module (CBTM)
Dependent variable
 Well-being
 Emotional expression
 Death anxiety
 Body image
 Psychological counselling need

RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs subsequently used for both phases were-

 2X2 factorial Group Design : To compare the social media addict and non-
addict teenagers in relation to their gender either male or female on their measure of
social media addiction, well-being, emotional expression, death anxiety, body image
and psychological counselling need Independent Group Design was used as depicted
below-

Table 3.1
2×2 Factorial Group Design

Social Media Addiction (SMA) Status Total

B
Gender SM Addict SM Non-Addict
A B1 B2
Male EXP. gr. 1 EXP. gr. 2
(A1B1) (A2B1) 60
(A1)
N = 30 N = 30
Female EXP. gr. 3 EXP. gr. 4
(A2B2) (A2B2) 60
(A2)
N = 30 N = 30
Total 60 60 120

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Whereas-

A1B1 - Male, Social Media Addict respondents

A1B2 – Female, Social Media Addict respondents

A2B1 – Male, Social Media Non-Addict respondents

A2B2 – Female, Social Media Non-Addict respondents

 Single Group Pre-Post Design: To find out the significance of proposed

cognitive behavioural Therapeutic Module(CBTM) on teenagers’ social media
addiction, well-being, emotional expression, death anxiety, body image and
psychological counselling need Single Group Pre and Post Test Design was used,
which is depicted as follows-

Table 3.2

Single Group Pre-Post Design

Therapeutic
Pre-Test Post-Test
Aspects to be studied Intervention
Score Score
(CBTM)

Social Media Addiction

Well-Being

Emotional Expression

Death Anxiety

Body Image

Psychological Counselling Need

DESCRIPTION OF TESTS AND SCALES

Tests and scales used for both phases of the present study as depicted in table 3.3
are described as follows -

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 Table 3.3

Description of Tests & Scales

Aspects of the study Test and scale Developed by

Personal and Social Media Personal Information Chouhan & Joshi N.

Information Schedule (2016)

Social Media Addiction Social Media Addiction Chouhan & Joshi N.

Checklist Checklist (2016)

Chouhan &
Well-being Well-Being Index
Sharma (2015)

Chouhan & Bhatnagar

Emotional Expression Emotional Expression Scale
(2002)

Death anxiety Chouhan &

Death anxiety
Scale (DAS) Tiwari (2003)

Chouhan & Surana

Body Image Body Image Scale
(2000)

Psychological counselling Psychological Counselling Chouhan &

Need Need Scale Arora (2009)

 Personal Information Schedule (PIS): This is self-made schedule which was

developed by Chouhan & Joshi in 2016 in order to collect personal and social
media related information from the respondents. (Appendix-A).

 Social Media Addiction Checklist (SMAC) This is self-made checklist which

was developed by Chouhan & Joshi in 2016 for screening the social media addict at
the initial level of study. This checklist consists of 40 statements which were intended
to identify social media addiction characteristics from the respondents (Appendix-B).

 Well Being Index (WBI): Well-being Index (WBI) was used to measure well-
being level of Respondents. This scale is developed by Chouhan & Sharma in 2016.
The scale consists of 50 statements of which 32 statements are positive and 18 are
negative. This is a five point scale with 5 alternative responses; Always, Often,

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Sometimes, Rarely and Never. Test-retest reliability was calculated as .71 whereas
high validity was determined by face and content validity (Appendix-C).

 Emotional Expression Scale (EEC): This scale is developed by Chouhan &

Bhatnager in 2001. The scale comprised of total 30 items which reflect different
human emotional expressions. Each item has two options yes and No. These items
are positive and negative in nature. The positive items
are;1,3,4,8,13,14,16,18,19,21,22,24, ,25, 26 and 29. The negative items are;
2,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,15,17,20,23,27,28 and 30. The split half reliability of this scale is
calculated as .55. The face and content validity were calculated for this scale.
(Appendix-D).
 Death anxiety Scale (DAS): DAS is developed by Chouhan & Tiwari in 2003.
The scale comprised of total 20 items. The scale can successfully be used for
screening out people who are suffering from alarmingly high degree of anxiety,
which has a disruptive, inhibiting or interfering influence on their day to day life
and performance. The scale is likely to be useful tool in the armoury of the
psychologist. It gives a quick measure of death anxiety for experimental, clinical
and counselling purposes when subject can spare only half an hour or so. It is self
administrative test and does not require the services of highly trained tester. This
test is eminently suitable for group administration as well as individual testing.
The reliability of the scale was determined by calculating split-half reliability for
full length, on a sample of 60 subjects. The split-half reliability coefficient was
found to be .93. Beside face validity as all items of the scale are concerned with
the variable under focus, the scale has high content validity. Validity is
determined from the coefficient of reliability (Garrett, 1981), the reliability index
was calculated which indicated high validity on account of being 0.74. Norms for
the scale was developed on the subject belonging to the age range of 18-25 years.
(Appendix-E).
 Body Image Scale (BIS): Body image was assessed with the help of Body
Image Scale was developed by Chouhan and Surana in 2000. This is 5 point scale
consists of 30 statements related to ones’ feelings about herself or himself in
everyday life. There are five alternatives against each statement i.e. Always,
Most of time, don’t know, Some times and Never, which most suitable indicate
the frequency of ones feelings and view. The split half reliability, test-retest

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 reliability and cross validity were calculated as .84, .76 and .81 respectively for
this scale. (Appendix-F).
 Psychological counselling needs scale (PCNS): Psychological Counselling
Need Scale developed by Chauhan and Arora in 2009, was used to identify
Psychological Counselling needs of adolescents. The psychological counselling
needs scale consists of 25 statements with 21 positive items and 4 negative items
on a five point likert scale. High score on PCNS indicates higher need of
psychological counselling. The split half reliability coefficient was found as 0.90.
Validity of the PCNS was calculated by the product moment method and found
as 0.82. (Appendix-G).

PROCEDURE
Procedure to collect data for both phases of the present study was described as
follows -

PHASE-1

The data was collected from the respondents (N= 120) on the measure of social
media addiction, well-being, emotional expression, death anxiety, body image and
psychological counselling need. The schools to be visited for the pilot study, and
permission was sought out from the respective Principals after discussing the purpose
of the present study. Accordingly, a schedule was fixed in each school and the
respondents from respective classes were approached. These respondents were
screened on social media addiction checklist developed by Chouhan & Joshi (2016).
Those scored above 20 were included in social media addict group and those scored
below were assigned under social media non-addict group. Each group was made with
equal number of male and female teenagers. Hence total four experimental groups
were formed.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE TESTS AND SCALES

After constitute the sample, the tests and scales were administrated in-group. The data
was collected on studied measures one at a time. Before administrating the tests the
sample was oriented about the purpose of the study and they were assured about
confidentiality for their responses on prescribed measures. Before administrating the

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tests and scale sample was given instructions to fill their responses, respective to each
test and scale.

Instructions for the tests

Instruction given respective to each test is described as follows-

 Personal -Information Schedule (PIS):

“This schedule consists of general information about yourself and your family like
your name, address, school, parent’s occupation, their education, income, Members in
your family and also information regarding your use of internet and social media
activities. This information is purely confidential and is being elicited from you just
for research purpose. It is request to you to be honest to fill the information.”

 Social Media Addiction Check list (SMAC):

“This check list consists of 40 statements. There are two alternative blocks given for
“Yes” and “No” answer. No answer is right and wrong. Responses will remain strictly
confidential.”

 Well Being Index (WBI):

“This scale consists of 20 items. Each item has two option ‘yes’ and ‘No’. You are
required to read each item carefully and give your response by make a tick () on
anyone between yes and no. Though there is no time limit but you are required to fill
your response as soon as possible.”

 Emotional Expression Scale (EES):

“This scale consists of 30 statements which reflect different human emotional

expressions. We want to know situations, objects and person which are responsible
for the expression of your emotions. This information is purely confidential and is
being elicited from you just for research purpose. It is request to you to be honest in
supplying the information. While giving this information to the best of your
knowledge of expression of your own emotions, ticks mark the answer that represents
your emotional expression. In front of every statement two alternative blocks are
given- one below the yes response and other below the No response. If you agree with
the statement put a tick mark to respective block. Answer spontaneously and honestly.
Don’t leave any statement unanswered.”

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 Death Anxiety Scale (DAS):

“This test consists of 20 items. Each item has two option ‘yes’ and ‘No’. You are
required to read each item carefully and give your response by make a tick () on
anyone between yes and no. Though there is no time limit but you are required to fill
your response as soon as possible.”

 Body Image Scale (BIS):

“This scale consists of 30 statements relating to your feelings about yourself in

everyday life. You have got 5 alternatives to response each of the statement. Choose
any of the five alternative responses, i.e. Always, Most of time, don’t know, some
times and never, which most suitable indicate the frequency of your feelings and
view. Do not leave any statement unanswered.”

 Psychological Counselling Need Scale (PCNS):

“Each statement has five options namely – Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and
never. Read each statement safely and tick () any one option you find most suitable.
No answer is right and wrong. The information will be kept confidential.”

Scoring of the Tests and Scale

Response on scales and tests were scored as per standardized scoring method
respective to each test which is described as follows-

 Social Media Addiction Checklist (SMAC): This checklist consists of 40

items. Each item has two options yes and No. one mark is awarded for every yes
response and Zero for No response. High score obtained in this checklist is an
indicative of high level of social media addiction.

 Well Being Index (WBI): The scale consists of 50 statements of which 32

statements are positive and 18 are negative. This is a five point scale with 5
alternative responses; Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and Never. For positive
statement Always, Often, sometimes, Rarely and Never was assigned 5,4,3,2 and 1
score for negative statement 1,2,3 , 4 and 5 score was assigned respectively. Sum of
the scores was considered as total well-being score.

 Emotional Expression Scale (EES): The scale consists of 30 items. Each

item has two options yes and No. one mark is awarded for every yes response and

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Zero for No response in case of positive statement and it is reversed for negative
statement. The positive items are; 1,3,4,8,13,14,16,18,19,21,22,24,25,26 and 29. The
negative items are; 2,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,15,17,20,23,27,28 and 30. High score obtained
in scale are an indicative of high skill of emotional expression.

 Death Anxiety Scale(DAS): Each item or statement , which is checked as “

yes” or “No” was awarded the score of ‘1’ or ‘0’ respectively. The sum of score of all
the 10 items was considered total death anxiety score.

 Body Image Scale (BIS): The scale consists of 30 statements of which 12

statements are positive and 18 are negative. This is a five point scale with 5
alternative responses; Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and Never. For positive
statement Always, Often, sometimes, Rarely and Never was assigned 5,4,3,2 and 1
score for negative statement 1,2,3 , 4 and 5 score was assigned respectively. Sum of
the scores was considered as total body image score. The positive items are;
4,5,11,12,16,18,20,22,25,26,28, and 29 and rest are considered as negative items.
High score obtained in scale are an indicative of more favorable body image.

 Psychological Counselling Need Scale (PCNS): The scale consists of 25

statements of which 21 statements are positive and 4 are negative. This is a five point
scale with 5 alternative responses; Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and Never. For
positive statement Always, Often, sometimes, Rarely and Never was assigned 5,4,3,2
and 1 score for negative statement 1,2,3 , 4 and 5 score was assigned respectively.
Sum of the scores was considered as total psychological counselling need score. The
negative items are; 2,9,12 & 20 and rest are considered as positive items. High score
indicates higher need of psychological counselling.

PHASE-2

After taking permission from respective academic administrator or authority

social media addict groups were approached. They were informed about the
availability of therapeutic intervention for them in their academic premises. Total 14
social media addict teenagers shown their consent to participate in therapeutic
intervention. These social media addict teenagers were intimated about the time
schedule for therapeutic intervention. Out of these 14 social media addict teenagers
only 12 were underwent the proposed therapeutic intervention whereas 2 were
dropout due to personal reason. Social media addict teenagers underwent therapeutic

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intervention of 8 to 10 sessions of personal counselling which is conducted for 6
months as per schedule fixed for each school.

THERAPUTIC INTERVENTION

Cognitive Behavioral Therapeutic Module (CBTM) for Social Media Addiction) as

described under chapter 5 was developed. This CBTM was implemented on
considered sample of social media addict respondents (N= 12).

Administration of Tests-

After establishing “Rapport” with the respondents the data was collected from social
media addict respondents (n=12) in before and after implemented therapeutic
intervention. All outcome measures (Tests/Scales) were administrated, instructed and
scored with same method used in phase 1.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The obtained data was analyzed under descriptive and inferential analysis as follows-

Descriptive analyses
This analysis comprised of mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) with graphical
representation for gender (Male & Female) and Social Media Addiction Status (SM
Addict & SM NON-Addict) on measure of well-being, emotional expression, death
anxiety, body image and psychological counselling need was analyzed.

Inferential Analysis

Inferential analysis consequently used for both phases were-

 Two Way ANOVA; was used to see the effect of Gender & social media
addiction status on teenagers’ level of well-being, emotional expression, death
anxiety, body image and psychological counselling need.

 t-test; analysis was used to ascertain the significance of Cognitive-Behavioral

Therapeutic Module (CBTM) to reduce social media addiction and its associated
adversity on psychological health aspects includes social media addiction, well-being,
emotional expression, death anxiety, body image and psychological counselling need
for social media addict teenagers.

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