Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Technologies, Social Groups, and Civic Participation of High School Students

迈克尔·B·艾森伯格华盛顿大学的佩伊娜·林凯瑟琳·斯托夫社交团体和社交技术在美国高中生的生活中扮演着重要角色。许多年轻人在公民方面也很活跃？他们加入社区组织，向慈善机构捐赠物品或时间，就公共和社区问题发表意见，或者参与学生会。然而，社会团体和技术如何构建公民参与和塑造社会边界还没有得到很好的理解。在这项研究中，我们考察了群体和友谊结构如何影响学生的公民参与；以及社交技术(包括Facebook和MySpace等社交网络网站、即时消息和移动设备)如何在友谊和公民团体中使用。研究问题是：社交技术在多大程度上再现了友谊团体结构和公民参与之间的相互关系？之前的研究发现，高中生的朋友和他们的公民态度之间存在微弱的关联，但这项研究忽略了青少年交友的社会背景。在学校内部，社会团体(通过“运动员”或“大众”等声誉标签来辨认)将学生嵌入到构成课外机会的社会地位等级中(例如，可以根据受欢迎程度、表现或种族系统地选择学生)。根据社会结构理论，以及对高中文化、青少年参考群体和青少年使用社会技术的研究，这项混合方法研究评估了以下具体假设：(A)以学校为基础的社会群体的地位与学生选择公民活动之间的相互关系；(B)友谊和公民参与之间的重叠；以及c)社会技术如何影响(A)和(B)中观察到的模式。由于社交网络网站在朋友之间创造了一种以其他方式不可能实现的意识水平，一些人预计这些技术具有巨大的潜力，可以让年轻人参与更多的公民活动。我们阐述了为什么这样一个简单化的主张可能站不住脚，以及社会技术在哪些条件下缓和了友谊结构和公民参与之间的联系。来自美国西北部两所高中的三个数据集(问卷、观察和访谈)将被综合起来检验假设和探索新的命题。问卷收集的数据适合于评估感兴趣的变量之间的相互关系，而观察和访谈将告知学生如何在线下和在线上定义、跨越和协商社会群体边界。更广泛的影响以前的研究表明，积极参与公民活动的年轻人更有可能是公民活跃的成年人。因此，鼓励高中生参与公民活动对于维护公民社会非常重要，尤其是在奥巴马总统呼吁所有公民参与他们的社区的当下。然而，并不是所有的年轻人都面临同样的参与公民活动的机会。这项研究将帮助我们了解年轻人是如何使用社交技术进行互动的。结果将说明教育机构和技术设计者如何利用这些模式，以增加不同青年参与公民活动的机会。

SES-0927291Michael B. EisenbergPeyina LinKatherine StovelUniversity of Washington Social groups and social technologies both play important roles in the lives of American high school youth. Many young people are also civically active ? they join community organizations, donate goods or time to charities, speak out on public and community issues, or become involved in student government. However, how social groups and technologies structure civic participation and shape social boundaries is not well understood. In this study, we examine how group and friendship structures affect students'civic participation; and how social technologies (including social network websites like Facebook and MySpace, instant messaging, and mobile devices) are used in friendship and civic groups. The research question is: To what extent do social technologies reproduce the interrelationships between friendship group structures and civic participation? Previous research has found a weak association between high school students' friends and their civic attitudes, yet this work has ignored the social context in which adolescents make friends. Within schools, social groups (recognizable via reputational labels such as "jocks" or "populars") embed students in a social status hierarchy that structures extracurricular opportunities (e.g., students may be systematically selected based on popularity, performance, or ethnicity). Drawing from social structural theory, as well as research on high school culture, adolescent reference groups, and adolescents' use of social technologies, this mixed methods study evaluates specific hypotheses about (a) the interrelationships between the status of school-based social groups and students' choice of civic activities; (b) the overlap between friendships and civic participation; and c) how social technologies affect the patterns observed in (a) and (b). Because social network websites create a level of awareness between friends not otherwise possible, some expect that these technologies have great potential to socialize youth into greater civic activity. We elaborate why such a simplistic proposition may not hold and the conditions in which social technologies moderate the link between friendship structures and civic participation. Three data sets (questionnaire, observations, and interviews), obtained from two high schools in the Northwestern US will be synthesized to test the hypotheses and explore new propositions. The questionnaire gathers data suitable for evaluating interrelations between the variables of interest, while the observations and interviews will inform how students define, cross, and negotiate social group boundaries both offline and online. Broader ImpactsPrevious research has shown that civically active youth are more likely to be civically active adults. Thus, encouraging civic participation by high school youth is important to maintaining civil society, particularly now, when president Obama has challenged all citizens to get involved in their community. Yet, not all young people face the same opportunities to engage in civic activities. This study will help us understand how young people use social technologies to interact with one another. Results will suggest how educational institutions and technology designers can utilize these patterns in order to enhance opportunities for civic participation by diverse youth.