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THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS IN SOCIAL MEDIA

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 CHAPTER FIVE

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS IN SOCIAL

MEDIA RESEARCH

Justine John Dyikuk

Department of Mass Communication, University of Jos, Nigeria
[email protected]

Comfort Olebara
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Physical Sciences, Imo State University,
Nigeria
[email protected]

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
▪ Understand theoretical frameworks in social media research.
▪ Uunderstand conceptual frameworks in social media research.
▪ Steps in selecting social media research conceptual and theoretical frameworks.

ABSTRACT
The advent of citizen journalism has made social media an all-comers’ affair. This has huge
implications for Social Media Research (SMR). Inspired by the gap in the literature
concerning the absence of research guidelines for SMR, the researchers debuted a robust vade
mecum for scientific inquiries in social media. The Chapter aims at providing a guide to
social media researchers on how to carry out the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of
their literature review. It achieved this by presenting two existing social media models -
Media and Technology Usage Assessment Scale (MTUAS) which guides researchers on how
to assess social media applications and use them in self-reporting through coding and
analyzing their responses as well as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which helps users
to find a suitable social media application that is relevant and helpful to their jobs. The study
found Media and Technology Usage Attitude Scale (MTUAS) and Technology Acceptance
Model (TAM) as two existing indispensable theoretical frameworks for choosing a topic,
doing a literature review, isolating variables, and implementing and selecting a conceptual
framework. The use of tables and figures, also showed how variables identified as
independent, dependent, moderating, mediating, and controlling variables may be used to
create a system’s conceptual framework. The study concluded that unarguably, theoretical
and conceptual frameworks are mandatory ingredients for contemporary quantitative and
qualitative research in the novel field of social media research.

Keywords: Conceptual framework, Media assessment scale, Self reporting, Social media
metrics, Social media research, Social media usage, Theoretical framework

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INTRODUCTION
The 21st century has ushered in unprecedented growth in science and technology. This has
also debuted an upsurge in tools and techniques of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT). Importantly too, the information global highway is fertile with both
traditional and social media platforms which further enhances trade and commerce,
edutainment and infotainment, human interaction and interconnectedness to mention just a
few. Indeed, "Social media are becoming an ever more important part of an organization's
media mix" (Peters, Chen, Kaplan, Ognibeni & Pauwels, 2013: 282). For example, the
everchanging expansive nature of traditional or new media technology and technical
competence among people have launched new entrants into the digital space. Because of their
impact, it is crucial to "pay more attention to social media channels’ effectiveness" (Skulme
& Praude, 2016: 132).

Unlike in the past when those behind mainstream media dictated what is newsworthy, who
gets what information or not and where those pieces of news could be transmitted, social
media has given birth to citizen journalism. In a society where everyone with internet access
and a smartphone gathers and disseminates information without a third party, authenticity
becomes a huge challenge. To this end, traditional media is in a constant face-off with new
media which encompasses various social media platforms. This creates a lacuna for research
and documentation. More so, managing social media today is challenging. "Social media are
substantially different from traditional or other online media due to the network structure and
their egalitarian nature. As such, they require a distinct approach to management. A
prerequisite for managing social media is their effective measurement" (Peters et al., 2013:
296).

In media studies, students of communication and researchers have always been searching for
how to undertake authentic social media research that is capable of yielding valid responses
and offer insight into a phenomenon. This search is elicited by the cacophony of information
from amateur pundits who saturate social media platforms with unauthentic theories and
methods of doing social media research. It is crucial to note that one area of concern is, that
most social media enthusiasts confuse theoretical and conceptual frameworks when it comes
to embarking on social media research. This chapter attempts to lay a firm foundation for
what constitutes a theoretical framework as distinct from a conceptual framework in social
media research. It aspires to create a novel approach to research in the area of social media
which would serve as a vade mecum for students and experts in media studies.

REVIEW SPADEWORK
Theoretical and Conceptual frameworks are usually content of the literature review section of
most research works.

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Theoretical framework in social media research
In this study, the researchers conceive theoretical framework as a pathway in a research field
that firmly makes overall findings more meaningful and acceptable for generalization
(Basyal, 2020). It is also seen as a specific theory that concerns various aspects of human
behaviours that should be taken into account while studying events or a phenomenon
(Brondizio, Leemans & Solecki, 2014). As a construct that gives life to research, a theoretical
framework is a guide or a blueprint (Grant & Osanloo, 2014) that researchers source from
other authors to build their research inquiry (Basyal, 2020). Theoretical framework can be
employed in qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method research (Chukwuere, 2021).

Conceptual framework in social media research

For the purpose of this chapter, a conceptual framework is a guide that best explains the
natural progression of a phenomenon under consideration or study (Camp, 2001). Bas (2015)
defines conceptual framework as a visual or written representation of expected relationships
in research. In popular parlance, it is something the researcher develops based on a theory. In
statistical terms, it describes the relationship which exists between specific variables
identified in the study even as it highlights the input, process and output of the study (Basyal,
2020). Simply put, a conceptual framework is an attempt to add one's concept, construct or
variable that is considered relevant to a study towards exploring or testing the relationship
between them. It is usually a logical process that is backed by context. It is also an academic
effort by a researcher to uncover how the research problem will be investigated in light of the
theoretical framework. As it was "Through a conceptual framework, the worldview of the
research topic is well understood and provides the base on how the research
objectives/questions and the problem statement will be (are) formulated" (Chukwuere, 2021:
2681).

Social media research

In this study, social media research is a study that explores the operationality of a gamut of
social media platforms - WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, FB Messenger, Twitter,
Telegram, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Skype and Google Hangouts (Varrella,
2021) for meaning. It is essential to note that new or social is characterized by speed,
interactivity and media convergence (Egere, Dyikuk, Dapoet & Moven, 2021).Social media
research is meant the science of investigating both the technology and usage of these
blogging sites to assess their impact and contribution to the advancement of knowledge and
learning.

Social media research is also seen as the process of analyzing social media data to undertake
both quantitative and research to understand how audiences relate to topics by employing
tools and data extraction techniques (Pulsar, 2021). While conventional research relies on
surveys and focused group discussions, social media research allows "access to the
unprompted feelings and opinions of users" (Pulsar, 2021). It equally assists businesses in

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such a way that it improves the perception of marketers’ brands online as well as helps
machines to understand images.

SOCIAL MEDIA THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

Theoretical frameworks in social media research: Scholarly explications
In studies that adopt grounded theory approach, theories to explain are developed to explain
phenomena and make predictions. A theoretical framework tries to explain theories that
support research and shows that work is grounded in solid ideas. Although there are various
theoretical frameworks in social media research (SMR) such as Technology Acceptance
Model (TAM) which researchers can access to conduct their research, the authors want to
guide readers on how to use these.

There are three steps in developing a theoretical framework: Firstly, key concepts are
identified from the problem statement and research questions; the output from this is a clear
objective. Secondly, it evaluates and explains appropriate theories. A systematic literature
review is often conducted to investigate how other researchers have defined, drawn
connections or compared certain identified concepts and critically evaluated them.This is
followed by a discussion of the different theories and models. Here, the researcher selects a
theory or model that best fits the research question. To be sure, a combination of theories
from different fields may also be used in more complex projects. Thirdly, the researcher
needs to show how his or her research fits. Here, the researcher is expected to show how
theories will be implemented in his or her work. Implementation of the theories could consist
of testing if a theory has a specific context, uses a theory for interpreting results and a critique
is done by combining various theories in a new way. Where relevant, one could employ the
theoretical framework by developing a hypothesis for the research (Sarah, 2015).

In social media research, theoretical frameworks are often based on already existing
theory/theories because they help researchers to contextualize formal theories in their
investigations (Ravitch & Carl, 2016). This is without prejudice to the use of grounded theory
in social media studies. Most importantly, a theoretical framework assists researchers in
testing available theories and defining their study philosophically, epistemologically,
methodology and analytically. Experts argue that a theoretical framework is a time-tested
truth that embodies the findings of various research on how phenomena occur (Basyal, 2020).
According to scholars, a theoretical framework provides a researcher with a guide on how to
study questions as well as select, analyze and plan methods for measuring variables (Liehr &
Smith, 1999). It also guides "research, determining what things to measure, and what
statistical relationships to look for. In this sense, it is critical in deductive, theory-testing sorts
of studies, as the conceptual framework is critical inductive theory building exploratory
studies” (Tamene, 2016: 53).

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Developing theoretical frameworks in social media research
Social media is a multi-discipline research area. As such, writing a theoretical review for
social media ought to take into consideration the discipline, research topic/research question
that the researcher wishes to address. Jiayin, Emmanuel, Binxing and Shichang (2018) suggest
two streams for all social media research: They posited that while Technology Stream is used
in Computer Science social media research to help investigators to analyze user’s behaviour
on social media towards developing an automatic intelligent service for users, Information
System Stream is employed for other disciplines.

These experts found that multiple disciplines such as data science, social sciences,
behavioural science and design science make use of this new technology for social media
usage. They maintained that combining different disciplines to carry out particular research
often yields better research outcomes. While developing an appropriate theoretical
framework is important, let us now take a look at the extant social media theories:

Table 5.1: Extant social media theories

S/N Theory View Proponent
1 The honeycomb framework for A model that presents a way of setting out key aspects Kietzmann et al (2011)
social media strategy. Source: of social media usage in 7 blocks: sharing, presence,
Somayya & Siddharth (2021) relationships, identity, conversations, reputation, and
group
2 Social media metrics Framework and guidelines for social media Peters et al (2013)
framework and guidelines management
3 Seven layers of social media Guide to business managers for understanding social Khan (2015)
analytics. Source: Somayya & media concepts and tools, such as texts, actions, search
Siddharth (2021) engines, apps, hyperlinks, networks, and location
layers.
4 Social media integration theory Social media platforms effectively provide exposure, Isra (2010)
model. Source: Somayya & feedback, connection, and information sharing in full-
Siddharth (2021) duplex communication mode.
5 Social media theory: Content Concept of conversation drivers, which provide a guide Jodie (2014)
and Strategy. Source: Somayya for brands to identify prospective consumers.
& Siddharth (2021)

6 Media and Technology Usage For assessing media and technology involvement Rosen et al (2013)
Attitude Scale. across various social media-based research interests
Source: Rosen et al (2013)
7 Technology Acceptance Model For testing end-user information systems. Fred (1985)
Fred (1985)

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION

Two existing theories are analyzed in this section: Media and Technology Usage Attitude
Scale (MTUAS) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

Media and technology usage attitude scale

Rosen, Whaling, Carrier, Cheever and Rokkun (2013) developed a comprehensive method
for assessing media and technology involvement across various social media-based research
interests. The 60-item scale, Media and Technology Usage Attitude Scale (MTUAS) is
further grouped into subscales that can be applied to social media research independently.
They include smartphone usage, social media usage, internet searching, e-mailing, media

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sharing, text messaging, video, gaming, online friendship, Facebook friendship, phone calls,
and watching television, and four attitude-based subscales: positive attitudes, negative
attitudes, technological anxiety/dependence, and attitude towards task-switching.

Numerous research studies have developed models or scales for measuring social media
usage. Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe (2007) developed an open-ended multi-item scale to
which survey participants answered by writing down their opinions. These were later
modified by Steinfield et al. (2008) to be close-ended, to which participants answer using a 5-
point Likert scale. Some studies measured time spent on social media (Hunt et al., 2012),
while others measured social media usage by physically counting activities such as the
number of times users log into the account daily (Hunt et al., 2012) or a number of friends, or
activities users engage in on various social media sites (Rosen et al., 2013).

MTUAS Precepts
The media and technology usage attitude scale uses the following measurement to assess
users’ media and technology usage:
1. Self-reported frequency of use
2. Activities were performed across various internet devices: tablets, desktops, mobiles,
and laptops.
3. Captures attitudinal statements and beliefs on social media
4. Must be validated by the self-reported time of use (Rosen et al., 2013).

Technology acceptance model (TAM)

Fred (1985) developed a model for testing end-user behaviour and attitude toward
information systems. TAM follows certain processes to test the acceptance of computer-
based information systems. This model chose the Fishbein model Fishbein (1967) as a
reference model upon which TAM is built. TAM became necessary to strengthen MTUAS.
Fishbein’s model was later remodelled by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) using three (3)
equations. The first equation is based on the ideology that the causal relationship between
intended behaviour performance and actual performance of that behaviour. The second shows
that an individual’s attitude towards given conduct is a function of a perceived consequence
of displaying such conduct, multiplied by the evaluations of those consequences. The third
Fishbein model ideology upon which TAM was built specifies that the individual’s subjective
norm is a function of perceived anticipations of particular individuals or groups and their
motivation to adhere to those specific expectations (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Fred (1985)
studied the Fishbein Model, found a research gap and filled it. This means that while a
researcher is adopting an existing model or theory he may find a gap in the theory and fill that
gap to birth a new model or theory.

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Model ideology and hypothesis
Figure 1 below represents the theoretical framework of TAM. Variables X1, X2, and X3 are
various design features of target computer-based systems (example: email, social networking
site, video conferencing site etcetera).

The model hypothesis: A potential user’s overall attitude towards using a given system is a
determinant of whether or not he uses that system, and that “attitude towards using” is a
function of two beliefs: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and that perceived
ease of use has a causal effect on perceived usefulness.

In simpler terms, if a user finds a technology-based product easy to use because of its design
features such as interactivity, reliability, availability, robustness, ease to navigate, security of
information (for example, end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp), then the user’s belief that the
product will be useful to his or her work will increase, hence the two variables (perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use depend on features of the target system. If the system is
found to be easy to use, it is considered useful, hence ease of use causes usefulness. When a
system is considered easy to use and useful for job, these two variables determine users’
attitudes towards use. Finally, Attitude towards use causes the system to be used.

Figure 5.1: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Source: Fred et al (1985)

Equations representing variables in TAM model

TAM specifications for the four variables are represented using the equations below:
Eqn 1----- EOU = ∑ i = 1,n βi Xi +Ɛ
Eqn2----- USEF = ∑ i = 1,n β i X i + β n+1 EOU + Ɛ
Eqn3----- ATT = β1 EOU + β2 USEF + Ɛ
Eqn4----- USE = β1 ATT + Ɛ
Where
XI = Design features i, i = 1,n
EOU = Ease of Use
USEF = Perceived usefulness
ATT = Attitude towards using
USE = Actual use of the system
β1 = Standardized partial regression coefficient

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Ɛ = Random error term
Source: Fred (1985)

Variables defined:
1. Perceived ease of use: This is the degree to which an individual believes that using a
particular system would not involve physical effort. To analyze this variable, a 10-item
survey question was raised to enable respondents to self-report their beliefs. They are
required to respond using a 7-point scale Likert scale:
Strongly Agree Neutral Strongly
Disagree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. Perceived Usefulness: This is the degree to which an individual believes that using a
particular product/system would help his/her perform better. This variable also has 10
items and also uses a 7-point Likert scale to evaluate responses for participants.
Strongly Agree Neutral Strongly
Disagree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

To analyze this variable, a 10-item survey question was raised to enable respondents to self-
report their beliefs. They are required to respond using a 7-point scale Likert scale:
Perceived ease of use and perceived usability are user beliefs deduced from their responses to
survey questions. These variables are calculated by coding the scale-based responses to the
design feature questions in the survey form, coding the responses in a spreadsheet, regression
coefficient of variables that make up each of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness
are calculated, and summing up to find “Attitude towards using” variable. (Fred, 1985).

3. Attitude towards using: The model adopts the definition of attitude which describes it as
the effect of how individual associates with using the target system in his or her job
(Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). This variable had 5 items in the survey form to which
respondents answered using a 7-point semantic differential rating scale developed by
(Osgood et al, 1957).
Good: : : : : : : Bad.

4. The fourth variable “actual system use” has two items in the survey form. The first item is
a question that measures the frequency of system use, while the second item measures the
amount of time.
It is also more stable to generate questions from the available literature. In the TAM
model, multi- items used for the “attitude towards using” and the “actual system use”
variables were existing, well-established model with a 0.80 reliability level, which was
found through literature review. However, no established survey items were found for
“perceived ease of use” and “perceived usefulness”. The researcher generated items from
published works in Management Information System and Human Factor Fields. The 13-
point items for each of the variables were later reduced to 10 items for each of the

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 perceived variables. Finally, the table below shows the multi-item question for each
variable in TAM and the measurement scale used. (Fred, 1985).

PROCEDURE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH

Social media researches try to assess various activities of social media users. Some seek to
find pros, some the cons, while others aim to make comparisons or find relationships between
different variables. No matter what the researcher seeks, assessing social media usage will
involve, but may not be limited to the following:
1. Asking research question(s). This helps the researcher identify what variables
(Independent and dependent) to look for.
2. Hypothesize relationships among variables
3. Choose a data analysis method based on Nos 1 and 2: Is the research descriptive,
inferential or both?
Inferential uses sample statistics to infer cause and effect, recursive, one-way or
multi-dimensional relationships.
Descriptive use of sample information to explain Association, Causal relationships,
Tendency, trend, range, and dispersion. It is also used in non-parametric analysis such
as (chi-square, t-test, 2-way ANOVA) or both statistical methods are required for
different hypotheses raised in the research.
4. A survey is generated to collect data from the target group. Here, the questions are
raised to find views on the dependent and independent variables. Social media
research requires self-reporting feelings on system design features, beliefs, behaviour,
emotion, and related variables, attitude towards using, and actual system use. This can
be carried out either by finding established multi-item questions and scales for the
variables or by generating multi-item questions that will lead to user self-reporting.
Variables are categorized in sections, with each section having multi-item questions.
The purpose of multi-item questions is for cancelation of inconsistency and for
improving reliability ( Fred, 1985).
5. After the survey responses have been collected, the worded items are coded and
appropriate statistical tests are carried out to find relationships, associations, trends,
causal effects, etcetera. An example of this process can be seen in the social media
research by Olebara (Olebara et al., 2021).

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Sample of multi-item questions on actual use of email
Figure 5.2: TAM multi-item survey questions on “Attitude towards using” Source: Fred (1985)

Figure 5.3: TAM multi-item Survey Questions on “Actual Using” Source: Fred (1985)

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Figure 5.4: TAM Multi-item survey questions on “Perceived Ease of use” Source: Fred (1985)

Figure 5.5: TAM multi-item survey questions on “Perceived Usefulness” Source: Fred (1985)

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ADOPTING TAM IN SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH ANALYSIS
For a researcher intending to adopt TAM’s model in his or her social media research, the
equations are used to address the researcher’s social media project. This can be implemented
as stated below:
Equation 1: EOU = ∑ i = 1,n β i X i + Ɛ
Eqn2----- USEF = ∑ i = 1,n β i X i + β n+1 EOU + Ɛ
Eqn3----- ATT = β1 EOU + β2 USEF + Ɛ
Eqn4----- USE = β1 ATT + Ɛ

Multiple Regression is used to model the attributes of belief individually.

Firstly, in equation 1, design features' effect on the belief “Ease of use” is assessed by finding
a multiple regression coefficients. Multiple regression allows more than one independent
variable to be assessed. This gives: β 1 X 1 + β 2 X 2 + β 3X 3 + Ɛ ---- β n X n + Ɛ where β 1 is
the regression coefficient of the effect of the first design feature (X 1 )
on “Ease of Use and Usefulness” and Ɛ is the random error term.

Equation 2 also allows the effect of design features on the belief “Perceived Usefulness” to
be calculated and assessed using multiple regression coefficients as indicated in the equation.
Equation3 is used to assess attitude. Here, attitude is evaluated by summing up the
individually calculated beliefs (Ease of Use and Usefulness).

Equation 4 evaluates Actual system use by finding the regression coefficient of attitude.
Table 5.2 below displays relationships between the four TAM variables. of some or all of
independent, dependent, moderating, mediating and controlling variables, with directed
The system dependent and independent variables are shown in the table below:

Table 5.2: Cause-and-effect relationship of TAM

Source: Fred and Ajzen (1985)

The table shows dependent and independent variables as well as their respective effects in
TAM. Variable “System” as stated in the model ideology section. β (Regression coefficient)is
used to represent statistically significant relationships between Independent and dependent
variables and show where casual relationships exist.
1. The system is an independent variable, while Perceive ease of use is the dependent
variable
2. The system is an independent variable, while Perceive Usefulness is a dependent
variable

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 3. Perceived ease of use is an independent variable, while perceived Usefulness is a
dependent variable
4. Perceived ease of use is an independent variable, while Attitude towards Using is
dependent
5. Perceived Usefulness is an independent variable, while Attitude towards Using is
dependent
6. Perceived Usefulness is an independent variable, while Actual System Use (USE) is
dependent
7. Attitude towards Using is an independent variable, while Actual System use (USE) is
dependent.
For researchers who want to adopt the MTUAS, self-reported importance weights are used
instead of estimated regression coefficients.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS IN SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH

This section underscores extant conceptual frameworks in social media research. While social
media has a legion of young users, its usage for academic purposes is thin. For example, a
recent study on the Influence of Social Media on the Moral Formation of Youths in Jos
Metropolis found that the use of social media for academic purposes was as low as 13.4%
(Ijwo & Tanko, 2019). Notwithstanding this development, before establishing the place of
conceptual framework in social media research, it is important to understand what it
constitutes. For the most part, a conceptual framework helps a reader to understand why a
researcher is investigating or studying a particular topic, the assumptions the person is
making, the conceptual grounds of approach, the scholars the author is dialoguing with, as
well as those he or she agrees or disagrees with (Tamene, 2016).

Scholars like Adom, Hussein and Agyem (2018: 440) capture it more beautiful when they
opined that: "The conceptual framework is mostly placed in the chapter where the literature
survey was discussed. It is in this chapter that the theoretical perspectives of the main
variables or constructs are rigorously reviewed. In most dissertation or thesis papers, the
literature survey is discussed in chapter two." On the confusion among students and
researchers as to whether the theoretical framework is one and the same as the conceptual
framework, the authors contend that usually, researchers develop their conceptual
frameworks from the theories which support their research.

The concept emphasizes two major points namely, that is, it is a guide to a plan of study in
qualitative research paradigms and interdependence of ideas or tentative understanding of a
phenomenon under consideration. A conceptual framework consists of assumptions,
expectations and beliefs that guide a given research work (Tamene, 2016). In summary, the
conceptual framework steers the research activity and serves as a “map” or “rudder” that
guides the study to achieve the objectives of the study (Patrick, 2015). An example of a
conceptual framework that students or researchers can use is can be drawn from our
definition of conceptual framework in social media earlier presented. Notice that although the

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authors drew inspiration from scholars like Camp (2001) and Basyal (2020), they conceived
conceptual framework as "an attempt to add one's own concept, construct or variable that is
considered relevant to a study towards exploring or testing the relationship between them. It
is usually a logical process that is backed by context." This means that it is adding a recipe to
what one has investigated concerning a subject of study which makes it one's concept or
definition.

Writing the conceptual framework in social media research

The method of constructing a conceptual framework depends on what relationship the
researcher seeks to find (Bas, 2015). For a cause-and-effect type research question, dependent
and independent variables are chosen from the survey variables. Independent variables are
variables responsible for problems in a system while dependent variables are the outcome of
independent variables, hence the name, cause-and-effect. Other variables include moderating
variables, which positively or negatively changes the effect an independent variable has on
the dependent variable, mediating variable, which connects independent variables to the
dependent variable, and control variable, which are variables that must be constant so they do
not interfere with the outcome (Bas, 2015).

STEPS IN SELECTING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IN SOCIAL MEDIA

RESEARCH
Scholars have proposed various concrete steps in choosing a suitable conceptual framework
for social media research. Patrick (2015) outlines these steps as, choosing a topic, doing a
literature review, isolating variables from the important variables and generating the
conceptual framework. These shall be highlighted thus:

Decide on a topic
First, to arrive at a sound conceptual framework for your study, it is vital to decide on what
your topic of research is. With this foundational decision in place, the researcher can then go
ahead to ensure that the topic is within his or her field of study or specialization as the case
may be.

Do a literature review
Second, the author needs to undertake a relevant or updated investigation on the theme that
he or she has decided to unravel the point at issue. It is preferable to employ peer-review or
other renowned learned journals since they constitute reliable sources of information and
knowledge.

Isolate important variables

Third, it is absolutely important to identify the specific variables mentioned in the literature.
This is to find out if they are related especially where abstracts contain variables and major
findings. This could be found in the research paper’s summary, methodology or the results

80
and discussion section. Isolating the variables helps the researcher to arrive at the essential
points without much difficulty.

Generate the conceptual framework

Fourth, the investigator should build his or her conceptual framework through a mix of the
variables found in learned articles. The statement of the problem and objective of the research
are catalysts for constructing a good conceptual framework. The person engaging in the study
should attempt to answer the question that other researchers are yet to explain on the one
hand and address the gaps in the literature on the other (Patrick, 2015).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS IN SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH: PRACTICAL

APPROACHES
The fact that social media sites are free and open to everyone to either send or download
content they desire poses grave challenges to society (Ijwo & Tank, 2019). As stated earlier,
some rules guide choosing an appropriate theoretical framework for social media research.
These include but are not limited to, avoiding bias, employing random sampling, use of
representative coding, creating new insights and taking into cognizance relevance and
context. These shall be highlighted thus:

Avoiding bias
The first practical approach in choosing a desired theoretical framework is avoiding bias in
data collection. For example, in searching for key terms or phrases in any given social media
research, it is expedient to avoid bias when it comes to selecting social handle brands and
hashtags associated with various causes. Those researching in the area of social media could
also challenge their assumptions to reduce bias in data collection (Carson, 2016).

Employing random sampling

The second step in selecting the right theoretical framework for social media research is using
random sampling. A critical guide to framing a conceptual framework is data-led
segmentation. This is a representative random sampling approach that involves a manual
conversation or coding of themes. This helps the researcher to discover novel ideas towards
arriving at more granular themes. For instance, a human being can detect rich and profound
data with additional subtleties in tone, emotion and context (Carson, 2016).

Use of representative coding

The third relevant approach to selecting a requisite theoretical framework for social media
research is through representative coding. Since the researcher is telling the customer's story
and not his or hers, it is critical to challenge your assumptions as a researcher through a
coding sample that assists you to fit your topic into both the context and the theory in place
(Carson, 2016).

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Creating new insights
The fourth practical approach to developing a theoretical framework in social media research
is generating new insights. Since these insights are ideas that are communicated from one
person to another, they can be conveyed in a new manner. It is also important to note that the
journey from data to insight and insight to action has communication and understanding as
two bridges that are reliant on human interpretation. Whenever this process is opened up to
more humans, there is the likelihood of risk occasioned by human error. This is rife where
research is muddied in the waters of opinion (Carson, 2016).

Place of relevance and context

The fifth approach is making a place for relevance and context. One major mistake that some
researchers and students often make is treating a theoretical framework in isolation. More
often than not, once the theoretical framework is discussed after the conceptual framework or
in chapter two, no reference is made to it again. To get it right in social media research, a
researcher must choose a theoretical framework that is relevant to his or her topic. This
means that it has to have a practical application to the context of the study. It means that
before wrapping up the study, readers should be pleased to find how your study affirms or
disapproves of the existing theory. If the latter is the case, the researcher can propose a new
theory based on the gaps in the literature. Using obsolete or Western theories for a study in
Africa, by Africans for Africans could be termed "academic suicide" in this regard.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION

The conceptual framework of social media research depends on the relationship the
researcher seeks to find among the variables. For cause-and-effect relationships, two
variables are required: Dependent and independent variables. An independent variable is a
variable that causes a change in another variable, while the dependent variable is the variable
that is affected. The dependent variable depends on the independent variable (Bas, 2015).

Conceptual framework example

The conceptual framework is either represented by a diagram, written text, or both. An
example of the conceptual framework is the causal relationship of the TAM model. Fred
(1985) presented TAM’s conceptual framework in figure 5.6 below, using directed lines to
show causal relationships.

Figure 5.6: Conceptual framework of technology acceptance model (TAM). Source: Fred and Ajzen (1985)

Figure 6 is the conceptual model of TAM and the relationship between the variables can be
explained thus: Concepts that make up the TAM study and the relationships between them.
The concepts are:

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 1. System Design Features (Represented by X1, X2, X3…Xn)
2. User Motivation (Represented by Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, and
Attitude Towards Using)
3. Actual System Use.

System features and capabilities (functionality advantages, security, user-friendly interface,

and all enhancement considerations that the system developer added to help conquer the
already saturated IT marketplace) is the independent variable that causes User Motivation.
User motivation depends on what features the system has to offer. Secondly, Users’
motivation directly influences whether or not they use, and continue to use the system. For
this second part, the User’s Motivation becomes an independent variable, while Actual
System Use is the dependent variable. This relationship is displayed in Figure 5.7a.

Figure 5.7a: TAM’s Conceptual Model showing the relationship among variables. Adapted from (Fred and
Ajzen, 1985)

Sys Features & Users’ Motivation to Actual System Use

Capabilities Use System
(Dependent variable)
(Independent variable) (Dependent variable)
(Independent variable)

Figure 5. 7b: TAM’s Conceptual Model with more Concepts Generated from General Conceptual Framework
Relationships: Moderating and Mediating Variables. Adapted from (Fred & Ajzen 1985)

Sys Features & Users’ Motivation to

Use System Actual System Use
Capabilities
(Dependent variable) (Dependent variable)
(Independent variable)
(Independent variable)

Digital Literacy & IQ

(Moderating variable)

Digital Competence
(Mediating variable)

Implementation of conceptual framework in social media research

As stated earlier, a Conceptual Framework shows written or diagrammatic view (concepts) of
variables in a study, with directed lines showing the relationships between them. These
relationships are Independent, dependent, Moderating, Mediating, and Controlling variables.
Within these variables are the concepts that make up the study. In this chapter, the
researchers ex-rayed two existing models for writing social media research. When the
research requires social media usage experiences, MTUAS should be adopted. The MTUAS

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allows the researcher to generate questions that allow users self report the various effects
using social media has on them. However, when the research is directed towards how users
accept social media technology and use it in their job context, TAM is more appropriate.
TAM allows the researcher to ask survey questions in-line with the target group’s acceptance
of a particular social media application and intended continuance with the technology. In this
section, the researchers make use of the existing study carried out by the TAM model
developer to show how social media researchers can generate their conceptual model. The
social media technology studied in TAM is “the email”. The conceptual framework of TAM
as displayed in figure 6 suggests three important categories around which the model is built,
which are further broken down to get the concepts of the study. This suggestion implies that
social media research is made up of the following when social media technology acceptance
is the problem being studied:
1. The design features of the social media application being studied (this depends on the
system developer which is an external dependency). It, however, influences the next
category.
2. The motivation for use: this category has to do with the “why” and “what”. Why would
a user prefer an application over others with similar functionality? what functionalities
would keep a user loyal to a social media application?This category consists of three
variables in TAM: Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude towards
using, where “perceived ease of use” implies its user-friendliness as depicted in the user
interface, navigations and number of clicks required to fully accomplish a task in the
application (Social media researcher can generate survey questions that would help him
collect relevant self-reported user belief on what he perceives as “Ease of use”). The
second variable in this category is “perceived usefulness”: How useful is this social
media application to your job definition? For instance, email would be quite useful to
organizations as this is the major mode of communication among staff, office branches,
and clients. This belief also follows the self-report of respondents on how useful an
application is to their job, and is answered using a set scale as shown in figure 5 above.
The third variable in the second category of the TAM model is the “Attitude towards
use”. This captures the behaviour of users of an application. This behaviour is measured
by self-reporting frequency and duration of use. Social media researchers may come up
with more variables to measure when generating survey questions.
3. This third category “Actual system Use” is a product of the “Motivation for use”
category. Figure7b is a modified version of TAM’s conceptual model that not only
shows the causal relationship between the three categories but extends it to visually
capture some of the other variables which constitute the Conceptual Framework. While
the independent and dependent variables are important, moderating, mediating and
controlling variables are also important as they alter the effect of independent variables
on dependent variables, connect independent to dependent variables, and control the
effects between independent and dependent variables. Relating this to TAM’s model,
the researchers show how a social media researcher may:

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 Derive independent and dependent variables from the research question and hypothesis,
for example TAM’s system features, motivation for use, and actual use.
Find the variable whose presence in the system will alter the effect the independent
variable has on the dependent variable, example: system features affect the motivation
of a user to use an application, however, if the user is digitally literate, most applications
become easy to use especially when they have good Graphical user interface. Hence
digital literacy is adjudged a moderating variable in TAM’s model. Social media
researchers should also find a variable that links the independent variable to the
dependent variable. This variable mediates between independent and dependent
variables. An example can be seen in figure 7b, TAM adapted model presents two
independent and two dependent variables. Between the motivation for use variable and
actual use, the variable “digital competence” may connect the motivation a user has to
use an application, to actual use and continued use of the system, hence it is the
mediating variable between the motivation for use and actual system use.

Following the example in Figures 5.7a and 5.7b, a social media researcher may generate a
pictorial representation of variables in his research after asking research questions and
hypothesizing. The contexts are now visible and the researcher can expound on them. Figure
7 makes such contexts as System Design features visible, which can lead researchers to
expound on software design considerations. Other contexts like Ease of Use, Digital literacy,
Digital competence, etcetera may be discussed in the conceptual framework section also.

IMPLICATION OF THE CHAPTER

It has been established that although theoretical and conceptual frameworks are somewhat
similar, they are essentially different. For instance, based on your research problem, you can
begin to make your hypothesis or claim. The two work hand in hand because they have
similar characteristics although, each of them is distinct (Adom, Hussein & Agyem, 2018).
The implication is this chapter is, that while it clarifies the similarities and differences
between theoretical and conceptual frameworks, it nonetheless provides a guide for current
and upcoming students and researchers interested in social media research.

To advance your argument, you can add your perspective to an existing theoretical
framework. Your theory becomes the theoretical framework while your analysis translates to
the conceptual framework. In a nutshell, "Once you are clear about your theoretical and
conceptual framework, you will be clear about your research model, constructs, variables,
hypotheses. In the meantime, be always mindful of your research problem, objective(s), and
questions" (Basyal, 2020). We shall now take a look at the difference between the theoretical
and the conceptual frameworks:

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 Table 3: Social media research: Difference between theoretical framework and conceptual framework
Theoretical Framework Conceptual Framework
It provides a general or broader set of ideas within which a study It refers to specific or narrower ideas a researcher utilizes in his/her
belongs study
It is based on existing theory/theories in the literature which It is based on the concepts which are the main variables in a study
havebeen tested and validated by other scholars.
It is in the form of a model that pivots a study, with its exponents It is a researcher's own constructed model that s/he uses to explain the
and the results of their studies relationship that exists between the main variables in his/her study. It
can also be an adaptation of a model in an existing theory thata
researcher adapts to suit his/her research purpose.
It is well developed, designed and accepted. Its design is not accepted, but it's a proposal of the researcher's answer
to the research problem s/he has defined.
It offers a focal point for approaching the unknown research in a It is the framework that shows logically how the research inquiry is to
specific field of inquiry. be undertaken.
It consists of theories that seem interrelated with their It consists of concepts interconnected to explain the relationships
propositions deduced. between them and how the researcher asserts to answer the research
problem defined.
It is used to test theories, to predict and control the situations It is aimed at encouraging the development of a theory that would be
within the context of a research inquiry. useful to practitioners in the field.
Source: Adom, Hussein and Agyem (2018: 440).

CONCLUSION
We have established that "The popularity of social media networks is increasing worldwide"
(Skulme & Praude, 2016: 132). This chapter has demonstrated that although the use of social
media may be an all-comer affair, engagement with new media platforms requires scientific
guidelines. The authors have attempted to provide a systematic approach to employing social
media for the purposes of information gathering and sharing. It is hoped that the gaps in the
literature as regards the lack of concrete rules of engagement for social media research have
been filled.

While the erstwhile conjecture about theoretical framework and conceptual framework is
settled, mindful of the limitation of the study, this chapter appears as a tip of the iceberg
aimed at stimulating more empirical research in social media research. It is crucial for
researchers and students to earnestly incorporate both theoretical and conceptual frameworks
into their work. This will make for robust scholarship (Adom, Hussein & Agyem, 2018).
Unarguably, theoretical and conceptual frameworks are mandatory ingredients for both
quantitative and qualitative research (Adom, Hussein & Agyem, 2018). Given its ever-
expansive and explosive nature, it is safe to conclude that social media research has come to
stay.

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