Task: Writing a research proposal
Course Code and Name: MSJ 11102 Communication Research
Project Name: Understanding Students’ Perception on Fake News in ULAB
Project Date: Summer 2020
Project Type: Group Assignment
Project Completed on Semester No: 2
CI Theme of the Term: Psychology of Pandemic
Project Description:
In the introductory Communication Research course, students were tasked with creating a sample research proposal on a relevant social science issue. This group project, which served as the course’s final assessment, faced initial challenges due to the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, making team formation difficult. Each student proposed a research topic for the midterm examination, from which the instructor selected eight topics and formed groups of five members to develop comprehensive research proposals.
The proposal includes the study’s title, background, objectives, research questions, literature review, methodology, timeline, and budget. Our group’s chosen topic was “Understanding Students’ Perception on Fake News in ULAB.” The project aimed to investigate how university students in ULAB perceive and interact with fake news on social media, a critical issue in today’s digital age. This proposal serves as a foundational exercise for students to grasp the essentials of research work, preparing them for future research endeavors.
Project Justification:
In this course, we developed a research proposal focused on understanding ULAB students’ perceptions of fake news. The primary objective was to explore ULAB students’ awareness and response to fake news, given its significant impact on young people’s opinions and behavior. As students in the Media Studies and Journalism department, it is crucial for us to understand the dynamics of news content and its implications. This research proposal not only aims to shed light on how students discern fake news but also equips future researchers with practical insights and methodologies for studying media-related phenomena. The findings can potentially inform strategies to combat misinformation and enhance media literacy among students.
DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA STUDIES AND JOURNALISM
Course Name: Communication Research
Course Code: MSJ11102
Term: Summer 2020
Section: 01
Research Proposal
Understanding Students’ Perception on Fake News in ULAB
Submitted To
Nandita Tabassum Khan
Senior Lecturer & Undergraduate Program Coordinator
(Media Studies and Journalism Department)
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)
Submitted By
Sintheya Aktary Sinthe (201012063)
Zakia Sultana Sanam (201012045)
Bishwojit Das Bijoy (201012046)
F.m Shadman Sakif (201012009)
Safura Afrin Zaman (201012042)
Submission Date: 03 October, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENT
| SL. | Topics | Page No |
| 1 | Introduction | |
| Focus Idea | 2 | |
| Background | 2 | |
| Reason behind choosing | 3 | |
| Research Objectives | 3 | |
| Research Questions | 3 | |
| Scopes | 3 | |
| Limitations | 4 | |
| 2 | Literature Review | 4 |
| 3 | Research Design | |
| Approach | 6 | |
| Methodology | 7 | |
| Sample | 7 | |
| Draft Budget | 7 | |
| Timeframe | 7 | |
| 4 | Reference | 8 |
UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON FAKE NEWS IN ULAB
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Focus Idea
Fake news items are the news gossips that are deliberately misleading content and confuses readers. Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing countries where online news reaches all over the world. Cyberspace has become so important nowadays that people cannot even imagine a day without it. Almost everybody uses the online network, but young people like college-university students use the web more. They use various networking channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Etc., are some notable ones. There are both positive and detrimental impacts on the use of all these media platforms. Fake news and rumors also spread through these social networking platforms. These misleading news articles are one of the vital issues that have an enormous negative impact on the young people of Bangladesh. Often some channels post various false news items on the web. Students believe in those news articles without fact-checking and can figure out later that the press release is biased. So how are they going to cope with this issue? Are they concerned about this issue? Researchers selected ULAB students for the study area to understand their perceptions regarding fake news.
1.2 Background
Dissemination of false news has become an alarming issue in our country. Many people spread fake news on social media for various reasons. Fake news is continuously published behind the political parties to portray them unsuitable in front of the general people. Due to various political issues, many channels spread misleading information to present the government as incompetent in front of the people. Many news organizations are always spreading fake news on social media which impacts mostly ordinary people. Mostly, university students stay active on social sites. They watch various news that affects them in many ways. Without fact-checking, the young generation makes fake news viral on Facebook and other websites. Mostly, young people make it viral because fake news manipulates them effortlessly. In recent years, the spreading of fake news has become a worrying affair in the United States and around the world.
1.3 Reason Behind Choose the Topic
As we are the students of media studies and journalism departments, we will have to deal with news and media platforms in job sectors. So it is crucial to work on news content for the betterment of our professionalism. Through this study, we want to understand the perception of university students about fake news. Almost everybody uses the web, but the younger generation uses it more. Sometimes many online news channels broadcast various false news items, and students believe in that news. They may find out later about the fraudulence article that despairs them. We faced such types of problems that affected our lives negatively. So that is why we want to perceive which sources are responsible for broadcasting misleading information via networking sites. What students see in contents before publicizing that on social networking sites, and how do they get to know about its fraudulency? How do they deal with the issues?
1.4 Research Objectives
- To examine the causes of the dissemination of bogus social media news.
- To find out the likelihood of students reading fake news.
- To instigate the impact of fake news on students as a result of spreading rumors.
1.5 Research Questions
- What is the reason fake news is spreading on social media?
- What are the usual sources of fake news, and what process do students follow for fact-checking?
- What are the consequences of disseminating lies and misinformation for students?
1.6 Scopes
- The findings of this research could deliver a systematic way not to get influenced by fake news easily.
- It could provide the number of students’ verification about fake news.
- It could stop the tendency of spreading fake news, which is a reason of desperation among the youth.
1.7 Limitations
- Researchers will research only on ULAB students.
- Sometimes it is difficult to understand whether the indicated fake news is fake or real.
- Researchers will survey on understanding students’ perceptions about identifying fake press releases, where many students might not want to participate.
2.0 Literature Review
This section highlights the literature that proposed the context and the core principles of this research. Also, it serves as a guide to the creation of a comprehensive direction. The following three research papers are displayed, two of which are local research papers from Bangladesh, and the other is international.
2.1 Title – Detection of Bangla Fake News using MNB and SVM Classifier (2020)
The Author of this researcher was MD. Gulzar Hussain, MD Rashidul Hasan, Mahmuda Rahman, Joy Protim, and Sakib Al Hasan. They published this paper on 29 May 2020. In this research, researchers wrote about the reason for spreading fake news and its impact on innocent people. (Hussain et al, 2020).
Objectives:
- To identify the reason behind the overflowing spread of false and unreliable information. (Hussain et al, 2020).
- To determine the impact of fake news on innocent people. (Hussain et al, 2020).
Methodology:
In this research, two types of classifiers, SVM, and MNB have been used to classify fake news from Bangla articles. (Hussain et al, 2020). Researchers modeled the dataset used in the proposed classification system by scraping various Bangla newspapers and articles from Prothom Alo, Kaler Kontho, Etc. (Hussain et al, 2020). Researchers used the qualitative research approach for this research paper. (Hussain et al, 2020).
Findings:
Research in intelligence shows that the rumors spreading in social media leave lasting impacts, particularly on less smart people. (Hussain et al, 2020). Half of all the news spread on social media is fake news. (Hussain et al, 2020). This research work concludes that Support Vector Machine works marginally better than Multinomial Nave Bayes on the dataset. (Hussain et al, 2020). Fake News has-been coming into sight in significant numbers that occur mostly in the online world. (Hussain et al, 2020).
2.2 Title – A Systematic Review on Fake News Themes Reported in Literature (2020).
The Author of this research is Marlie Celliers and Marie Hattingh. They published this paper on 1 April of 2020. This research paper writes on why individuals tend to share false information and how to detect fake news before it spreads. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020).
Objectives:
- To identify and discuss the factors involved in the sharing and spreading of fake news. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020).
- To detect and recognize misinformation and also to cultivate the desire to stop the spreading of fake news. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020).
Methodology:
The authors used qualitative methods in this research work. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020). They tried to determine the matters and factors that contribute to the release of fake news. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020). They used thematic methods as well. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020). They considered the studies related to the research topic and discussed the underlying reasons for releasing fake news. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020). Besides, they discussed less about detecting fake news. As a whole, researchers studied the impact of fake news on their research work. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020).
Findings:
The researcher concluded that five factors are responsible for spreading fake news; these are social factors, cognitive factors, political factors, financial factors, and hypocritical factors. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020). They discussed the role of factors in contributing to the spreading of fake news. (Celliers & Hattingh, 2020).
2.3 Title – Understanding of Fake News by University Students in Dhaka City (2019).
The authors of this analysis are Wafi Aziz Sattar, Jessica Eva Salazar, and Bijoya Anam. They published this paper on 30 September 2019. It is an analytical study that first looks at the general meaning of fake news and then seeks to find the concept of fake news by studying the specific interpretation of young new voters of Dhaka City. (Sattar et al, 2019).
Objectives:
- To discover the idea of fake news by studying the perceptions of young new voters of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Sattar et al, 2019).
Methodology:
This thesis is an interpretative phenomenological analysis and is a contemporary qualitative method. (Sattar et al, 2019). Generally, this technique is used to consider the perspective of experience, entity, or event from the subjects or participants. (Sattar et al, 2019).
Findings:
This research summarized that the maximum number of students described fake news as an attempt to confuse or misrepresent people for a particular reason. (Sattar et al, 2019). From daily encounters, the majority of the students formed their understanding. (Sattar et al, 2019). The students often think that the opposition uses fake news about politics to generate terror. (Sattar et al, 2019).
3.0 Research Design
3.1 Research Approach
The quantitative research approach is suitable for this research topic that will allow researchers to collect adequate results. A quantitative methodology is to gather the information that focuses on explaining the behavior of a large number of individuals, thereby offering the potential of summarizing characteristics through classes or relationships. (Rhodes, 2014). Applying this method would help researchers to outline the number of students who are concerned about fake news relative to those who are less concerned.
3.2 Method for Data Collection
The preferred type of data collection procedure for determining the outcomes of this research will be the Survey analysis method. A survey is a research technique used to collect data from a pre-specified number of participants to obtain information. (What Is a Survey – Definition, Templates, Methods, Characteristics, and Examples, n.d.). They may have several targets, and researchers may perform them in several ways, based on the approach chosen and the purpose of the analysis. (What Is a Survey – Definition, Templates, Methods, Characteristics, and Examples, n.d.). The results obtained from the surveys are then systematically evaluated to draw concrete scientific conclusions. (Survey Research: Definition, Examples, and Methods | QuestionPro, n.d.). Using this method, researchers will prepare survey questions for the students of ULAB to understand their perceptions about fake news.
3.3 Sampling
For this study, researchers will use the Cluster Sampling method. Cluster sampling is a technique for probability analysis where researchers split the community for study into several categories. (Cluster Sampling: Definition, Method, and Examples, n.d.). Since this study will be done on ULAB students using the survey research method, cluster sampling seems to be the best way to do this analysis. This form of sampling method would be simple and easy to ensure efficient output.
3.4 Budget
| Category | Cost |
| Content Analysis | 20,000 Tk |
| Food and Accommodation for that Group and Volunteers | 24,000 Tk |
| Materials for Research | 6000 Tk |
| Miscellaneous | 20,000 Tk |
| Total | 70,000 Tk |
3.5 Time chart
| Task | Allotted Time in Days |
| Content Analysis | 30 Days |
| Data Collection-Survey | 20 Days |
| Draft Report Preparation | 25 Days |
| Final Report Submission | 35 Days |
| Total | 110 Days/ 3 Month 20 Days |
- Reference
- Rhodes, J. (2014, October 13). On Methods: What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches?. The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring. Retrieved from evidencebasedmentoring.org: https://www.evidencebasedmentoring.org/on-methods-whats-the-difference-between-qualitative-and-quantitative-approaches/#:%7E:text=relations%20between%20characteristics-,Quantitative%20Approach,characteristics%20across%20groups%20or%20relationships
- Hussain, M. G., Hasan, M. R., Rahman, M., Pritom, J., & Hasan, S. A. (2020, May 29). Detection of Bangla Fake News using MNB and SVM Classifier. Retrieved from researchgate.net: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341785680_Detection_of_Bangla_Fake_News_using_MNB_and_SVM_Classifier
- Celliers, M., & Hattingh, M. (2020, April). A Systematic Review on Fake News Themes Reported in Literature. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 223–234. Retrieved from link.springer.com: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45002-1_19
- Gomez, J., & Ramcharan, R. (Eds.). (2019). International Conference on Fake News and Elections in Asia, Conference Proceedings. Asia Centre. Retrieved from academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/40774196/Understanding_of_Fake_News_by_University_Students_in_Dhaka_City
- Survey research: Definition, Examples and Methods | QuestionPro. (n.d.). Questionpro.Com. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from questionpro.com: https://www.questionpro.com/article/survey-research.html
- What is a Survey – Definition, templates, methods, characteristics, and examples. (n.d.). Questionpro.Com. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from questionpro.com: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/surveys/
- Cluster Sampling: Definition, Method and Examples. (n.d.). Questionpro.Com. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from questionpro.com: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/cluster-sampling/?fbclid=IwAR1b4ryEluvMtnGt2iQ_D2KIsMKB2U7L-FSjTykBIe_8rK2cz_pF9AT8qsI
- Hussain, S. A. E., Kilagwa, R. T., Zaali, Y. M., & Wok, S. (2019, June). The Effect of Message Credibility on Media Use and Perception of Fake News among Students. Human Communication: A Journal of the Pacific and Asian Communication Association, 1(2), 1–21. Retrieved from researchgate.net: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333842986_The_Effect_of_Message_Credibility_on_Media_Use_and_Perception_of_Fake_News_among_Students?fbclid=IwAR36yZxqoulLAyiyzzWcO7VcpXmrvTeubM-LDagQXWayKEiCzng1FYkB5XQ
Learnings and Outcomes (Self-reflection):
- Learned the importance of writing a research proposal.
- Learned the way of writing a research proposal.
- Learned the basics of how to conduct research.
- Understood different research methodologies.
- Improved background research skill.
- Improved teamwork capability.
- Gained knowledge on the significance of addressing fake news and its impact.
- Developed skills in quantitative data collection and analysis.
- Enhanced ability to formulate research questions and objectives.
- Recognized the importance of ethical considerations in research.
- Learned how to budget and plan for a research project.
- Understood the challenges of engaging participants in surveys.
- Appreciated the role of prior literature in shaping and guiding research.
- Learned to manage time and structure long-term projects effectively.
- Understood the process of identifying and addressing limitations in research.
- Developed critical thinking and analytical skills through literature review.