1. Your overarching research question:

What is the importance of social media use to international students in America?

2. Your proposed method(s) for gathering data: 

I will use interviews and surveys to collect data for the study. The participants will be international students who study in America. The focus of the study will be to understand the social relations that the international students nurture through social media platforms and the role of such media in their perceived social support and adjustment. I am an international student so I am capable of getting access to other international students who I can involve in the study. I will ask them to give information on the frequency of their social media use, motivation,, and the role of the platforms in shaping their social interactions and engagement. Since I hypothesize that most international students use social media platforms for similar reasons, my major concern is achieving repetitive findings. However, I will try to include international students from different locations with the hope of getting less monotonous results.

3. Subjects and their Backgrounds (demographics, locations, etc.)

I will be using international students from {insert university name} since I study in the same school. The survey and interview questions will focus on the age and gender of the participants, time spent on social media and frequency of use, the motivation of the subject, and the extent through which such platforms contribute to one’s support and adjustment to the new location.

4. Working Hypothesis

My working hypothesis is that social media use has a significant positive influence on social support and adjustment of international students studying in America. I believe that the use of the social media platforms improves the social relations and support of the students as well as enhances their process of social adjustment in their new location.