RUNNING HEAD: PAPER TRAIL PROJECT

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Paper Trail Project

Macey DeLong
Emporia State University

Research Statement
My topic for this project is cyberbullying, which is when a person or group of people
bully/harass another person online. The most common places for cyberbullying are social media
websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The age group that is affected most by cyberbullying is
middle schoolers and high schoolers. Cyberbullying is becoming more popular because more
students are starting to own technology devices such as lap tops and cell phones, which gains
them access to these social media websites.
I chose this topic for various reasons. The first reason is that it was one of the only topics
on the list that I found interesting. The second reason is that I can somewhat relate to the topic
because I have been cyberbullied before in middle school. Since I have some experience on the
topic, I figured I would be able to do better research. Researching this topic was pretty easy
because this is a popular and growing problem with students.
Research Question

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What steps should a person take to avoid and prevent cyberbullying?

Concept Map

Annotated Bibliography
Baas, N., de Jong, M. T., & Drossaert, C. C. (2013). Childrens Perspectives on Cyberbullying:
Insights Based on Participatory Research. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking,
16(4), 248-253. doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0079
The article, Childrens Perspective on Cyberbullying: Insights Based on Participatory
Research, is over a study focused on the childrens perspectives on cyberbullying. This study
was done on 28 children age 11 to 12 participating in group sessions about cyberbullying
enabling techniques. The results show that most children cannot tell the difference between

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pranks and cyberbullying. In addition, they are afraid to tell their parents because of the
consequences. This article provides insight on what young children think about cyberbullying.
This information looks accurate because their study was on real children. The author is a MSC
(Master in Science), but there was no other information on this author. Therefore, the credibility
of the author could be questionable. This study was done in 2013, so the information is pretty upto-date. Overall, this article can be pretty useful for someone who is studying cyberbullying and
want to know a childs perspective.
Carter, J. M., & Wilson, F. L. (2015). Cyberbullying: A 21st Century Health Care Phenomenon.
Pediatric Nursing, 41(3), 115-125.
The article, Cyberbullying: A 21st Century Health Care Phenomenon, is based on a study done
on 367 adolescents ages 10 to 18 who attend public schools. The study focused on students using
technology to cause harm towards other peers, also known as cyberbullying. The results show
that approximately 30% of participants were bullied during school. This article also talks about
what consequences come with cyberbullying, such as depression, anxiety, and even thoughts of
suicide. I believe this journal could be of use to me because it covers all the points in my topic.
The article provides real information taken from adolescent students who have experience with
technology and social media. One of the authors, Jemica M. Carter, has multiple articles about
health and psychology, which helps her credibility. The other author, Feleta L. Wilson, is a doctor
who owns a health center, so she also has knowledge about a persons health and well-being.
This article was written in 2015, so the information is up-to-date and useful. Overall, the article
has useful information about cyberbullying.
Cloud, J. (2010). Bullied to Death? Time, 176(16), 60-63
The article, Bullied to Death?, is about the bully-related suicides in the United States. This
article focuses on the relation between bullying and the state laws, and how cyberbullying is
becoming more popular and dangerous for children and adolescents. In addition, the article

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mentions the suicides of real students to show how problematic bullying is in the United States.
It states that the anti-bullying laws are out-of-date and need to be fixed because of new
cyberbullying techniques. This article is here to provide information about students suicide and
how the main cause of these suicides is bullying. The information was taken from different
schools in the United States. The author of this article is a senior writer for Time Magazine. He
has won various awards for political and social writing, so his credibility is good. The article was
written in 2010, so the information is pretty up-to-date, but ways of cyberbullying is still
evolving. This social issues article provides real-life situations, which makes the information
more relatable. This information could be very useful to get a personal view on cyberbullying
and see how it really affects people.
Doane, A. N. (2011). Testing of a brief internet cyberbullying prevention program in college
students (Order No. 3480709). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: Health
& Medicine; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: Social Sciences. (898606244). Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com.emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/docview/898606244?
accountid=27180
The dissertation, Testing a Brief Internet Cyberbullying Prevention Program in College
Students, is a project that is made to bring awareness about cyberbullying and reduce
cyberbullying actions in students. The project is video-based program and also used tests on 167
students in college. The results of the video were overall positive; the video successfully
decreased positive attitudes toward cyberbullying, decreased cyberbullying behavior, and
increased the students knowledge on cyberbullying. The main goal of this project was to make a
prevention program to give to other universities for cyberbullying. The author of the dissertation
is a student at Old Dominion University, which shows that she might not have infinite knowledge
or experience on the subject. The dissertation was done in 2011, so the information is up-to-date.

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This information is different from the rest because it is trying to provide an actual
solution/prevention program for cyberbullying. The article provides plenty of useful information
on cyberbullying and shows data taken from real students.
Litwiller, B. J., & Brausch, A. M. (2013). Cyber bullying and physical bullying in adolescent
suicide: The role of violent behavior and substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence,
42(5), 675-684. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9925-5
The article, Cyber Bullying and Physical Bullying in Adolescent Suicide: The Role of Violent
Behavior and Substance use, is about a survey done on the relationship between victimization
from cyber bullying and physical bullying and suicide behavior. According to their survey, done
on over 4,000 high school students, students bullying is related to other risky behaviors. The
results of the study shows that physical and cyber bullying are in fact related to substance abuse,
violent behavior, suicidal behavior, and unsafe sexual behavior. The article states the importance
of the correlation between bullying and risky behaviors and how they come hand in hand. The
usefulness of this article is good because it states proof why cyber bullying is so harmful and
what it is doing to students in high school. The information in the article is accurate because it is
an actual study done on high school students, and it provides real experiences. The authors are a
part of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and are graduate students. Their credibility might
not be as strong as others because they have not done very many other studies. The article is also
fairly new, as it was published in 2013, so the information is probably still accurate. This article
overall relates to the topic cyberbullying and should provide useful information for other
students or researchers focusing on this topic.
Niemeyer, S. R. (2009). A legal analysis of anti-bullying laws in the united states: Are the laws
adequate to address cyberbullying?(Order No. AAI3361193). Available from PsycINFO.
(622092035; 2009-99230-162). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/docview/622092035?accountid=27180

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The dissertation, A Legal Analysis of Anti-Bullying Laws in the United States: Are the Laws
Adequate to Address Cyberbullying?, is a study that examined whether or not state anti-bullying
laws are adequate enough to protect adolescents. This study also looked at the punishment used
on students who participate in cyberbullying and whether or not the punishments should be
changed. The study shows that there are 36 states that have an anti-bullying law that can protect
adolescents. However, only 14 of those states cover cyberbullying in the anti-bullying law. This
study provides interesting information on the laws of bullying and how people can make them
better for the protection of the students. The author has a PhD in leadership and councilor
education, which shows that he has proper education to do a study about cyberbullying. The
dissertation was written in 2008, so the information is a little dated, but is still relatable to the
topic. There is a table of contents to help readers find the information they are looking for and
keep the paper organized. Overall, this dissertation provides plenty of information that is
enlightening on bullying laws.
Noah, T. O. (2013). Middle school teachers' perceptions of cyberbullying (Order No.
AAI3542455). Available from PsycINFO. (1435852907; 2013-99151-260). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/docview/1435852907?accountid=27180
The dissertation, Middle School Teachers Perceptions of Cyberbullying, is about learning
about middle school teachers knowledge about cyberbullying and experiences they have with
cyberbullying. In addition, this study wants to learn how middle school teachers plan to prevent
cyberbullying and how they respond to it. The study was done at a middle school in the United
States using interviews to learn the different thoughts about cyberbullying. They also looked at
the schools policy documents for further information. The results showed that most of the
teachers lacked knowledge on how to prevent cyberbullying and did not know the schools
policy procedure on handling bullying. From these results, certain practices were recommended

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to help the teachers identify cyberbullying and learn how to prevent it from happening. This
dissertation is filled with very useful information provided by this middle school study. This
study provides information on how teachers should be prepared to deal with bullying and gives
people an insight on how important cyberbullying prevention is. The authors most popular work
is this study and quite possibly his only study. This study was done in 2012, so the information is
pretty up-to-date. However, since then, technology has grown plenty and there are new ways
students can cyberbully. The dissertation provides a table of contents to make finding the
information more convenient for the readers. This article has more than enough useful
information that would be helpful.
Roskamp, T. J. (2009). Cyberbullying in Illinois Public Schools (Order No. AAI3355863).
Available from PsycINFO. (622096999; 2009-99210-246). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.emporiastate.idm.oclc.org/docview/622096999?accountid=27180
The dissertation, Cyberbullying in Illinois Public Schools, is about a study focused on
cyberbullying in Illinois public schools. The study used online surveys to collect their
information. The study was taken by 1000 random public school principals. The results show
that the most common type of cyberbullying was name calling and spreading negative rumors
around. The most common devices used were cell phone text messages and social media sites.
The survey showed that the most common punishment for a cyberbully was to have a conference
with the principal and the victim. The author of this dissertation is a doctor in education, but has
only written this dissertation; since this is her only work, it is difficult to say if the work is
credible. The article was written in 2009, so it is a little dated, but still has useful information.
However, the author said that the dissertation was lacking information that could be important
for this study. Overall, this source probably is not the best choice, but can be used for bits and
pieces of information.
Stover, D. (2006). Treating Cyberbullying as a School Violence. Education Digest, 72(4), 40-42.

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The article, Treating Cyberbullying as a School Violence, is about how the world is evolving
and cyberbullying is becoming more popular rather than bullying on the playground. The article
mentions scenarios of children receiving threatening texts or emails to explain what
cyberbullying really is. The author also explains that cyberbullying is way more common than
most people know. The articles main point is that if people want cyberbullying to stop, then it
needs to be considered a school violence. The author of this article is part of the editorial staff of
School Board News. This article was printed in Education Digest. The authors credibility is
good because it is his job to write accurate articles. This article was written in 2006, so the
information is a little old and cyberbullying has changed a lot since then. The information
presented in this article just covers the basics on cyberbullying. This article is a good starting
point for someone to start learning about cyberbullying.
Wienclaw, Ruth A., Rebecca J. Frey, and Andrea Nienstedt (2013). Online risk, harm and
vulnerability: Reflections on the evidence base for child Internet safety policy. The Gale
Encyclopedia of Public Health. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. Vol. 1. 120-126.
The article, Online Risk, Harm and Vulnerability: Reflections on the Evidence Base for Child
Internet Safety Policy, is about the dangers children are open to when they use the internet. The
article provides critical analysis on the difference between risk and harm. In addition, the article
mentions solutions for children at risk online. There is also a whole section on complications the
authors ran into during their analysis. One of the authors has a Ph.D, but does not have any other
articles. This credibility is questionable because it is difficult to find information on the authors.
The article was written in 2013, so the information given is fairly new. The article is poorly
organized, which makes it difficult to find information. This article would be difficult to use for a
future assignment.

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Research Summary
Throughout the semester, I have been researching the topic cyberbullying. I have found
various articles and books over this topic that are very insightful and accurate. Most of the
sources described what cyberbullying is, who is involved, and ways to stop it. My research
question is a tough question to answer because cyberbullying is so advanced and complicated.
No one has thought of a complete solution to cyberbullying, but I was able to find some smaller
solutions to cyberbullying. Ways of avoiding cyberbullying is limiting the kids time on social
media, using their privacy settings, and limit their internet use in school.
Overall, I am able to answer my research question because there are many ways a person
can avoid and prevent cyberbullying. However, many people are still looking for the big solution
to cyberbullying. Since there is no big solution to cyberbullying, there was no way I could find it
in my research. If there was a big solution to cyberbullying, I would have included that in my
research.
The research process was average; this research felt repetitive but I was able to find good
information on cyberbullying. The most difficult part of the research was finding different kinds
of resources such as periodicals, books, scholarly journals etc. Sometimes the best resources are
all the same type of source and its difficult to find a certain type of source. The easiest part of
the research was finding at least 10 sources. I was able to find plenty of sources on cyberbullying
that were credible and had useful information. The best database for my topic is Pyschinfo

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because cyberbullying falls under psychology and Psychinfo has the best credible background. I
used other databases as well but I got the best results from Psychinfo.
The best sources that I found obviously needed to be about cyberbullying, easy to read
and understand, have credible authors, and talk about how cyberbullying can be stopped. Some
of my sources talked about the classic bullying more than the cyberbullying, so those sources
were not my best. Every time I would find a source, I would do research on the authors to make
sure they had the authority to be writing about this subject. Some authors were difficult to find
online so their credibility was not as strong as others. I also like my resources to be organized
and easy to understand so I can find the information I need. A few resources were difficult to
understand, so I did not use as much information from those sources. Most of my resources
talked about various ways cyberbullying could be stopped, so I considered those to be good
sources.
Throughout this research, my concept map changed drastically. At the beginning of the semester,
my concept map was huge because I had no idea what topic to choose from. I know I wanted to
do something related to internet safety, but I was not sure what topic to pick. I ended up picking
cyberbullying and now my concept map is concise and focused on just cyberbullying. On my
first concept map, I had various types of internet issues such as safety, privacy, and crime. Now, I
just have safety on my map. However, now that I am more educated on cyberbullying, I was able
to add a few more subtopics on the concept map such as types of prevention. My concept map
changed because I was able to pick a less vague topic and I limited my research.

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After this assignment, I have broadened my knowledge on how to research. I have done a
lot of research in my school career, but its nice to learn more about databases and how to pick a
quality source. I will take this information and use it throughout my college career.