Assessment 1: Methods Literature Review

Patrick Fernandez

New Jersey City University

EDTC 810 Stats for Ed Research
Spring 2024
 Introduction
Each of the following peer reviewed articles have been selected because they offer insight of
online communities or virtual spaces. Articles may discuss behavior, norms, benefits or general
knowledge of diverse communities or spaces online. Seeks to find any connections that exist
between informal learning and the communities selected. Below I will outline the purpose,
methods and findings of each of the five articles.

“Informal learning of Spanish in a Chinese music fan community.”

Yuan-Cloris Li, & Cassany, D. (2023)

Purpose:
Study done by a University in Spain looking to research language acquisition skills. Examined
an online community consisting of Chinese speaking fans of a Spanish language pop group.
Wanted to discover how Chinese fans within an online fan group would translate Spanish
lyrics of a pop group to Mandarin.

Methods:
-Qualitative study which adopted a virtual ethnography approach to analyze how music fans
use digital linguistic resources for informal language learning.
-Used mixed data-collecting methods to triangulate data, including semi-structured interviews,
web scraping, screencast recordings, follow-up chats, and field notes.
-Coauthor engaged with the online music community for three months in participant
observation before data collection to identify fans willing to participate in study.
-The criteria for qualifying as a participant the study included having over one year’s
experience with a music platform and contributing, uploading or translating lyrics to at least 20
songs in the past year
-Followed snowball sampling method to find participants for study; Preliminary interviews with
8 total qualifying participants but research only presented 1 participants’ data
-Final data used consisted of 33 translations, 67 comments that were webscrapped. 2 In
depth interviews, 2,538 text messages,1 screencast video and 7 field notes all analyzed using
Atlas Ti.

Findings:
-The online community had roles; lyric uploader, translator, commenter, listener, ect.
-The community had a hierarchy; meaning one translator may be considered more reputable
than others
-Roles and hierarchy were assigned but not fixed and considered fluid; meaning there was a
co-construction of knowledge
-Sources of knowledge also varied; meaning translations may have been based on prior
knowledge of spanish from experience, prior knowledge of spanish based on previous
translations, and/or use of technology platforms
-Informal learning in the online community was reliant on motivational factors to learn the
language because unlike formal learning environments there is no external supervision.
-Motivational factors for translations in the online group included: 1) liking of a particular song
or singer; 2) the satisfaction gained from having his skills recognized; 3) a sense of belonging
as part of the online community; and 4) a desire to increase competitiveness as a translator.

Reference
Yuan-Cloris Li, & Cassany, D. (2023). Informal learning of Spanish in a Chinese music fan community.
 El Profesional de La Información, 32(6), 1–17.
https://doi-org.draweb.njcu.edu/10.3145/epi.2023.nov.05

“Effects of Online Fan Community Interactions on Well-Being and Sense of Virtual

Community”
Kim, M.S.; Wang, S.; Kim, S (2023)

Purpose:
Study conducted in South Korea during Covid 19 pandemic. Wanted to investigate if
participation in online communities helped relieve the feelings of isolation and loneliness
bought on by the pandemic. Examined the connections between community psychology and
emotional well being. Used K-Pop music fan groups to examine connections.

Methods:
-Researchers began with a number of hypotheses; which generally was that an increase in
participation and/or engagement with the online groups contributed to less loneliness and
higher emotional well being. Heavily based on psychological foundational theory that
community engagement increases sense of self and emotional well being.
-The study selected a fan community platform, Weverse, as the subject of analysis.The
targeted participants are the members of the ARMY, an official fan community for the South
Korean musician group, BTS.
- Study used a varied approach to recruit a diverse sample of global ARMY fans for
participation. The primary methods included the utilization of various social media platforms,
such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, in addition to the selected platform Weverse.
-Used Qualtrics surveys; Participation invitations were distributed through email
communications and by sharing posts on the platform that contained links to the survey.
-Qualtrics survey relied heavily on Likert scale questions
-346 responses received; respondents demo was global and varied in ages
-SmartPLS 4 used for analysis; Analysis of responses done with Structural equation modeling
(SEM) method

Findings:
-SEM analysis essentially proved and supported all hypotheses that the intensity of online
interaction with other fans has a positive and robust effect on mental well-being.
-Analysis also revealed that interaction in these fan groups did positively increase attributes
with regard to self (loneliness, expression, acceptance, ect) and other fans (support,
communication, reinforcement, ect) but groups had minimal effect on the parasocial
relationships with the musical artists.
-Also noted a slight distinction among fans with paid subscribers and free user groups on
platform. Essentially noted that the paid subscribers may have a higher level of commitment
leading to more engagement, which was correlated with positive attributes. Naturally
explained by the financial investment they made.

Reference
Kim, M.S.; Wang, S.; Kim, S. Effects of Online Fan Community Interactions on Well-
Being and Sense of Virtual Community. Behav. Sci. 2023, 13, 897.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13110897
 “Informal Social-Emotional Learning in Gaming Affinity Spaces: Evidence From a
Reddit Discussion Thread on Elden Ring”
Czauderna, A., von Gillern, S., & Robinson, B. (2024)

Purpose:
Aimed to research if Social Emotional Learning (SEL) which has been extensively researched
in formal educational settings, was found in an online informal setting. Study investigated the
social-emotional competencies by players in a Reddit discussion board. The Reddit
discussion board or thread focused on Elden Ring, a video game known for its challenging
difficulty.

Methods:
-The study utilized theoretical qualitative thematic analysis on a focal thread at r/Eldenring. -
Thread had been upvoted over 18,000 times, included 2,363 comments encompassing
116,911 words, and had 997,765 readers when we extracted it for data analysis.
-Data analysis specifically focused on five themes guided by the Conceptual framework of the
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). The five themes are:
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible
decision-making.
-Thematic coding of the discussion board utilized MAXQDA software.

Findings:
-Through thematic analysis, researchers identified a range of promising social-emotional
competencies exhibited by players across all five components of the CASEL framework
-Specifically, they concluded that players from the group demonstrated high self-awareness
by verbalizing and contemplating their emotions and behaviors, and self-management by
regulating their frustration and persevering through challenges.
-Players also exhibited social awareness by showing empathy and encouragement towards
others who shared their struggles during the discussion, relationship skills by offering support
and advice to fellow players while engaging with the platform’s affordances, and responsible
decision making by analyzing situations, solving problems, and reflecting on their gameplay
experiences.

Reference
Czauderna, A., von Gillern, S., & Robinson, B. (2024). Informal Social-Emotional Learning in
Gaming Affinity Spaces: Evidence From a Reddit Discussion Thread on Elden Ring.
Simulation & Gaming, 55(1), 30-50.
https://doi-org.draweb.njcu.edu/10.1177/10468781231209697

“The effects of factors on the motivations for knowledge sharing in online health
communities: A benefit-cost perspective”
Wu P, Zhang R & Luan J (2023)

Purpose:
Took a look at OHC (Online Health Communities) which is a space where Doctors and
Patients can share questions, answers, experiences and general knowledge pertaining to
health. Participation in OHC is voluntary, therefore, the study examined what motivation
people had for joining them or sharing information in the OHC. While also examining the
impact of the knowledge shared. Authors noted the analysis of the online space in a cost-
benefit social lens.

Methods:
-Study began with several hypotheses in answering “what do people gain/lose from joining
OHC?”. Based on social exchange theory.
-Study attempted to quantify intrinsic value, extrinsic value and cost of knowledge sharing in
OCH.
-Researchers used validated surveys. The surveys were distributed to 20 members of various
OCH’s.
-Collected 412 responses; Responses were self-reported
-Analysis of responses done with Structural equation modeling (SEM) method

Findings:
-The effects of satisfaction and social support are the strongest motivation for joining OCH’s. -
They actually outweigh the motivation for general knowledge of health. Also they outweigh the
cognitive and executional costs. Essentially argues OCH’s bring value to society.

Reference
Wu P, Zhang R, Luan J (2023) The effects of factors on the motivations for knowledge sharing in online
health communities: A benefit cost perspective. PLoS ONE 18(6): e0286675.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286675

“Share and embrace demographic and location diversity: Creating an Instagram-based

inclusive online learning community”
Zhu, W., Hua, Y., Zhu, G., & Wang, L. (2022)

Purpose:
Researchers created an Instagram online learning community for the purpose of
understanding the inclusiveness of it. Invited students taking an online course from a private
college in the United States to a situated learning community. Research wanted to determine
if contextual factors (age, year of college, gender, program of study, location of study)
influenced their interaction and experience in the online learning community.

Methods:
-Researchers began with a hypothesis that a student's demographics and contextual factors
would not influence their interaction or experience in the online learning community.
-Invited 115 undergraduate students to post photos related to environmental psychology
concepts and their surrounding environments and discussed their postings on Instagram over
eight weeks.
-Only 68 of 115 students who initially began the course, completed all eight weeks; Data only
reflects the 68 as a result.
-three main data sources: (1) participants' demographic and contextual characteristics such
as gender, ethnicity, year of school and location of study; (2) 252 posts published by the 68
participants and their 452 times of interaction, including ‘like’ or ‘comment’ between each post,
in the last four weeks of the project via Instagram; (3) 22 semi-structured interviews of
 participants to understand participants' experience in the community.
-Used a grounded theory approach to analyze the interview data. Transcribed audio
recordings of interviews were analyzed through into Atlas.Ti, into qualitative data

Findings:
-Research findings suggested that little about their demographic factors influenced their
involvement in the online space. Minor differences across all demographic factors; largest
observations were that freshman and senior were most likely to interact in the space vs
sophomores and juniors. While international students may be slightly more motivated to
interact than on campus students.
-Interviews analysis indicated that the online community created promoted inclusivity as a
result
-Study indicated that the expression of their identities matters to students' influence and
acceptance
-Researched also suggested that the Instagram algorithm may have been more influential to
amount of like, comments and interactions with posts than demographic and contextual
factors.

Reference
Zhu, W., Hua, Y., Zhu, G., & Wang, L. (2022). Share and embrace demographic and location
diversity: Creating an Instagram-based inclusive online learning community. British
Journal of Educational Technology, 53, 1530–1548. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13272

Discussion
Each paper selected provided valuable information about online communities and spaces. One
similarity observed among research methods was that all employed a survey or interview
method to gather data and information on the space. A difference observed was the degree of
analysis that took place.

I would cite the Instagram online learning community study as one that had little analysis; for me
it relied heavily on a thematic coding based on interviews. I would also cite the Yuan-Cloris Li, &
Cassany, D. work done on the language acquisition study as relying heavily on the interview of
just one person. While I found the study and purpose fascinating, I believe additional data would
have increased the impact and credibility of the findings. Additionally the work done by Kim, et
al. on K-pop fan groups & Zhu, et al. on OHC’s both employed SEM’s to quantify certain
behaviors or attributes; for me this added validity to the study’s.

A second observational difference among the approaches of each paper was that some
researchers began with a hypothesis while others were simply seeking answers to their
research questions. I believe the purpose of the studies influenced this; the K-pop group study,
the OHC’s study & the Instagram group study all were looking at online communities through
psychological and sociological lenses. Meaning they were studies which were founded on
research done in other fields; therefore they had more literature on their subjects. While the SEL
on Reddit & Language acquisition with Spanish music fans felt more exploratory in nature. I
don’t believe this impacted their approaches in methods to the studies. It just had an observable
impact on the literature review and discussion sections of their research.
A final observation I did not discuss too much in the review of each article but was helpful while
reading was, each researcher gave context to each space or online community. Each
researcher selected or highlighted behaviors on a specific platform; Weverse, Reddit,
Instagram, Sweet Home, Good Doctor. As a result, the researcher was required to give context
to each individual space and their purpose, given they are each their own eco systems. I believe
each paper did a good job in this regard.