Facebook in Social Research: Virtual Snowball Method for Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Spain

1. THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN FabiolaBaltar, PHD Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata Mar del Plata- Argentina fabaltar@mdp.edu.ar Ignasi Brunet Icart, PHD Universitat Rovira i Virgili Tarragona- Spain ignasi.brunet@urv.cat VIRTUAL PRESENTATION

2. Many activities take place daily in an “online” reality, where individuals act and express thoughts, intentions and opinions about events related with their “real” world (e-commerce; e-banking; e-learning, etc). However, the question about whether Internet can be a viable scientific research tool is still under discussion. THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN WHAT ABOUT RESEARCH ...?

3. We consider that Internet opens new ways to investigate in social and behavioural sciences because there are many scientific questions that do not look for generalized results but representative ones. For example: THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN “HARD TO REACH” POPULATION SAMPLING

4. @We propose to apply Social Networking Sites (Facebook) and online questionnaires to contact Argentinean entrepreneurs living in Spain. @The characteristic of this target population is that 60 % live in Spain as European citizens. This group is not administratively visible in Spanish Statistics as Argentinean population, so it is impossible to build a sample frame to obtain a probabilistic sample. @The novelty of the study is the incorporation of Facebook and online questionnaires to improve the efficacy of the snowball sampling and data collection. THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN

5. ADVANTAGES OF USING ONLINE METHODOLOGIES THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN @Flexibility (e.g. language) and time-efficiency (collect/process data). @ Questionnaires are more attractive and easier to use. @ Respondents can answer at a convenient time for themselves. @ Researcher instantaneously has all the data stored in a data base. @ Surveys can include all kinds of questions (dichotomous, scales, etc.). @Lower costs. @ It is easier to follow-up non respondents. @ Respondents answer in the order intended by the study designer. @ Respondents answer only questions that are specifically design to them.

6. DISADVANTAGES OF USING ONLINE METHODOLOGIES THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN @ The perception that it is a “spam” email affects non response rate. @ Selection bias related with internet population (gender, age, etc.). @ The sample selection methods are “volunteer” samples. @ Respondent lack of online experience @Unclear answering instructions because they are self-administered. @Impersonal, there is usually no human contact in online surveys. @Privacy related with how data will be used.

7. THE CASE: Virtual Snowball applied to the study of immigrants entrepreneurs in Spain (recruiting sample) THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN @ We explored 52 virtual groups @ We contacted their members sending them private messages @ We extended the sample size, asking each member if they knew anyone else (online or offline contact). @ We obtained 1103 responses (53.2%), of which 343 were entrepreneurs (31%). @ An online questionnaire was sent to these entrepreneurs, of whom 214 answered (62.3%).

8. The response rate and representativeness of the sample THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN 62% of responses CorrelationIndex 0.92

9. Online survey and the quality of information THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN INSTANT COLLECTION CONTROL @ 24 HOURS ACCESS @ FILTER QUESTIONS @ INSTANT CONTACT IN CASE OF ABANDON OR WRONG ANSWERS @ OBTEIN THE RESULTS WHILE THE DATA ARE COLLECTED DATA

10. CONCLUSION @ We conclude that using Facebook to explore hard to reach population (Argentinean entrepreneurs in Spain) can save time and costs, extent the size of the sample and the geographical scope of the study. @ It is important to consider that virtual research needs to apply the same methodological steps to guarantee the scientific rigor and validation. @ Virtual networks are dynamic (e.g. people enter and exit the net; information is temporally online). It necessary to define time boundaries for the data collection, build the sample frame with information of the units of observation and save the documentation that supports the research results. THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN

11. CONCLUSION THE USE OF FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL RESEARCH. THE VIRTUAL SNOWBALL METHOD APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURS IN SPAIN We believe that online research can be as serious as online transactions, political campaigns or learning courses are. Scientific social research understands reality and its changes. Nowadays it is impossible to understand human behaviour and its context without taking account of this virtual reality. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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