The Research Process as Applied to the Problem of Cyberbullying
There seems to be a predictable sequence in how researchers address problems of social behavior. The stages in this process play out over a significant period of time during which practitioners are asking for ways to address the problems. The stages in this process include:
- the description of problem frequency and correlated variables,
- model building attempting to explain the causal relationship among important variables, and finally
- the evaluation of interventions that take advantage of opportunities for influencing causal variables identified within the proposed causal models.
Of course, the goal of the process is to identify strategies that reduce the social problem (stage 3), but the scientific approach assumes that understanding the problem rather than just trying things is the most effective approach. This process takes time and the rate of progress likely depends on how much attention a problem attracts and the resources that can be allocated to working through the research process. As we have already mentioned, the first stage is the easiest to accomplish. Interventions, in contrast, are time consuming, inconvenient, and place heavy demands on resources. If you are a teacher, think for a bit about this statement. Contrast the demands on you and your class that might result from the administration of a survey about cyberbullying (stage one) with the expectation that you engage your class in a month long series of “lessons” on the consequences of cyberbullying and tactics to counter cyberbullying as your weekly Friday morning team time (stage three). The idea is that researchers spend time understanding the problem (stages one and two) before expecting that classroom time be devoted to an intervention (stage three).