READ THE ARTICLE
“Declining Majority of Online Adults Say the Internet Has Been Good for Society”
1) Ask: 5-7 sentences
• What was the topic of the research?
• Who was studied in the research?
• What was the research question that was answered by the information in the article?
2) Research: 1-2 sentences
• What research methods were used?
• Summarize the process researchers used to collect data.
3) Learn: 5-7 sentences
• What were the key findings of the research?
• What conclusion was drawn from the research?
4) Do: 5 -7 sentences
• What are two additional follow-•up questions that you have based on this research?
• Why did you choose these follow up questions?
Answer
The topic of the research is the decline in the number of online adults who perceive the
Internet as being good for society. The target audience of the research was online adults. The
research was conducted to assess why the opinions of the population mentioned above group
seemed to be shifting (Literacy Rochester, 2018) . The research question that was answered
by the information in the article was as follows: Why was the number of online adults that
deemed the Internet god for society declining?
The research design used in this research is the qualitative design, evidenced by the
tools used to collect data for the study. Smith (2018) says that the population for the study
was conducted through telephone interviews; the sample population used for the study
consisted of 2,002 individuals. The population studied was from the age of 18 going forward.
The research findings discovered that, as of January, 88% of online adults considered
the Internet as a good thing individually. Also, about 70% of them believed that the Internet
was significant to society as a whole. This figure is a 6% decline from the figure discovered
in a 2014 research study. However, the population that considers the Internet as a bad thing
for the society remained largely unchanged, considering that the portion had just dropped by
1% (Smith, 2018) . The study concluded that the findings were influenced by the ability and
need to access information as well as the ability to connect with others. As such, those that
did not need to access important information through the Internet found no use in it and, thus,
considered it as a bad thing.
The two additional follow-up questions for this research are as follows. One, did the
14% portion of the population that considered the Internet as a bad thing for a society still use
technology in their daily lives? Two, has the decline in the notion that the Internet is a good
thing for society affected the purchase and use of technology within the population? The
reason I chose these follow-up questions is that the global world is advancing in technology as the years go by, and thus, it is almost impossible not to rely on any form of technology
(Literacy Rochester, 2018) . For that reason, it is important to understand why the said portion
of the population considers the Internet as a bad thing despite it being beneficial in certain
aspects of their lives.
References
Literacy Rochester. (2018, May 24). Declining Majority of Online Adults Say the Internet
Has Been Good for Society. Literacy Rochester. Retrieved from
https://literacyrochester.org/declining-majority-of-online-adults-say-the-internet-has-
been-good-for-society/
Smith, A. (2018, April 30). Declining Majority of Online Adults Say the Internet Has Been
Good for Society. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/04/30/declining-majority-of-online-
adults-say-the-internet-has-been-good-for-society/
