This is one of the most important parts of this course – I want you to work with your group to design a follow-up study using the topic Social Media Filters. Your instructor will present the ideas to the whole class, and you will vote on which one you would like to do for your final class project. As you work on this discussion, try to think about what other variables might influence Filters. Let me give you a few examples, though try to get creative with your group. Look at prior research and see if you can use some of their work as a follow-up to your study. Have fun with it!
Okay, consider some ideas I was thinking about for a follow-up study (Personally, I would recommend the third or fourth idea, as there is a lot of research you could draw on these new independent variables, which would make Paper III much easier to write).
First, we keep on the filtered and unfiltered conditions only (dropping the control condition) Then, we alter gender of the Instagram page. That is, sometimes we have a photo of Katie (with Sarah posting either a filtered or unfiltered photo of Katie as in study one) and sometimes we have a photo of Keith (again, with Sarah posting either a filtered or unfiltered photo of Keith). This would give us four conditions (Female User + Filtered Photo, Female User + Unfiltered Photo, Male User + Filtered Photo, Male User + Unfiltered Photo).
Second, we have others provide positive or negative feedback to Sarah. That is, in some conditions, others call Sarah out for being “mean” in posting a second picture of Katie and in some others call her out for being “supportive” in posting a second picture of Katie. Here again we have four conditions (Positive Feedback + Filtered Photo, Positive Feedback + Unfiltered Photo, Negative Feedback + Filtered Photo, Negative Feedback + Unfiltered Photo). Note that this feedback could also be in the form of likes or emojis (lots of smiley faces versus lots of upset faces).
A third idea might involve having participants first take the perspective of one of the characters before the participant completes survey questions. That is, in some conditions we tell participants “Imagine you are Katie. If you were in her shoes, how would you feel right now?” In other conditions, we ask them to take the perspective of Sarah, telling them, “Imagine you are Sarah. If you were in her shoes, how would you feel right now?” It could be that taking the perspective of one character over the other might exacerbate or dampen participant ratings of each character later in the survey (Taking Katie’s perspective leads to more positive assessments of her than of Sarah, but taking Sarah’s perspective leads to more positive assessments of her than of Katie).
Finally (and the one I like best!) is to offer some participants somewhat of a warning about filters in social media. As you saw (or will see) in the Week 7 lab powerpoint presentation on generating an idea, one way I would recommend doing this is by having some participants first look at celebrity photos with or without a filter component and choose which one they think is more “true to life”. Other participants look at landscapes (which are more neutral) that also have a filter versus unfiltered component (clearly realistic or clearly fake). My thought here is that participants who look at filtered photos of celebrities (actual people!) will be more likely to spot the filters in the later study with Katie and Sarah than people who see filtered landscapes. As such, they will be more forewarned about the nature of filters, which might make them view Katie more positively in all conditions (and Sarah more negatively only in the condition where she shared an unfiltered photo of Katie).
As you can see, there are tons of ways to extend your original study. Work with your classmates to identify the one you like best, and then let your instructor know. Your instructor will take the consensus vote for the whole class and let you know what the study will be for study two. In this discussion, I want EACH of you to do three things.
First, tell me which study you want to do (that is, which second independent variable you find most interesting). You can use one of the ideas above or come up with a unique one on your own. I prefer your own ideas, but if you really like one I mentioned you can use it. You still need to give me two more things, though …
Second, give me a reference in APA format for one peer reviewed research article that has something to do with this second variable. This article does not have to involve Filters at all, but it must have something to do with your second independent variable.
Third, give me a hypothesis for what you expect to occur if your new independent variable is chosen for the class project. What do you predict just for that independent variable? What do you predict in terms of the interaction of that new independent variable with your original high versus low expectation independent variable?
