Research Article Review Worksheet ∙ Cramer 2014
Name: Zach Shimkus
Date: 11/19/14
Article Citation: Nosko. A., Wood. E., Molema. S. (2010). All about me: Disclosure in online social networking
profiles: The case of FACEBOOK. Computers in Human Behavior.
Introduction and Literature Review
What is the purpose of the study?
-To study the amount and levels of disclosure people are using on Facebook and online profiles is the purpose.
What theoretical frameworks/background research inform the study’s purpose?
-Online self-disclosure, and the theories of Social presence and Lack of social context cues play a role as well in
the theoretical frameworks of the purpose.
Methods
Does the study use quantitative or qualitative methods?
-The methods used are qualitative in this study because they
build on concepts of understanding not just data.
Describe the study sample:
-400 profiles of people on Facebook, randomly selected, across
multiple larger networks that interlink participated in the study.
This sample participated in the analysis of disclosure.
Describe the measures:
-analysis of profiles based on a coding checklist that was developed to successful gather the measures for the
analysis.
Describe the study procedures:
-With the coding checklist the evaluators of the study used the checklist to rate the 400 profiles.
Results and Discussion
What are the primary findings of the study?
-63% of the profiles expressed a higher level of disclosure in categories of personally identifying information
such as birth date, gender, and pictures. Also of the 97 items that could be scored in the profiles 26 were
disclosed by at least 50% of the sample.
What are the implications of the findings on the theoretical frameworks/background research discussed in the
introduction?
-implications of the study are for people to better understand how people use disclosure online to send
specific messages. Also the study shows that disclosure in more niche forms of communication is the next
step for the study date to continue.
What are the limitations of the study?
-One of the limitations of the study was that only profiles and wall feeds were analyzed in the consideration of
how much disclosure people use and that people do indeed use other forms of communication through social
media such as direct private messages and direct wall posts that don’t notify the general public. These forms of
disclosure go unaccounted for in the eye of the study.
What ideas/directions for future research are recommended by the study authors?
-Future research is inferred to head in the direction of directing the analysis towards more niche forms of
communication in interpersonal settings yet still through social media. These can be analyzed through different
filters of how people communicate and disclose differently in different settings.