Analysis of gender and use of social media for research: The case of social science lecturers in Federal Universities in South East Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the correlation between the use of social media for research and scholarly research outputs of social sciences  lecturers in federal universities in South East Nigeria. The study was done with a view to finding the extent of use and possible differences  by gender on the use of social media and research outputs among the respondents, the effects of such differences and the  way forward. Three purposes of study, corresponding research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Population of the study  consists of all the academic/teaching staff working in the faculty of the social sciences in all the federal universities in South East Nigeria.  Sample for the study include all the 459 academic staff in the faculty of the social sciences. Instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. Out of the 459 distributed, 354 useful copies ( 77% return rate). Research questions were analyzed using  Multiple Regression while the Hypotheses were tested using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique. Major findings include a significant  relationship between extent the use of social media and research outputs of lectures. Moreover, male lecturers use social media more than their female counterparts wchich increased their chances of having more research outputs. Many challenges on the use of social  media for research were reported based on which recommendations include provision of adequate power supply and internet  connectivity, regular training on the use of social media for research and increased research collaboration between male and female  lecturers.