Social Media as a Potential Tool in Conflict Resolution

Social Media as a Potential Tool in Conflict Resolution: A Facebook Perspective

Humans are social animals, and will usually dwell together in communities, based on their beliefs, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions which may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Community

In sociology the word community is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. The word can also refer to the national community or global community. Since the advent of the Internet, however, the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gather in an online community and share common interests regardless of physical location

In other words, community indicates a group of people with a common identity other than location. Members often interact regularly. This is the case in a virtual community. A virtual community is a group of people primarily communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically over the Internet, rather than in person. These may be either communities of interest, practice or communion. It usually involves users signing up to become members of a community page/network on the internet. Some examples include the following:

A business community is often an administrative community with possibilities to add CV’s and other business-related information.

An interest community is a based on specialized areas such as art, golf or bird watching.

A general community is wider in its range – opening for its users to create areas, pages and groups.

Where community exists, it is desirable for freedom, trust and security to exist as well. The result is that the community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.

1.3 Social Capital

Social capital is defined by Robert D. Putnam (2000) as “the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity).” Social capital in action can be seen in all sorts of groups, including neighbours keeping an eye on each others’ homes.

Social Capital Theory gained importance through the integration of classical sociological theory with the description of an intangible form of capital. In this way the classical definition of capital has been overcome allowing researchers to tackle issues in a new manner (Ferragina, 2010). See Table 1.

The Classical Theory

The Neo-Capital Theories

Human Capital

Cultural Capital

Social Capital

Theorist

Schulz, Becker

Bourdieu

Lin, Burt, Marsden, Flap, Coleman

Bourdieu, Coleman, Putnam

Explanation

Social relations: Exploitation by the capitalists (bourgeoisie) of the proletariat.

Accumulation of surplus value by labourer

Reproduction of dominant symbols and meanings (values)

Access to and use of resources embedded in social networks

Solidarity and reproduction of group

Capital

A. Part of surplus value between the use value (in consumption market) and the exchange value (in production labour market) of the commodity.

B. Investment in the production and circulation of commodities.

Investment in technical skills and knowledge

Internalization or misrecognition of dominant values

Investment in social networks

Investment in mutual recognition and acknowledgment

Level of Analysis

Structural (Classes)

Individual

Individual / class

Individual

Group/individual

Table 1. Theories of Capital

Through the social capital concept researchers have tried to propose a synthesis between the value contained in the communitarian approaches and individualism professed by the ‘rational choice theory.’ Social capital can only be generated collectively thanks to the presence of communities and social networks, but individuals and groups can use it at the same time. (Ferragina, 2010).

1.4 Social capital and Social Networking Sites

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein (2010) define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” Social media can take many different forms, including internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. According to Kaplan and Haenlein there are six different types of social media namely: Collaborative projects, blogs and microblogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual communities. The rapid growth of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace suggests that individuals are creating a virtual-network consisting of both bonding and bridging social capital. Unlike face-to-face interaction, people can instantly connect with others in a targeted fashion by placing specific parameters with internet use. This means that individuals can selectively connect with others based on ascertained interests, and backgrounds. Facebook is currently the most popular social networking site and touts many advantages to its users including serving as a “social lubricant” for individuals who otherwise have difficulties forming and maintaining both strong and weak ties with others. However, the consensus of research shows that the more people spend online the more in-person contact they have, thus positively enhancing social capital.

1.5 Facebook and Social Networking Sites

Facebook is an online social networking website that lets users interact with each other by sharing information about themselves via personal profiles. Users share their information by “friending” others and allowing them access to their profile. As of October 2010, Facebook is currently considered the largest online social network with over 500 million active users, surpassing other online social networks such as MySpace, Friendster, and Bebo. Originally created by several Harvard students in February 2004, Facebook was modeled after paper pages that Harvard circulated profiling staff, faculty, and students. Facebook originally began as a service only offered to universities, but continually expanded its availability until Facebook allowed global registration in September 2006. Since then, Facebook has grown rapidly, becoming especially popular among younger generations and college students.

Although the premise of Facebook rests with sharing information via an online profile that contains basic information about the user, there have been important additions to the site that have fundamentally changed how users interact with others on Facebook. Facebook introduced the “groups” application in September 2004 as one of its basic features. Groups allows users to share common interests with each other by providing a common space where users can meet others interested in a specific topic, disseminate information about that topic, and have public discussions relevant to that topic. The group application was one of the earliest and still remains one of the most pivotal features contributing to the interactive nature of Facebook. Facebook has also made the wall (where users can post messages on other people’s profiles), notes (where users can share their views with blog-like posts), share (where users can post links to external websites on their profile), and fan pages (where users can show support for a public figure), features enabling users to continually interact with each other. Facebook can be described as a fully established global human community located in the virtual world of the internet.

No matter the location, one of the characteristics of every human community is that sometimes tensions may arise when there are disagreements among members. These tensions could sometimes escalate into conflicts.

1.6 Conflict

Conflict is defined by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as “a serious disagreement or argument; a prolonged armed struggle; and incompatibility between opinions, principles, etc.” Conflict therefore permeates every nook and cranny of human lives. We experience controversy with our loved ones, friends, relatives, and co-workers. We see conflict in movies, television, and theatre. We read about conflict in books, newspapers, and magazines and on the Internet. We are beset by wars that we do or do not want. In government, industry, and politics, we see a mix of cooperation, honesty, trust, and reciprocity, as well as arrogance, corruption, greed, and retaliation. In short, we live in a world were conflict exists all the time. Nevertheless, there is always that inherent desire in every human for peace and agreement. Consequently, as much as conflict may seem to permeate the very existence of human life, several methods have been adopted over time to resolve these conflicts as and when they occur.

1.7 Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a range of methods of eliminating sources of conflict. The term “conflict resolution” is sometimes used interchangeably with the term dispute resolution. Processes of conflict resolution generally include negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. Conflict resolution can sometimes be highly sensitive to culture. For instance, in Western cultural contexts, such as Canada and the United States, successful conflict resolution usually involves fostering communication among disputants, problem solving, and drafting agreements that meet their underlying needs. In these situations, conflict resolvers often talk about finding the win-win solution, or mutually satisfying scenario, for everyone involved (Fisher and Ury, 1981).

In many non-Western cultural contexts, such as Afghanistan, Vietnam, China, and Africa, it is also important to find “win-win” solutions; however, getting to that point can be very different. In these contexts, direct communication between disputants that explicitly addresses the issues at stake in the conflict can be perceived as very rude, making the conflict worse and delaying resolution. Rather, it can make sense to involve religious, tribal or community leaders, communicate difficult truths indirectly through a third party, and make suggestions through stories (Augsberger, 1992).

Intercultural conflicts are often the most difficult to resolve because the expectations of the disputants can be very different, and there is much occasion for misunderstanding. This is where the global and multicultural nature of social media is seen as a common ground for arbitration and conflict resolution. The use of social media or social networks for resolving conflicts has yet to be empirically researched and evaluated from this context however. The proposed research will be the first empirically derived study of how to use social networks for resolving conflicts online through these virtual platforms including Facebook.

1.8 Statement of the Research Problem

As user’s perception of the trustworthiness and veracity of social networks as a collaborative platform increase, so will their reliance on them for conflict resolution. The research problem is one of measuring how effective social network platforms can be in their current technological state for conflict arbitration. The research problem also needs to take into account what features and functionality can be added to social networks to increase their value for conflict mediation and resolution. The attitudes of social networking users as to how they would use Facebook, Twitter and other popular social networking platforms also needs to be researched as well. In short, the real problem is how to modify and enhance social networks including Facebook either through features added by the company or the development community to make this platform suitable for conflict resolution. The added perspective of users’ trust in and willingness to use these platforms for conflict mediation also must be addressed. None of these areas of research have been completed to date, making this research the first if its kind to address these issues.

1.9 Research Goals and Objectives

The following section defines the goal and objectives of the study. This study is proposed to evaluate how Facebook features and functionality can be enhanced to further support conflict mediation. The study also seeks to capture the perceptions of users as to the trustworthiness of social media in general and Facebook specifically in the area of conflict mediation.

1.10 Goal of the study

To determine how effective social media is in general and Facebook specifically is as a conflict mediation platform.

1.11 Objectives of the study

a. To measure how effective Facebook is for resolving conflicts and arbitrating disputes.

b. To define the highest priority feature and platform enhancements to Facebook to ensure greater levels of conflict resolution and arbitration.

c. To measure the attitudes of Facebook users as it relates to their relative levels of trust in this social networking platform when used for conflict mediation and resolution.

1.12 Research questions

The following are the research questions for the proposed research:

a. Is the current Facebook platform, now with the inclusion of Groups, which was launched on October 6, 2010 suitable for conflict arbitration and resolution?

b. If so, what types of conflict arbitration and resolution is the existing Facebook platform best used for? (Built-in process, organizational process, organization policies, conflicts arising from differences in job characteristics, divergent personal views, or ambiguity in roles).

c. What is the current level of trust users have in Facebook as a collaboration platform?

d. Do users trust Facebook in its current configuration as a conflict arbitration and resolution platform? What features need to be added to Facebook to make the platform more adept at conflict resolution?

1.13 Study Assumption(s)

The following are the assumptions of the study:

a. The entire universe of the study are Facebook users who have been at least one year on this social networking platform.

b. All users in the sampling frame will have experienced conflict online or offline and attempted to resolve it either through virtual or traditional means.

c. Facebook Groups will need to be used for segmenting out users and developing effective survey strategies on this social networking platform.

d. The majority of users will have a moderate level of trust in Facebook and will have resolved conflict through it or through other traditional means including telephone and in-person discussions.

1.14 Hypotheses

Null Hypothesis: Facebook, in its current form, is not effective as a collaboration platform for mediating and resolving conflicts in both distance-based and in-person relationships.

Alternative Hypothesis: Facebook is effective as a collaboration platform for mediating and resolving conflicts in both distance-based and in-person relationships.

1.15 Significance and Justification of the Study

To date, no study has attempted to assess the value of Facebook or social networks as a platform for enabling conflict mitigation and resolution. No studies have been completed to date on the attitudes of users to Facebook as a collaborative platform in organizations as well. There are many studies however that indicate online collaborative platforms can be very effective at mitigating and resolving conflicts within virtual teams (Bosch-Sijtsema, 2007).

1.16 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study encompasses social networks in general and Facebook specifically as a conflict arbitration and resolution platform. In addition, this study intends to factor in attitudes and relative level of trust users have in Facebook today and in the future with recommended enhancements as a conflict arbitration and resolution platform.

1.17 Limitations of the study

First, this study will multinational in scope and is designed to capture the opinions of randomly selected groups of Facebook users in various parts of the world. Second, this study will not capture how users today are relying on both online and offline processes and strategies for conflict mitigation and resolution. Third, the study does not capture how Facebook users mature in trust of the platform over time, and what factors cause users to either gain or lose trust in Facebook as a conflict mitigation platform. Fourth, there is no measure of attrition and social networking fatigue and the resulting churn of users on this platform as a result of their expectations not being met or the misuse of Facebook for unethical and illegal activity including fraud. All of these factors are significant to the long-term adoption of Facebook as a conflict arbitration and resolution platform, yet are not specifically measured in this study.

1.18 Organisation of the study

The study will be organized into five chapters. An introduction of the entire study is captured in Chapter one. Chapter two will present a review of the relevant literature. Chapter three will outline a background of the study area and the methods of data collection while an analysis and interpretation of data and results will be covered in Chapter four. The fifth chapter will be devoted to the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

1.19 Conclusion of Introductory session

Studies of the effectiveness of web-based collaboration platforms for virtual team management abound (Topi, 2004) (Grantham and Nichols, 1995). The use of web-based collaboration platforms for managing projects of a global scale has also been proven through case studies and empirically derived research (Paul, Samarah, Seetharaman and Mykytyn Jr., 2005). There is also research to suggest that using web-based platforms for managing interpersonal communication and roles-based projects is effective (Maruping and Agarwal, 2004). All of these studies have as their basis, respondents who are participants in social networks and organizations as well. Yet, in all, there is a significant gap in the research completed to date on using social networking in general and Facebook specifically for conflict resolution.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

The phenomenon of dispute resolution has been revolutionized due to the evolution of information culture to a much broader region which in core essence refers to globalization. Due to this expansion, there is the possibility in contemporary business environment for disagreements to rise amid those members who are linked by any means of internet medium. ODR-Online Dispute Resolution has been instigated through the transition of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methodology which incorporates compromising or customized arbitration, jury procedures, and conciliation (Goodman, 2003; Lodder and Zeleznikow, 2010).

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) facilitates in transferring the prevailing methodologies of ADR from a tangible state to an intangible state in the form of electronic data (Bellucci, et al. 2004; Andrade et al., 2010). Hence, the members have a much more feasible path which they can opt instead of lawsuits, which makes the procedure of pacification exceedingly simpler and effective, ultimately resulting in reduced expenditure outlay and effective time allocation (Klaming et al., 2008). Disagreement pacification through online procedures endeavors to depict ODR as a reliable substitute for prevailing over ADR and lawsuits concerned to this discipline. It can boost the jurisdiction of prevailing ADR methodology by enabling the involved members to augment the problem solving associated with any discrepancy.

H1: If ODR is more consistent in resolving social media conflicts, then the use of ADR may decrease significantly

The expertise required for the creation of an ODR structure entails legitimate data-based structures which grant lawful guidance to the involved members. Along with such guidance it also facilitates in the resolution of a disagreement through the medium of internet (De Vries et al., 2006). According to the preceding statement one can specify ventures which incorporate rule-based structures like that supported by Waterman and Peterson (1980), negotiation bolstering structures (see also Caceres, 2008; Kersten and Noronha, 1999; Thiessen, 1993) those which are founded on heuristics and game theory (Zeleznikow and Bellucci, 2003 as cited in Andrade et al., 2010). In this particular study, the CBR-Case-Based Reasoning methodology is implemented to extract such analogous instances through which members would be endorsed with real life examples of companies which implemented ODR (Aamodt and Plaza 1994).

There is a vigorous implementation of technology in the configuration of second generation ODR structures (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002). It supersedes the functionality of a fundamental ODR structure; from just creating collaboration among members to incorporating forecasting, assessment, tactic description, and inspiration procedures. Along with such capabilities, the configuration of these ODR structures will inculcate related regions of mathematics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy: rational inference, means of tentative interpretation and erudition methodology, neural associations, case-based reasoning, argumentation, intelligent agents as well as the contemporary tools and practices of correspondence through internet medium. Therefore, this evolution of ODR structure can operate as an independent means for the resolution of disagreements (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002).

H2: If ODR is used more regularly to resolve social media conflicts, then the collaboration between the members may consistently increase

To judge this prospect, the katsh/Rifkin stance would be implemented, which entails four corresponding actors: the two disagreed members, an intermediary and lastly the technological medium which facilitates the intermediary in resolving the dissent among the disagreed members (Katsh and Rifkin, 2001) which in this case in the Internet and more specifically social media websites like Facebook. A steady and escalating propensity of the technological medium should also be presumed in the form of a factual electronic intermediary (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002) or a DSS-Decision Support System (Bellucci et al., 2004). The paradigm of this most recent implementation of technological mediums instigates the execution of artificial intelligence practices like fact illustration and case-based reasoning. The fixed comprehension of the reality and the active chain of proceedings are those necessities which should be granted to the intermediary member, who will infer an outline which is lawfully binding and related to the portrayal of the actual proceedings (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002; Andrade et al., 2010).

Only corresponding to details and proceedings is although valuable, but it is not adequate enough for disagreement resolution. Hence, the intermediary should scrupulously comprehend the nature and essence of the disagreement among the dissented members, so that it can execute its exertions in an appropriate manner (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002). It should also anticipate the lawful outcomes of the details and proceedings. Hence, the intermediary’s actions regarding their comprehension of lawful matters as well as their ability to identify the expected legitimate obligations should be one of their top priorities. As mentioned by Brazier and colleagues (2002), do legitimate intermediaries exist?

It is of an immense importance that either the intermediaries have the competence to assess the situation of the dissented members and offer a valuable suggestion to them or not. Furthermore, it should be examined that who amid the dissented member is going to be indicted or vindicated by the official verdict, and based on this criterion which of those members will be disposed to liberate on their assertions (Peruginelli and Chiti, 2002). The aptitude of the intermediary in comprehending the stances of the involved dissented members is of crucial importance in attaining its triumphant collaboration in the resolving procedure.

To achieve this feat the intermediary should possess the attributes of efficiency, superior buttress for disagreement resolution, tenacity, and intelligibility in the methodology “which form the basis for an assessment” and hence facilitate the members being conscious of the probable results of lawful proceedings (Bellucci et al., 2004). This elucidates that the evaluation of substitutes should be conducted by the intermediary for the dissented members in an online disagreement resolution procedure. This type of an online procedure encompasses those attributes which are negligible in the ADR procedure. This online procedure must be dictated by legitimate reckoning and intended towards aligning the belief and dogma to the lawful verdict amidst the dissented members (Muecke, Stranieri and Miller, 2008). However, the presence of an intermediary regardless of such impasses is indispensable to these online procedures for resolving matters.

H3: If ODR, as an intermediary, does not incorporate the opinion of the members, then the overall collaborative and conflict resolution process may fail

Online Dispute Resolution 1.0

Despite an array of diverse circumstances encompassing the encouraging as well as the depressing occurrences of the online disagreement resolution, it has still managed to thrive with the facilitation of the world wide web since the mid of 1990’s. Nowadays, chiefly the major online disagreement resolution industry exists in America, and analogous to that a very minor quantity of service facilitators belongs to European nations or third world countries. All of such facilitators vary in their dealings but are compatible in three attributes: (1) steady policy (2) computerized (3) owned software authorization. These are the contemporary service facilitators and are referred to as ODR 1.0; this notion has been specified to create segregation amid the conventional and forthcoming ODRs. The imminent ODRs will have an unsteady policy, crowd sourced software, and open source structures (Kazman and Chen, 2008) which are being exceedingly implemented to resolve impasses and disagreements (Poblet et al., 2009). The categorization of discerned facilities:

Negotiation. The methodology enables the trade of proposals amid the members on diverse level of automation: fractional (Dispute Manager) and complete (Smart Settle, e-bay PayPal)

Mediation. This course is automated as well at diverse levels. The members can intermingle by means of controlled posts like done in the ODR world or by the assistance of online medium (by conferencing in different mediums like that of MARS). In a few stances, the service facilitator opts for the arbitrator, while in other stances the dissented members opt for an arbitrator by a specified category.

Conciliation, arbitration, recommendation. In these scenarios a suggestion which is in accordance to the prearranged terms by the dissented members, is supplied by the service facilitator who deems this as its obligation. In a few scenarios, the service facilitator abridges and implements the assessment (PayPal). Similarly, in other scenarios, suggestions are measured mechanically (Smart Settle).

Complaints management. Normally, a procedure resembling a mediation structure is implemented to tackle the objection received by the service facilitator.

Ancillary services include guidance for arbitrators and facilitators, psychometric contouring for arbitrators and reliance symbols. Arbitration as well as express facilitation is also supplied if explicitly mentioned.

Online Dispute Resolution 2.0

Scott Dietzen, Eric Knorr greeted Web 2.0 in the month of December and in the year 2003 by stating it a “universal, standard-based integration platform” (Knorr, 2004). Subsequently, within a short span of time after this statement the term “Web 2.0” was again mentioned in an inspirational gathering amid Craig Cline and Dale Dougherty (O’Reilly Media’s one-half creator). O’Reilly Media’s symposium which was entirely based upon Web 2.0 became the sole reason through which it was to become familiarized with the general public. After this publicity, the phenomenon of Web 2.0 became prevalent in concerned fields with a swift pace.

Conceivably as the popularity of Web 2.0 augmented, at that time there was ambiguity faced by many as to the functionality and the limitations of this software.

O’Reilly evaluated this situation and decided to station a brief description of Web 2.0 in a forum which bolstered the overall position of the software; it stated that the Web 2.0 was primarily to assemble a means which interconnects diverse system attributes to become well accustomed as it is used on continuous basis (O’Reilly, 2009). Consequently, the frequent implementation by diverse customers progressively transformed the Web 2.0 into a social World Wide Web-based element. Nowadays World Wide Web is overflowing with a number of websites which are focused on society and community collaboration, the information which is transferred through such websites incorporate pictures, video clips, and many other forms. Nielsen Online states that community-based websites superseded the electronic-mails on the basis of time allocated by the users in February 2009, and this feat has not been achieved before (Nielson, 2009). Formerly, video-based websites superseded the electronic-mails in November 2007 (Nielson, 2009).

There’s a dramatic change seen on user’s profiles as affects caused by social networking. Psyche of number of moms noted elaborated that younger generation especially who are individuals are more keen to be linked with social networking websites and in making or designing blogs which distinct them from the other users (O’Reilly, 2009). As an example the members from the fresh and new generation, a total of 85% use Facebook more often than other aggregate online users (Nielson, 2009). According to the analysis of Nielsen the process of being a mother seemed to be a spectacular variation point which puts the women in position to be in contact through internet in order to seek advices as well as collaborate with other mothers (Nielson, 2009).

H4: If the level of conflicts in social media sites is low, then it may quickly replace other formats of contacts via Internet

With respect to ODR perspective, users up till a certain level from this generation can stay connected. However, from a very different aspect of thinking, involvement in any problem may enable any one to focus his mind to search or to have a control over the conflicting issue through internet, and finally it works resulting in having the solution. Furthermore, this technique becomes more worthy when the substitute option like judicial system seemed to be so expensive or unsuitable for some major areas. For competent default systems, ODR has the capability of becoming a viable option for conflict resolution and this is eventually for the problematic cases that occur due to the correlations that take place online which, for example, the e-bay community witnessed at huge levels. With the assistance of e-commerce which now being a progressive part this could be extended.

The real question with the availability of the opportunities and inclinations of Web 2.0 is that to what extent is it beneficial for the implementation of ODR? According to a perception of Colin Rule in 2006 which asserted that for such new technologies, ODR is one of the major sources for their advantage, as they have made a goal to the main functioned portion of ODR which belongs to communication, collaboration and interactivity (Rule, 2006). Whereas, this warning is also being imposed by him that many ODR contributors trust on expired or obsolete technological platforms because they are unwilling to engage in investments which took time and resources to get their platforms able to work on Web 2.0 principles (Rule, 2006). However, Sanjana Hattotuwa analyzed and highlighted unessential hurdles of ODR covering beyond the curve of Web 2.0 which primarily was that it could potentially stop its presence by itself. This, of course, leads to the ubiquity of wireless and broadband connectivity and its capability of solving the resolution services problems. It also seemed, possibly, that the normal service stipulation of ADR service contributors resembles, in a sense, the automatic online support regarding technology which is now become an integral service part of many huge software firms (Hattotuwa, 2009).

H5: If the development of ODR is proportional to the development of Web 2.0, then communication, collaboration and interactivity between members will increase

Ontomedia’s main function is to give an independent field platform for both conciliation services and enough flexibility of users for the adaptation of number of conciliation sub-fields, methods and cases. Our expectation from Ontomedia is to conform to the principles of Web 2.0 in a way that the more people get interlinked with it the better it becomes. As according to network externalities and effects caused by network, it is referred to as a golden rule tangled with the prior debate made by scholars on the positive externalities in relation with a network.

The Ontomedia Mediation Platform

With respect to the set of operations relating to a broadband population of professionals, conciliators, and clients of conciliation services, the Ontomedia project amalgamate the technologies and ways whose purpose is to provide efficient provision. Open source, Semantic Web technologies and SOA are the three main ideas on which platform development is based (Rule, 2006).

When there is a demand of such characteristics like scalability, equilibrium, protection and performance open source referred as an apparent option. This loom assures the population that ideas can be contributed for improvements and making easier the maintenance, and moreover, that they are a major element of the project (Rule, 2006).

Focusing on the technological aspect, the re-usage of the information being formed by the platform is mainly due to the alteration of Semantic Web Technologies. These technologies can be utilized by humans as well as machines entering the platform in the library being created on ontologies. A known understandable structure is also being created as an outcome of this. Apart from the SOA oriented platform the focus is also towards reusing the components that are developed for the purpose of providing service (Rule, 2006).

It is well elaborated that the citizens from a society can act differently on occasions: i.e. A mediation party can act as a mediator as shown in the figure 2 which highlights maximum level of architecture for the platform. The most prominent factor considered for success relies on the equipment that can bond with Ontomedia. We plan to foresee a new version that can be used for cell phones and smart phones possessing multimedia capabilities (Rule, 2006).

There are five main elements of the architecture: ontology’s library, a repository, an enterprise bus, communication services and management tools

Repository

Despite the fact that this component holds its criticality, the repository is basically a combination of various storage systems with different functionalities: Ontology repository: it makes available the required components that can function to save and access ontologies instances and ontologies locally as well. Multimedia repository: a precise system which is basically responsible in saving and retrieving, with streaming, the customized version of the videoconference setups ? Shared Folders: a traditional data repository well equipped with enhanced permission capabilities (Chappell, 2003).

Ontologies

Ontologies would be proving its significance with respect to framing all the relevant information with entire mediation process and its cases. With this it is self evident that ontologies play its role in sharing the data stored, retrieving it and hence establishing a platform for customization of various mediation scenarios (for instance, consumer mediation and family mediation). MCO (Mediation Core Ontology) has been established to grab the nature of a particular mediation process (Poblet et al., 2009).

Communication Services

This particular platform is generally the first step towards including more and more services to the future customers according to their demand. The services offered initially can easily be located in the figure 3. The software components that are directed towards integration can easily be transformed with this set. Some crucial component that we highlight include: e-mail: the platform will ensure client capabilities along with email servers. — IM: Instant Messaging is a feature that is very much common among internet users, enabling them to communicate round the clock. Therefore the platform will act as an IM server. Shared Calendar: this is to communicate and manage various events or just to display personal availability (Chappell, 2003).

Enterprise Service

ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) basically refers to the integrated distributed systems based upon messages and open standard solutions. The main aspect of this ESB is generally to ensure a system that can interact with multiple technological resources. ESB establishes a base line within SOA and can attribute effectively with components like Service Orchestration. ESB will be a firm segment of the platform for creating ways of discovering, invocation and publishing of the recently added services included in the recent formats of mediation (Chappell, 2003).

Management

Management is all about the numerous services that are directed towards the maintenance of the platform. This Feature is comprised of various tasks, mainly network monitoring, machine monitoring, fault evaluation, fault amendments along with adapting to platform procedures

References

Aamodt, A., Plaza, E. (1994). Case-based reasoning: Foundational issues, methodological variations, and system approaches. AI Communications 7(1), 39 — 59.

Abrahams, B., Zeleznikow, J. (2008) A multi-agent architecture for online dispute resolution services. Expanding the horizons of ODR. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR Workshop 2008), Firenze, Italy, pp. 51 — 61

Andrade, F., Novais, P., Carneiro, D., Zeleznikow, J. And Neves, J. (2010). Using BATNAs and WATNAs in Online Dispute Resolution. JSAI-isAI, LNAI 6284, pp. 5-18.

Bellucci, E., Lodder, A., Zeleznikow, J. (2004) Integrating artificial intelligence, argumentation and game theory to develop an online dispute resolution environment. In: ICTAI 2004-16th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, pp. 749 — 754

Bouma, G.D. (2002). The research process. 4th Ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Brazier, F., Kubbe, O., Oskamp, A., Wijngaards, N. (2002) Are Law abiding agents realistic? In: Proceedings of the workshop on the Law of Electronic Agents (LEA 2002), CIRSFID, pp. 151 — 155. University of Bologna

Caceres, E. (2008) EXPERTIUS: A Mexican Judicial Decision-Support System in the Field of Family law. In: Francesconi, E.B.E., Sartor, G., Tiscornia, D. (eds.) Legal Knowledge and Information Systems, pp. 78 — 87. IOS Press, Amsterdam

Chappell, D.A. (2011) Enterprise Service Bus. O’Reilly Media, Sebastopol (June 2004) 20. Garcia-Castro, R., et al.: D1.2.5 Architecture of the Semantic Web Framework v2. Technical Report. Knowledge Web Network of Excellence (December 2007) 21. Guha, R., McCool, R., Miller, E.: Semantic Search. In: The Twelfth International World Wide Web Conference, Budapest, Hungary (March 13, 2011)

De Vries, B.R., Leenes, R., Zeleznikow, J. (2005) Fundamentals of providing negotiation support online: the need for developping BATNAs. In: Proceedings of the Second International ODR Workshop, Tilburg, pp. 59 — 67. Wolf Legal Publishers

Goodman, J.W. (2003) The pros and cons of online dispute resolution: an assessment of cyber mediation websites. Duke Law and Technology Review

Hattotuwa, S. (2011) The Future of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR): Technologies to Keep an Eye On. In: Crystal Ball Session at the 2008 Online Dispute Resolution Forum (June 22, 2008), http://ict4peace.wordpress.com/2008/06 / (accessed March 13, 2011)

Katsh, E., Rifkin, J. (2001) Online dispute resolution — resolving conflicts in cyberspace. Jossey-Bass Wiley Company, San Francisco

Kazman, R., Chen, H.-M. (2009) The Metropolis Model. A New Logic for Development of Crowsourced Systems. Communications of the ACM 52(7), 76 — 84

Kersten, G., Noronha, S. (1999) Negotiation via the World Wide Web: A Cross-cultural Study of Decision Making. Group Decision and Negotiation 8, 251 — 279

Klaming, L., Van Veenen, J., Leenes, R. (2008) I want the opposite of what you want: summary of a study on the reduction of fixed-pie perceptions in online negotiations. In: Expanding the horizons of ODR, Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR Workshop 2008), Firenze, Italy, pp. 84 — 94

Knorr, E. (2011) 2004 – The Year of Web Services. IT magazine CIO, 90 (December 2003), http://books.google.com/books?id=1QwAAAAAMBAJ&printsec=front cover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0_0#PPA90,M1 (accessed March 13, 2011)

Lodder, A., Zeleznikow, J. (2010) Enhanced Dispute Resolution through the use of Information Technology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Muecke, N., Stranieri, A., Miller, C. (2008) The integration of online dispute resolution and decision support systems. In: Expanding the horizons of ODR, Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR Workshop 2008), Firenze, Italy, pp. 62 — 72

Nielsen Online, (2011) The global online media landscape: Identifying opportunities in a challenging market (April 2009), http://nielsen-online.com/emc/0904_report / nielsen-online-global-lanscapefinal1.pdf (accessed March 13, 2011)

O’Reilly, T. (2011) Web 2.0 Compact Definition: Trying Again (2006), http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/12 / web-20-compact.html (accessed March 13, 2011)

Peruginelli, G., Chiti, G. (2002) Artificial Intelligence in alternative dispute resolution. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on the law of electronic agents — LEA

Poblet, M., Casellas, N., Torralba, S., Casanovas, P. (2009) Modeling Expert Knowledge in the Mediation Domain: A Mediation Core Ontology. In: Casellas, N., et al. (eds.) LOAIT 2009, 3rd Workshop on Legal Ontologies and Artificial Intelligence Techniques joint with 2nd Workshop on Semantic Processing of Legal Texts, Barcelona. IDT Series, vol. 2

Poblet, M., Noriega, P., Lopez de Toro, C., Suquet, J. (2009) ODR y mediacion en linea: estado del arte. In: Casanovas, P., Magre, J., Diaz, L., Poblet, M. (eds.) Materiales para el Libro Blanco de la Mediacion en Cataluna, pp. 155 — 164. Generalitat de Catalunya, Centre d’Estudis Juridics I Formacio Especialitzada, Barcelona

Rule, C. (2006) “ODR and Web 2.0,” http://www.odr.info/colin/smu/odr%20and%20web%202.doc (accessed March 13, 2011)

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. And Thornhill, A (2003). Research methods for business students. 3rd Ed. London: Prentice Hall.

Thiessen, E.M. (1993) ICANS: An Interactive Computer-Assisted Multi-party Negotiation Support System. PhD Dissertation, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Trochim, W. (2006). The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2nd Edition. Cincinnati, OH: Atomic Dog Publishing.

Waterman, D.A., Peterson, M. (1980) Rule-based models of legal expertise. In: The Proceedings of the First National Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Stanford University, Stanford

Zeleznikow, J., Bellucci, E. (2003) Family_Winner: integrating game theory and heuristics to provide negotiation support. In: Proceedings of Sixteenth International Conference on Legal Knowledge-Based System, pp. 21 — 30

Appendix I

Question Number

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Online Dispute Resolution

Use Of ADR

Online Dispute Resolution

Collaboration Between Members

Online Dispute Resolution

Incorporating the opinion of the members

Frequency of conflict resolution

Use of other online formats

Development Of ODR

Communication, collaboration and interactivity between members will increase

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

Plagiarism free papers
Timely delivery
Any deadline
Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
Subject-relevant academic writer
Adherence to paper instructions
Ability to tackle bulk assignments
Reasonable prices
24/7 Customer Support
Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment Help Service Works

1. Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2. Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3. Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4. Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!

Social Media as a Potential Tool in Conflict Resolution

Social Media as a Potential Tool in Conflict Resolution: A Facebook Perspective

Community

A business community is often an administrative community with possibilities to add CV’s and other business-related information.

An interest community is a based on specialized areas such as art, golf or bird watching.

A general community is wider in its range – opening for its users to create areas, pages and groups.

1.3 Social Capital

The Classical Theory

The Neo-Capital Theories

Human Capital

Cultural Capital

Social Capital

Theorist

Schulz, Becker

Bourdieu

Lin, Burt, Marsden, Flap, Coleman

Bourdieu, Coleman, Putnam

Explanation

Social relations: Exploitation by the capitalists (bourgeoisie) of the proletariat.

Accumulation of surplus value by labourer

Reproduction of dominant symbols and meanings (values)

Access to and use of resources embedded in social networks

Solidarity and reproduction of group

Capital

A. Part of surplus value between the use value (in consumption market) and the exchange value (in production labour market) of the commodity.

B. Investment in the production and circulation of commodities.

Investment in technical skills and knowledge

Internalization or misrecognition of dominant values

Investment in social networks

Investment in mutual recognition and acknowledgment

Level of Analysis

Structural (Classes)

Individual

Individual / class

Individual

Group/individual

Table 1. Theories of Capital

1.4 Social capital and Social Networking Sites

1.5 Facebook and Social Networking Sites

1.6 Conflict

1.7 Conflict Resolution

1.8 Statement of the Research Problem

1.9 Research Goals and Objectives

1.10 Goal of the study

To determine how effective social media is in general and Facebook specifically is as a conflict mediation platform.

1.11 Objectives of the study

a. To measure how effective Facebook is for resolving conflicts and arbitrating disputes.

b. To define the highest priority feature and platform enhancements to Facebook to ensure greater levels of conflict resolution and arbitration.

c. To measure the attitudes of Facebook users as it relates to their relative levels of trust in this social networking platform when used for conflict mediation and resolution.

1.12 Research questions

The following are the research questions for the proposed research:

a. Is the current Facebook platform, now with the inclusion of Groups, which was launched on October 6, 2010 suitable for conflict arbitration and resolution?

c. What is the current level of trust users have in Facebook as a collaboration platform?

1.13 Study Assumption(s)

The following are the assumptions of the study:

a. The entire universe of the study are Facebook users who have been at least one year on this social networking platform.

b. All users in the sampling frame will have experienced conflict online or offline and attempted to resolve it either through virtual or traditional means.

c. Facebook Groups will need to be used for segmenting out users and developing effective survey strategies on this social networking platform.

d. The majority of users will have a moderate level of trust in Facebook and will have resolved conflict through it or through other traditional means including telephone and in-person discussions.

1.14 Hypotheses

Null Hypothesis: Facebook, in its current form, is not effective as a collaboration platform for mediating and resolving conflicts in both distance-based and in-person relationships.

Alternative Hypothesis: Facebook is effective as a collaboration platform for mediating and resolving conflicts in both distance-based and in-person relationships.

1.15 Significance and Justification of the Study

1.16 Scope of the Study

1.17 Limitations of the study

1.18 Organisation of the study

1.19 Conclusion of Introductory session

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

H1: If ODR is more consistent in resolving social media conflicts, then the use of ADR may decrease significantly

H2: If ODR is used more regularly to resolve social media conflicts, then the collaboration between the members may consistently increase

H3: If ODR, as an intermediary, does not incorporate the opinion of the members, then the overall collaborative and conflict resolution process may fail

Online Dispute Resolution 1.0

Negotiation. The methodology enables the trade of proposals amid the members on diverse level of automation: fractional (Dispute Manager) and complete (Smart Settle, e-bay PayPal)

Complaints management. Normally, a procedure resembling a mediation structure is implemented to tackle the objection received by the service facilitator.

Online Dispute Resolution 2.0

Conceivably as the popularity of Web 2.0 augmented, at that time there was ambiguity faced by many as to the functionality and the limitations of this software.

H4: If the level of conflicts in social media sites is low, then it may quickly replace other formats of contacts via Internet

H5: If the development of ODR is proportional to the development of Web 2.0, then communication, collaboration and interactivity between members will increase

The Ontomedia Mediation Platform

There are five main elements of the architecture: ontology’s library, a repository, an enterprise bus, communication services and management tools

Repository

Ontologies

Communication Services

Enterprise Service

Management

Functionalities of the Ontomedia Platform: The Mediator Side

The residents can perceive Ontomedia as a point of reference for the purpose of solving a dispute. With the help of Ontomedia they will indulge in providing some advice, retrieve information and share the experiences and suggest possible options with respect to decisions on starting a mediation process (Chappell, 2003).

Keeping in perspective the main objective behind Ontomedia is to serve the citizens in an efficient, quick and in a cheap manner. A two sided platform is well furnished to meet the demands of the mediators (i.e. To interact with different members to keep an eye on the mediation process). Ontomedia thus would be ensuring a set of functions for customers that are as mediators distinguished into five sets: Communication and management, information, repository and training procedures (Chappell, 2003).

Management is the functionalities’ last group. All the interaction that is going on in between mediator and parties, which forms a part of mediation process, comes under the scope of management. This is also referred to as core mediation process. There exist two main categories, keeping in view that functionalities are provided in the platform of mediation process – before, during, or after it. They are (1) communication being enabled by services, such as instant messaging, shared folders, e-mail, video conference, audio conference, and (2) mediator is helped by those services that record registry of events and create post-session diagnostics (Chappell, 2003).

Chapter 3: Methodology

The research process

This section serves two main purposes; firstly it will present the methodology being used to carry out this study; secondly, justifications for choosing this methodology will be given. This section is divided into the following eight subsections;

1. Research Philosophy

2. Research approach;

3. Research Strategy;

4. Research horizons and research type;

5. Data collection methods;

6. Sample Description;

7. Data Quality Issues; and,

8. Data Analysis.

The objective of dividing the methodology section into subsections is to present issues and challenges that have got to be addressed in order for this research to become practical, feasible and capable of being carried out. Furthermore, by dividing this section into subsections the general aims of this research can be converted into a practical and investigative topic as described in the “research process onion” model introduced by Saunders et al. (2003, p.83) (Figure 4).

FIGURE 1:

Research Process Onion (Saunders et al., 2003, p.83)Research Approach

The study’s methodology will be based on a quantitative approach. Opinion surveys will be widely used, with statistics such as the proportion of respondents in favour of a position commonly reported. In the opinion surveys, respondents will be asked a set of structured questions and their responses will be tabulated and analysed. This study will focus on the universe of Facebook users who use the social networking platform for both personal and professional communication and collaboration. Sampling will also focus interest on organizations with the prerequisite that the respondents are members of virtual teams. This is necessary as previous studies indicate that previous-generation collaborative platforms including Web portals and shared applications can be effectively used for conflict mitigation and resolution (Kankanhalli, Tan and Wei, 2007).

The study will be organized so that secondary research serves as the foundation of the dissertation, creating a knowledgebase on which to draw from for all research activity. Primary research will be accomplished online through the use of web-based surveys. Analysis of survey data will be completed using statistical analysis software, and the results and recommendations will be supported both by research findings and secondary research in the literature review.

Selection of the study communities

Facebook has the ability to sort on interests and also assign groups, and a comparable social networking site LinkedIn has many professional groups already in place. The goal of this methodology is to evaluate groups on both social networking platforms and choose one that is most representative of professions that have virtual team members and who also require conflict arbitration and resolution online. Examples of professional groups in this area include project management team members, regional and district sales team members and business development professionals. Using these business groups also will also enable greater research accuracy into the forms of conflict most often found and caused by organizational structures.

Research Philosophy

Primarily, a research process falls into three main schools of thought. The first is interpretive; the second is positivist and the third is realist (Saunders et al., 2003). The complexity of the topic at hand is far too delicate and intricate to be generalized into universal laws; therefore, this study will adopt an interpretive premise instead of a positivist or a realist. Researchers argue that in order to understand a particular situation or a phenomenon, it is imperative that studiers thoroughly review the underlying reality of that situation/phenomenon. The aim of the research is to explore the subjective reality of the current situation with regards to the topic at hand and its overall impact. This is being done to understand the relationship between the variables involved, dependent and independent and its impact from a broader perspective taking into account the process of how the variables interplay to affect performance (Saunders et al., 2003).

It can be argued that the topic being covered here can be considered to exist independent of their thought and belief structures. According to Saunders (2003) such independent and large-scale social forces exist in every situation and their presence sometimes cannot be comprehensively understood by the subjects.

Research design and approach

In the field of logic, the deductive and the inductive methods are considered as two of the main approaches of reasoning (Trochim, 2006).

The deductive approach to reasoning is characterized by a top down method. It starts off from a wider view and moves towards a niche or a specific area. For instance, the researchers might bring deductive reasoning into practice by coming up with a general idea about a certain field of their interest and then gradually focusing onto its finer nuances by breaking the theory down into a number of hypotheses that can be experimented upon. Later on, various observations and findings can be gathered to relate to the working hypotheses at hand, which further narrows down the method to a specific aspect. Eventually, this method enables the researches to experiment upon the hypothesis with a particular set of data which results in either the validation of the original idea or helps in proving the theory wrong (Trochim, 2006).

On the other hand, the inductive approach to reasoning functions in quite a different way. It starts from the specifics and goes on to the wider conceptualizations and ideas. This will be adopted for the study at hand. As the deductive reasoning is known as the top down approach, the inductive approach is accordingly referred to as the bottom up method. This bottom up method initially entails the focusing of certain findings and observations and then moving up to a bigger and broader picture, identifying trends and consistencies, developing working theories that can be tested and eventually ending with a meaningful conclusion (Trochim, 2006).

While carrying out research, it can be observed that both of these ways have quite a varied approach towards reasoning. Inherently and by default, the inductive method of reasoning is not close ended and lays emphasis on discovery and identifying patterns especially in the initiation stage. However, the deductive method of reasoning moves towards a narrower approach and is related to the experimentation or the investigation of the hypothesis. Certain studies, because of some characteristics may appear to employ only deductive reasoning (for instance, a test developed to check the conceptualized impacts of a certain treatment on a particular result) but in actuality may center around the simultaneous use of both methods of reasoning in the specified project (Trochim, 2006).

In reality, it is probably not very challenging to observe that the researchers can arrange the two graphs of reasoning and incorporate it into a single circular graph that consistently works its way from general ideas to specific observations and then goes back up to the general theories. Even if the projects contain a lot of limitations and constraints, the researchers might still be able to conclude some definite trends and patterns in the information that can be eventually them in developing up newer theories (Trochim, 2006).

Research Strategy

The main components of a research strategy format, according to Saunders et al. (2003), are explaining the method that will used in the research which will enable the researcher to attain his aims, describing all the backup and resources that will be utilized in the collection of the required information as well as the shortcomings and hurdles during the collection process.

The most fruitful method to conduct this form of research will most likely be the survey method. The survey method has, over the years, proven itself to be one of the most efficient methods of calculations for any social research. It helps the researcher formulate, distribute and/or ask relevant questions from the target audience or sample. It allows the researcher to choose from two different and all-encompassing methods: 1) interviews and 2) questionnaires (Trochim, 2006). Trochim (2006), in his study explains that a survey has the flexibility to range from a short-scaled simple written response to an all-inclusive face-to-face profound interview which is what makes the survey such an important fragment of research. The standardized format of questionnaire will be most useful for this form of research.

Research Horizon and timeline

When it comes to the design of any research, time typically plays the part of an essential component, leading the author to differential between research studies that are cross sectional from the ones that are longitudinal. A research study that is defined as cross sectional is a study that happens at a certain time. In practice, the author of the study is observing a certain portion of the research study at a certain time. Meanwhile, a longitudinal research study entails observing a part of a study over a certain period of time and the researcher will make use of two or more waves of gauging (Trochim, 2006). The former will be used for this study

Repeated measures and time series is another form of differentiation that is made in the realm of longitudinal designs. Typically there is no widely approved method for differentiating among the repeated measures and time series. However, if two or only a few waves of measuring can be identified in the study, it is generally taken to be a repeated measures design. If the waves of measuring are considerably more over a period of time, then this is taken under the time series design (Trochim, 2006).

It may be difficult to quantify many, however as it may mean different numbers to different researchers. Typically, more than twenty waves of measuring are considered to be a time series. The method of identifying this is usually with the analysis approaches the researchers employ. For an analysis that revolves around a time series, the researchers are required to have more than twenty or twenty observations. For an analysis of repeated measures, such as the ANOVA, a number considerably less than twenty for the waves of measuring would do (Trochim, 2006).

Data Collection

Data collection will be accomplished through a Web-based survey sent through e-mail to respondents and also through various Facebook groups formed by the researcher. Primary research will be completed using on online web survey created using Zoomerang or an equivalent online program. A series of online databases including ABI/Inform, EBSCO Host, Lexus/Nexus and Mergent will be used to complete the secondary research including the literature review.

Typically, the surveys can take up one of these two forms: a questionnaire or an interview. The former usually revolves around a written approach which the respondent employs in answering to the “questions” given to him in the survey while interviews are to be carried out not by the respondent but by the interviewer, as opposed to a questionnaire. In some scenarios, it can be difficult to differentiate between the two categories of surveys (Trochim, 2006).

For example, a number of people harbor the opinion that questionnaires revolve around brief, close ended queries while open ended and broad questions are put up in interviews. However, in reality open ended questions might be present in questionnaires as well even if their length may still be shorter when compared to the format in interviews and interviews might also entail a set of close ended questions, even if it may not solely rely on it for the survey (Trochim, 2006).

The past ten years have seen a dramatic change in the realm of survey research. The surveys that are carried out through a telephone have become automated and employ dialing methods that select numbers randomly. Computer-mediated kiosks are present in public places that facilitates individual in requiring an input. Also, in the form of focus group processes, an entirely new kind of group interview has emerged. Moreover, service delivery as a concept is neatly incorporated with the idea of survey research (Trochim, 2006).

The hotel room a person stays in asks him to fill out a survey about the service provided. Same is the case in a restaurant when a waiter brings in a comment card and asks a person to fill it out as a survey. Surveys are also present on websites and can revolve around a number of areas of interest. Considering that modern advancements and progress in technology have impacted and modified the use of research methods, the major forms of questionnaires and interviews are described and discussed in some detail below. Also, the comparative benefits and drawbacks of these various forms of surveys will also be discussed (Trochim, 2006).

Questionnaire

Whenever a questionnaire is mentioned, individuals are likely to instinctively picture the mail survey in their minds as most of the people have, at some point in their lives, been asked to address a questionnaire received through a mail. Quite a number of advantages exist for surveys that are sent through mail. Firstly, they are not as costly to the person wanting to carry out the survey. Besides, the same questionnaire can be photocopied and be sent to a number of individuals in the exact form. Also, it facilitates the respondent in addressing the questionnaire whenever they feel convenient to do so, which may ultimately facilitate them in providing meaningful responses. However, certain disadvantages are present too for these types of questionnaire. Mainly the drawbacks are concerned with the dismal response rates from these surveys. Also, it does not provide the ideal medium for requiring long and descriptive answers (Trochim, 2006).

Another category is of the questionnaire that is administered by the group. A representative sample of the respondents is requested to address a series of well organized questions. Conventionally, questionnaires were carried out in the context of groups on account of ease and convenience. This facilitated the researcher in obtaining a higher rate of response, as whoever was present in a group at a certain point in time would be given a survey and asked to fill it out (Trochim, 2006).

If the respondents had any queries or felt that a question was ambiguous they could ask the researcher or the person administering the survey for further description. Also in organizational contexts, it was established that carrying out a survey was considerably easy to administer (Trochim, 2006).

There are marked differences among a questionnaire that is administered by a group and a group interview. The group controlled survey entails every individual completing the questionnaire at a certain place, usually where the surveys are handed out. The person fills out the questionnaire. However, the focus group or the group interview revolves around the interviewer facilitating the survey. It is interactive with the respondent addressing queries and communicating and providing feedback at the same time. These interviews might also be recorded for further reference (Trochim, 2006).

Household drop-off survey is a lesser known form of a questionnaire. This method entails a researcher travelling to a person’s house or his workplace and delivering the questionnaire to the respective people. After it is delivered, the respondents may be asked to mail the completed form back or it is picked up by the same person who delivered it. This method of carrying out a survey endeavors to combine the benefits of the mail survey with the advantages of carrying out a group administered questionnaire (Trochim, 2006).

As with the mail survey, the person replying to the survey can fill out the survey at his own convenience and privacy and like with the group monitored survey, the respondent gets to communicate with the interviewer and not just fill out a survey without interacting or being introduced to the interviewer. This way, the person filling out the questionnaire can seek clarifications and assistance on problematic areas of the survey while encourages more people to fill out the questionnaire, increasing the response rate of the survey (Trochim, 2006).

Sampling

Probability and non-probability sampling are the two forms of sampling methods. The former is related to any sampling means that employs a certain type of random selection or a selection that exposes each observation to an equal chance of being chosen. Non-probability sampling, meanwhile, does not revolve around random selection of units. However, this does not necessarily imply that the information gathered from non-probability samples do not reflect the characteristics of the entire data. Nevertheless, it does highlight that these samples cannot rely upon the logic and premise of probability theory (Trochim, 2006).

The probability sample allows the research to develop confidence intervals and to present the information appropriately, something which is hard to achieve through a non-probabilistic approach. Indeed, the probabilistic method is widely preferred over the rest of the sampling as they are considered more correct and representative of the population. Some situations may warrant the use of non-probabilistic sampling, however (Trochim, 2006).

Non-probability sampling can be broken down into two forms, known as accidental or purposive. Many of the sampling ways are inherently purposive as they typically address the sampling issue with a certain strategy. Purposive expert sampling is considered when it is taken to be one of the appropriate ways of identifying the opinions of experts. The benefit of using this type of sampling is that the experts provide a support or substance to the conclusions reached. The drawback is that the experts can be at a fault themselves (Trochim, 2006).

With the sampling frame set (i.e. probability sampling) as individual and members of organizations who use Facebook for personal and professional communication and collaboration, a survey will be developed to accomplish the following goals. First, the attitudes of respondents to Facebook as a viable platform for conflict mitigation and resolution will be assessed. Second, their assessment of existing functionality of Facebook for conflict mitigation and resolution will be assessed. Third, a prioritization of enhancements to the Facebook platform will also be determined through Likert-scale based analysis of potential enhancements. This third area of study will continue on what features are needed to generate greater levels of accountability, trust and transparency so this platform can be more effectively used for conflict mitigation and resolution.

Fourth, the current level of trust in the Facebook platform for conflict mitigation and the anticipated level of trust based on enhancements to the platform will also be assessed. All of these aspects of the study will be integrated into a model to explain how the extent of trust in Facebook in its current state and with requested enhancements will lead to greater use for conflict mitigation and resolution. It is anticipated that this equilibrium-based model will balance existing perceptions and trust in Facebook relative to its potential for greater trust based on enhancements. The combining of respondents’ current levels of trust in Facebook and anticipated higher levels based on recommended enhancements and feature upgrades will serve as the foundation of the proposed model. The methodology will validate the connection points through the model and the extent to which they are agile and loose or rigid and formally defined based on user’s perceptions and preferences.

The target population would mostly be working professionals in careers that require intensive use of online collaboration tools, and who require conflict arbitration and resolution on occasion in their jobs. Sample size is set to 500 on Facebook.

Data Quality Issues — validity and reliability

The intent of the survey for academic purposes will be disclosed in the cover letter to avoid sampling bias and also to increase its response rate. Data will also be masked from respondent name to ensure confidentiality of respondents, and attitudinal data will be collected using Likert-based scales in an effort to generate interval-level data for use in the analysis.

With the intention of reducing the probability of getting inaccurate answers Saunders et al. (2003) proposes researchers to give specific consideration to both reliability and validity of the research design of the study.

Reliability deals with the probability of different researches coming to the same conclusion when calculating with identical devices. In reality, concerns of reliability signify dilemmas and problems in the precision as well as the correctness of the measuring/calculating device (Bouma, 2000).

Adhering to this perception, Saunders et al. (2003) specifies the concerns of biases which can be associated with reliability and are divided into two kinds. The first kind is the interviewer prejudice where “the comments, tone or non-verbal behaviour of the interviewer create bias in the way that interviewees respond to the questions being asked” (Saunders et al., 2003, p.252). In this research study, specific attention will be given to the designing and planning of the interview questions so that they will not inflict the researcher’s personal beliefs and points-of-views. In addition to that, the researcher will make an earnest effort to build the trust of the interviewees so as to evade the rise of doubts in relation to both validity and reliability of the collected data.

Data Analysis

Questionnaire

The primary research obtained from surveys will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) in addition to Microsoft Excel. Fundamental statistics including joint frequency distributions and cross-tabulations will be used for the analysis, in addition to factor analysis to determine market segments based on attitudinal data.

In other choices, to gauge the dependence amongst certain variables, regression analysis can be employed. It assists in revealing the casual affect of one variable on the other. It is used to measure the importance of the connection between variables, that is, the extent of assurance that the actual relationship is near to the estimated relationship (Trochim, 2006).

Limitations to the study

The limitations to this study, as was stated before, are that it will not capture how users are relying on both online and offline processes and strategies for conflict mitigation and resolution. There is also the limitation of this study not capturing the current processes and their effectiveness for conflict mitigation and resolution as well.

Chapter 4 and 5: Results and Discussion

COLLABORATION * INCORPORATING Crosstabulation

Count

INCORPORATING

Total

da neutral a COLLABORATION

neutral

Total

COLLABORATION * FORMATS Crosstabulation

Count

FORMATS

Total

sda da neutral a COLLABORATION

neutral

Total

COMMUNICATION * INCORPORATING Crosstabulation

Count

INCORPORATING

Total

da neutral a COMMUNICATION

sda

neutral

Total

COMMUNICATION * FORMATS Crosstabulation

Count

FORMATS

Total

sda da neutral a COMMUNICATION

sda

neutral

Total

ADR * INCORPORATING Crosstabulation

Count

INCORPORATING

Total

da neutral a ADR

sda

neutral

Total

ADR * FORMATS Crosstabulation

Count

FORMATS

Total

sda da neutral a ADR

sda

neutral

Total

Rotated Component Matrixa

Component

ADR

.778

.369

COLLABORATION

.799

-.147

INCORPORATING

.609

.075

FORMATS

.441

.628

COMMUNICATION

-.114

.841

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 3 iterations.

KMO and Bartlett’s Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.

.609

Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity

Approx. Chi-Square

39.025

Sig.

.000

Component

Initial Eigenvalues

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

Total

% of Variance

Cumulative %

Total

% of Variance

Cumulative %

1.741

43.517

1.741

43.517

1.017

25.432

68.949

1.017

25.432

68.949

.712

17.798

86.746

.530

13.254

Rotated Component Matrixa

Component

ADR

.799

.112

COLLABORATION

.796

-.210

INCORPORATING

.664

.234

COMMUNICATION

.055

.965

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 3 iterations.

Interpretation of results

a) Factor 4 i.e format has been removed because in first rotation matrix its values for component 1 and 2 are both greater than 0.3.

b) Small value of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy & p-value of Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity show that factors are highly correlated

c) For first 2 components’ Eigen values are greater than 1 therefore first 2 components should be extracted

d) Also cumulative percentage of variance is greater than 60% therefore major role of variation in the data is played by these 2 components

e) The scree plot also shows that first 2 components on steep slope contribute more to the solution rather than other components.

f) Rotated components matrix shows that first three factors are loading in component 1 i.e have same attributes and last factor is loading in component 2 i.e has different attribute from others.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper focused on the use of social media as a potential tool for conflict resolution. This particular paper chose a specific format of social media i.e. social networking website — Facebook. The paper discussed how the phenomenon of dispute resolution has evolved over the last few years and incorporates much more innovative and creative outlets for businesses to resolve conflicts. This of course has also led to disagreements and difference of opinions on what is the best structure for conflict resolution. The paper highlights the two most popular format of conflict resolution — ADR and ODR-Online Dispute Resolution is a successor of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) structure which incorporates compromising or customized arbitration, jury procedures, and conciliation (Goodman, 2003; Lodder and Zeleznikow, 2010). The paper shows a higher preference and performance quality to resolve conflicts with the use of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) because it helps in transferring the relevant structures, ideas and methodologies used in ADR to be used in both tangible and intangible states (Bellucci, et al. 2004; Andrade et al., 2010). This is shown in the paper to be a huge factor for preference as everything follows a standard format and conflicts can identified and solved in such a format. The paper used the questionnaire to collect all relevant data needed to prove or refute the hypothesis thus formed as well as answer the research questions. The interpretation and discussion of the results were also discussed.