AWARENESS OF TEENAGERS IN IDENTIFYING RELIABLE

INFORMATION ON VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN

THE BARANGAY MABILBILA SUR,SANTA,ILOCOS SUR

A Research Proposal
Presented to Mr.Ismael Rivera
Professor of College of Arts and Sciences
Univesity of Northern Philippines
Vigan City,Ilocos Sur

In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Presented By:
Girlie A.Obrero

2021-2022

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 DEDICATION

I devote myself to my work. to

the All-Powerful God,

For his gift of knowledge and wisdom,

And who gives me hope in accomplishing this research and

led me down the right path to success.

I dedicate this piece of work to

my incomparable parents:

for their undying love, care, and encouragement that I can finish this study

Mr. Archie Matinez, our adviser in PolScie 3B, for

teaching me that even the largest tasks can be

accomplished if it is done one step at a time.

To my family and friends from

Inside and outside the campus, for

their moral and spiritual support.

To my late friend Aaron,

who inspired me to believe that all of my hardships would be worthwhile;

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

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 ACKNOLEDGEMENT

In the accomplishment of work,one cannot do it simply by himself.One really needs

assistance from people who are willing to contribute their expertise and extra help on
how to go through and become successful on it.

For the excellent accomplishment and successful completion of this manuscript, the
researcher expresses her sincerest gratitude to those who imparted her knowledge,
assistance, and guidance. Everything was made possible by their unwavering support
for the completion of this research.The following are indeed appreciated
wholeheartedly for their immense contribution to the achievement of this study:

Glory to God, who is always there to give me hope, wisdom, strength, and vision to
pursue this study:

Professor Ismael Cenal Rivera, my adviser, for his guidance and brilliant ideas
which motivated me to finish my studies;

Professor Archie Martinez,for his never-ending support in making this study

accomplish;

Mrs.Konchitin Leyda Silao, I thank her for professional criticism, suggestions, and
patience,which substantially improved this study;

Mr.Godofredo Borje, for allowing me to conduct a survey in our community,

To my respondents,for sharing their time and cooperation in answering the

questionaire, regardless of how busy they are, for without their participation, this study
would not be completed;

For my ever-loving parents,and other instructors, for their love, guidance,

understanding, financial and emotional support, for without them, this research would
not be a success.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Title Page ………………………………………………………………………… 1
Dedication………………………………………………………………………… 2
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………3

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….4
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….5

CHAPTER 1-THE PROBLEM

Rationale…………………………………………………………………………...6-8
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………... 9-10
Scope and Delimitation…………………………………………………………... 11
Significance of the Study………………………………………………………….12
Operational Definition of Terms………………………………………………….12
Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………13 -14
Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………15-16

CHAPTER II- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design…………………………………………………………………….17
Population and Sample…………………………………………………………….17
Data Gathering Instrument………………………………………………………..17
Data Gathering Procedure…………………………………………………………18
Statistical Treatment……………………………………………………………….19
Bibliography…….…………………………………………………………….…….20

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 ABSTRACT

Due to increasing number of social networking sites,some people suggested that

they are confuse which specific app is more reliable in gathering informations.Filipinos
are very prone in using different kinds of application for academic,dating and for jobs
purposes.

This study aimed to determine the awareness of teenagers in choosing reliable

information on various social networking sites.Specifically,it sought to determine the
respondents' personal information.The subjecs of this will be youth,age ranging to 16-
19 residing at Mabilbila Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur

The researcher will employ descriptive method of research. The focus is not on
determining cause-and-effect relationships, but rather on describing the variables that
exist among these variables.

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 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM

Rationale
Throughout the 20th century, radio and television revolutionized the way we

made and consumed news and information about our surroundings. Then Internet

came during the last two decades, which may have been the most significant

transformation to date. However, with the growth of social media, the technical

forefront of communications is being disrupted once more.While Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and other social media are commonly associated with millennials, their use

is growing across all age groups.As internetworking evolved,it brought great

development in terms of easy access to information and faster communication.

Nowadays, there are widespread social media sites in the Internet community. The

bloom of social media makes impossible things possible and it has brought great

development in terms of socialization among groups of individuals with common

interests, ideas, and may or may not belong to a pertinent group but are still willing to

adopt other cultures. One of the reasons why many people are fond of using social

media today is that the majority of these sites are free. There are no such membership

fees, which means the user doesn’t pay any cost. Some of the advantages of the

aforementioned platforms include the ability for users to make and meet new friends,

as well as form small groups to discuss online forums and even take positions on

certain social issues.Social media has become a popular method of communication

since the majority of the users of social media sites are young. They are very active in

using sites because through these platforms they are able to interact with family and

friends and can access information that they can use for their classes and other

businesses. However, the internet is loaded with biased, misleading, and plain

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incorrect information. It is vital to follow the guidelines below. The importance of

depending on reliable sources boils down to effective communication.Students should

not just copy and paste data from the internet. Using dubious sources might have

major consequences. Social media is rapidly being utilized as a source of information,

particularly risk and crisis information. The benefits of using social media are

limitless; everyone has the ability to put information out there, which may appear to be

a fantastic feature, but it also raises concerns about reliability. During the process,

distinguishing between legitimate and inaccurate information becomes exceedingly

challenging. According to Forbes, "your reputation is dependent on the veracity of the

information you utilize." Using material that people are aware is inaccurate

undermines your personal credibility and makes it difficult for others to accept what

you say or share in the future. It only takes one time for you to contribute something.

"Search to see if the information you wish to utilize has already been used by someone

else." For instance, anything obtained from an academic publication, professor, or

well-known expert is exactly what you want to mimic. You may also cross-check to

determine whether any information has been certified as official. However, just

because something is regarded as accurate by one individual does not automatically

imply that the information is correct. Use your discretion. The more you assess the

material, the more your judgment muscles will be activated. This will assist you in

determining whether something is true or false. Students tend to trust any information

that circulates online or to go with the trend without doing a background check. We

have this so-called freedom of speech and freedom to use social media, but we need to

be vigilant and responsible users. Social media platforms can be used for classes,

business, and even political purposes.A researcher proposed studying teenagers'

awareness of identifying reliable information on various social media platforms. This

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study aimed to illuminate the participation and approach of the students with the

frequency of usage of social media and if they do fact-checking before obtaining the

information. Social media sites provide an accessible and powerful toolkit for

highlighting and advertising on an issue that can affect the interest of young people.

The explosion of social media sites in this generation has brought greater impact and

high standards of communication. Being connected to people around the world is

easier and more accessible through social media sites. But we should remember that

there are limitations and young people must start with how they will express their

ideas

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Statement of the Problem

The study aimed to determine and analyze the presidential preferences of

senior citizen voters in Brgy. Mabilbila Sur, Santa, Ilocos Sur.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following:

I.What is the personal profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. name,

b. address,

c. age,

d. gender,

e. year level?

II.What is the social networking site profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. amount spent in social media,

b. tools used in social networking sites,

c. what types of social media platform you rely on?,

d. what is your favorite social media platform source in obtaining information?,

e. average of numbers of hours spent per day, and

f. preffered log-on time.

III.These are the basis of teenagers’s ability to identify reliable information such as:

a. i spend time on social media to find some information and get opinions,

b. i trust information obtained via social networking sites,

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c. it is necessary to do fact-checking when acquiring information from social
networking sites,

d. it is important to be a vigilant user of social media platform,

e. i make sure that all of the research you acquire is accurate before making a
statement on particular issue or problem before posting it,

f. as a student,iuse a plagiarism check before using information from the internet,

g.as student,i make sure that you give credits to the real owner of the statement you
gained,

h. i am always critical to such kind of information and check other sources,

i. i am aware the risks I can get if I steal someone’s work online, and

j. as a student,I make sure that none of the websites I visit online promote fake news.

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Scope and Delimitation

This study was limited to the teenagers of Brgy.Mabilbila Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur

regarding their perceptions of various social media platforms.

The Independent variables include the personal profile of the respondents in

terms of name,address,age,and year level,and the amount spent in social media,tools

used in social networking sites,types of social media platform you rely on,favorite

social media platform source in obtaining information,average of numbers of hours

spent per day, and preffered log-on time.

The dependent variables comprise context of the effect of using vaious social

media platforms or to determines the ability of teenagers’s to identify reliable

information such as: I spend time on social media to find some information,and get

opinions,i trust information obtained via social networking sites,it is necessary to do

fact-checking when acquiring information from social networking sites,it is important

to be a vigilant user of social media platform,i make sure that all of the research you

acquire is accurate before making a statement on particular issue or problem before

posting it,as a student,iuse a plagiarism check before using information from the

internet,as student,i make sure that you give credits to the real owner of the statement

you gained,i am always critical to such kind of information and check other sources,i

am aware the risks I can get if I steal someone’s work online, and as a student,I make

sure that none of the websites I visit online promote fake news. To assure that this

research was feasible,the study focused on the selected teenagers’s of Brgy.Mabilbila

Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur .The researcher included the selected students from differennt

sitio’s of the said Barangay,who served as the respondents of the study.

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Significance of the Study

The primary goal of this study is to determine the Preferable and reliable social

networking sites that they often used or about to use:

To Political Science, this study is related to this subject because it future researcher can

develop the deficiencies that they need to improve and develop through this research.

To the researcher,the researcher will make sure that any obtained information, and

knowledge can be helpful to the next generation.Through this study,the result of this

research can be a tool to future leaders,law-makers,instructors and officers in the

making.

To the community. The researchers can guarantee that the society will truly benefit

from the study that will be conducted.Through this study,the people can be persuaded

that it is good to be informed about what is happening in their surrounding so that in the

future they can wisely choose the deserving leaders who will spark good changes in the

country.

Operational Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study,the following terms were defined in accordance

to the conceptual and operational use in the coontext of the research.

Social Media-it refers to any application that we use for academic and even in

business matters.

Teenager-it refers to the ranging age of the respondents from 16-19.

Realible Sources-it pertains how factual the information you obtained.

Vigilant-it refers on how active and wise user in the field of social media.

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Theoretical Framework

The entire development of the problem’s backdrop is referred to as the

theoretical framework.It is tells what the researcher what have already done and what to

improve.The researcher discovered new technologies,fresh informations and new

strategies as part of their investigation.

This section provides a brief overview of the study’s related literature and studies as

they provide background information to this study:

David Westerman,Patric R. Spence,Brandon Van Der Heide 2012 Haas &

Wearden, 2003 cited that However, a major question surrounding the use of social
media as an information source is how people assess the source credibility of this
information.

Perceived source credibility becomes an increasingly important variable to

examine within social media, especially in terms of crisis and risk information. This is
because with the increasing amount of information available through newer channels,
the gatekeeping function seems to shift away from producers of content and onto
consumers of that content

Moreover, https://www.stevenson.edu/online/about-us/news/how-to-identify-
reliable-information?fbclid=IwAR0zAjiW9SP_1L1Odwh3rP_r3S3mFqg-
3Herr5DoJ8ffigp2_y3uC-10ppY cited that the internet is littered with biased,
misleading, and outright erroneous information, it is critical to adhere to the following
standards. The value of relying on credible sources comes down to efficient
communication. Credible communication is critical,student should not simply copy
and paste material from the internet.Using shaky sources has serious repercussion

According to Staff (2016),long gone are the days when rustling through a
newspaper with ink-stained fingers was the only way to get the news. Throughout the
20th century, advancements such as radio and television drastically changed the way
we created and consumed news. Then came the Internet during the past two decades,

13
representing possibly the largest shift to date. Yet the technological forefront of
communications is now being disrupted once again, with the rise of social media.

While often viewed as a millennial fad, the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
other social platforms is spreading across all age groups and demographics, accounting
for an increasing amount of news consumption.

https://www.socialmedia.biz/how-to-identify-credible-sources-on-social-
media/?fbclid=IwAR0W3q1onm3GNq8Lwq3pwSLBPs6iHSU9Hr7Upr7rVFan5cEjH
dLjLNjfcNM cited that there is an abundance of information shared across all different
types of platforms in today’s society. The most prevalent is through social media.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and plenty others are the modern equivalent
of a newspaper. The benefits of using social media are endless, anyone has the power
to put information out there which may seem like a great feature but with that comes a
concern for credibility.Identifying valid information from incorrect information
becomes extremely difficult in the process.Your credibility hinges on the accuracy of
the information you use.

Furthermore, Lauren Askew states that people tend to trust what they read in

the news, because low and behold, it’s the news, which is written by trained

journalists. When Facebook first caught fire, people started spreading images with due

warnings about everything from Monsanto to onions removing flu bacteria from the air

if kept in your bedroom. People read it and believed it.

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 Conceptual Framework

This schemes determines the Awareness of Teenagers in Identifying Reliable

Information on various Social Media Platforms in the Barangay Mabilbila

Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur.The flow of the study is shown below:

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Personal Profile Extent of teenagers’s ability to identify

reliable information such as:
a.name,
a. i spend time on social media to find some
b.address, information,and get opinions,

c.age,and b. i trust information obtainedvia social

networking sites,
d.year level
c. it is necessary to do fact-checking when
acquiring information from social
networking sites,

The social networking site profile of d. it is important to be a vigilant user of

the respondents in terms of: social media platform,

a. amount spent in social media,
b. tools used in social networking
sites,
c. what types of social media platform
you rely on?,
d. what is your favorite social media
platform source in obtaining
information?,
e. average of numbers of hours spent
per day, and
f. preffered log-on time.
e. i make sure that all of the research you
acquire is accurate before making a
statement on particular issue or problem
before posting it,
f. as a student,iuse a plagiarism check before
using information from the internet,
g.as student,i make sure that you give
credits to the real owner of the statement
you gained,
h. i am always critical to such kind of
information and check other sources,
i. i am aware the risks I can get if I steal
someone’s work online, and

j. as a student,I make sure that none of the

websites I visit online promote fake news.

15
 The Paradigm

This figure shows the Independent variables include the personal profile of the
respondents in terms of name,address,age,and year level,and the amount spent in
social media,tools used in social networking sites,types of social media platform you
rely on,favorite social media platform source in obtaining information,average of
numbers of hours spent per day, and preffered log-on time.

The dependent variables comprise context of the effect of using vaious social
media platforms or to determines the ability of teenagers’s to identify reliable
information such as:i spend time on social media to find some information,and get
opinions,i trust information obtainedvia social networking sites,it is necessary to do
fact-checking when acquiring information from social networking sites,it is important
to be a vigilant user of social media platform,i make sure that all of the research you
acquire is accurate before making a statement on particular issue or problem before
posting it,as a student,iuse a plagiarism check before using information from the
internet,as student,i make sure that you give credits to the real owner of the statement
you gained,i am always critical to such kind of information and check other sources,i
am aware the risks I can get if I steal someone’s work online, and as a student,I make
sure that none of the websites I visit online promote fake news.

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 CHAPTER II

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodological process in the implementation of the

study.This section provides a discussion of the research design use,population of the

study,data gathering instrment,data gathering procedure and statistical treatment data.

Research Design

The researcher used descriptive method of research.Descriptve research deals

with questions of what things are like,not why they are that way.It can be more concrete

and abstract but it depends on what researcher wishes to describe.

The researcher used this kind of research to obtain to obtain first hand data from

the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations

of the study.

Population and Sample of the Study

The respondents or otherwise known as sample of this research were the

Teenager’s residing within the Mabilbila Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur.

Table 1.

Respondents Population Sample

16 years old 30 19

17 years old 24 15

18 years old 30 18

19 and above 31 19

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 Total 115 71

Population of the Study

Data Gathering Instrument

This study utilized questionnaire as data instrument.The researcher distributed

the questionnaires to it’s respondent through google form.

The first page of the questionnaire is a letter to the respondent asking

permission for the survey signed by the researcher and authorized by it’s instructor.

The first part of the questionnaire contains the personal profile of the respondents

The second part comprises the social networking site profile of the
respondents.

The third part includes the extent of teenagers’s ability to identify reliable
information such as:

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers personally requested necessary permission from the Brgy

Captain of Mabilbila Sur, Santa, Ilocos Sur, and the Head of Senior Citizen Organization

within the aforementioned barangay to allow me to float questionnaires to the selected

senior citizens in our community. The instrument that was used in these research

questions was adopted from this site:

a. http://www.oxfordhandbook.com/view/10.1093?oxfordhb.com

Statistical Treatment of Data

One of the most effecient and effective methods of analyzing data is by the use of

statistical techniques.The data gathered from the respondents were analyzed using the

following tools.

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1.Frequency and Percentage-the personal profile of a person will be described in terms

of frequency and percentage as a result of the participants.

2.Mean-the Awareness of Teenagers in Identifying Reliable Information on various

Social Media Platforms in the Barangay Mabilbila Sur,Santa,Ilocos Sur will be
determined using the mean.

Bibliography

De Vaus,D (2002).Surveys in Social Research (5th edition),Australia,Allen and Unwin

Ryan,P.K. Digital and Information Literacy Social Networking,New York,The Rosen
Publishing Group,Inc 2011 Waltz,L.O.(2008).The Relationship Between College
Students’ Use of Social Networking Sites and Their Sense of Belonging,ProQuest
LLC ELECTRONIC SOURCES: Dr.Shock.(January 24,2011).Why teenagers don’t
use Social Networking Sites. http://www.shockmd.com/why-teenagers-dont-use-
social-networking-sites
Henry,H.(February 24,11)10 reasons social networking benefits students.
http://www.kstatecollegian.com/edge/1.2480338/10-reasons-social-networking-
benefits-students

Monroe,C.(July 16,2011).Reasons not to.join social networking sites.

http://www.helium.com/items/2197704-reasons-not-to-join-social-networking-sites

Raizada, R., et al. (2009).The Effects of Social Networking Sites on Personal Lives of
the People http://www.scribd.com/doc/13653301/The-Effects-of-Social-Networking-
Sites

Staff,(January 26,2016)Weighing the risks and reward of using social media

https://buchananpr.com/2016/01/weighing-the-risks-and-rewards-of-using-social-
media-for-news-

sourcing Angel Brecht,(April 13,2020)How to Identify Reliable Information

https://www.stevenson.edu/online/about-us/news/how-to-identify-reliable-information

David Westermen,Patrick R. Spence,Brandon Van Der Heide,(November 08,2013)

Social Media as Information Recency of Updates and Credibility Informations

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