UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR RESEARCH BY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION GRADUATING STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the extent of utilization of social media for research by Vocational Education graduating students of the University of Calabar.  Four research questions were posed and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.  The study adopted a descriptive survey design.  The population for the study consisted of 99 Vocational Education graduating students of University of Calabar.  The instrument for data collection was a structured and validated questionnaire developed by the researchers.  Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The results revealed, among others, that the University of Calabar Vocational Education graduating students’ extent of utilization of social media for research is averagely low, and that there is no significant relationship between utilization of social and Vocational Education graduating students’ research.  Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that the National Universities Commission (NUC) should ensure the inclusion of social media utilization in the curriculum of all programmes in the University.