Future social presence research should use solid conceptualization, report instrument validity, consider media generalization, and use diverse measurement approaches¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review endorses Cui's (2013) call that 'future research on social presence and the development of effective instrumentation to measure the construct [that] should (a) have a solid conceptualization of social presence, (b) clearly report instrument validity and reliability in published research', (c) take media concerns and generalization into consideration, and (d) assess social presence with diverse approaches. The authors chose this path over 'killing' social presence, resolving the confounding situation by disentangling the original theory instead.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers must adopt a solid conceptualization of social presence before selecting or developing instruments

Constraints¶

• The review warns future research is at risk if the confounding situation continues to exist

Target Learners¶

• researchers and designers of online distance education

Target Learning Goals¶

• valid and comparable measurement of social presence in online learning research

Claims¶

• The social presence subscale of the CoI survey instrument shows inconsistent dimensionality across validation studies [+W]
• Short et al.'s (1976) four bipolar scales are questionable as a social presence measure because they lack construct validation and assess attitudes toward the medium rather than perceived 'realness' [+W]
• Proliferating definitions and incompatible measures of social presence have produced a confounding situation that prevents a coherent research field [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Develop context-specific child self-report measures through separate conceptualisation and operationalisation stages with child partnership

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Karel Kreijns, Kate Xu, Joshua Weidlich. (2022). Social Presence: Conceptualization and Measurement. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09623-8