Is blogging becoming a new profession?
Contents
Is blogging becoming a new profession?. 1
Methods and modes of data collection. 8
Introduction
In the current world, technological advancement has opened many doors to careers. The internet is a major thing that has played major roles in opening many careers. In the current world people residential premises. Among the many windows that have emanated from the internet is blogging. Initially, a blog was more of an individual diary that was shared online by many people. People shared stories about their life or share their daily life activities and people saw the beauty of sharing the world of blogging (Bejdová, et al., 2014). A blog is a short form of a weblog that is an online journal or a website used to display information in a chronological order that is reverse with the most updated posts appearing first (Prestridge, 2014). Currently, people have found other ways of blogging with different purposes apart from a passion for anything such as business, projects or other initiatives that might draw money.
Part A: Research problem
Being in a situation where there are bloggers who blog for the passion of personal interest and those who take it as a profession to make money has drawn contradiction on whether it is a new platform or not. Some people have been making money from home currently as a result of blogging and web designing (Prestridge, 2014). As a result, the issue has become more accessible and more people have interests and are learning blogging to win their daily bread. They have been claiming that it is one of the rising professions. Professional bloggers are known to be very different from the scummy ads from the internet and they seriously take their profession. However, various questions have been running in the minds of individuals regarding blogging (Ciampa & Gallagher, 2015).
Research questions
- What does it mean to be a professional blogger?
- What does a professional blogger do?
- How do bloggers become professionals?
Sampling
In qualitative research, sampling is very vital where predetermined observations are taken from the larger population. In this study, the methodology that will be used to sample from the larger population depend on the category of analysis performed. Sampling may include simple random or systematic sampling.
Unit of analysis
Professional bloggers are classified into two different categories, that is, people who make money through their blog and those individuals who blog for an institution. The first impression that comes first in people’s minds when a blogger is mentioned in the individual bloggers. The individuals regularly blog on their sites, monetizing a ground of audience they have built-in several ways (Dalgarno, et al., 2015). They all make money through different avenues as mentioned below:
- Advertising
- Content subscriptions
- Membership websites
- Affiliate links
- Donations
- Ebooks
- Online courses
- Coaching or consulting
The research will sample different bloggers from the avenues of generating income that bloggers use as mentioned above. The analysis will also sample the second category of bloggers that blog for companies who are famously known as content marketers. The sampling unit of analysis will involve personal bloggers from the different methods of earning and the content marketers who work for the companies to get the main concept of professional blogging (Petersen, 2014).
Sampling population
It is essential to take a subset of subjects that represents the whole population the sample must have a size that is adequate to warrant a statistical assessment. The study population entails personal bloggers and company bloggers. However, for the personal bloggers the study will sample regarding their modes of earning on their blogs, that is, content subscriptions, donations, advertising, membership websites, ebooks, consultations and coaching, online courses and affiliate links (King, et al., 2018). The two groups will compose the target population for the research. The sample population will be made of different bloggers from different years of experience and expertise. The population selected for the research will ensure that the research is valid, reliable and has an accurate outcome. The subjects of the research are also accessible and will be both national and international.
Sample frame
The sampling frame in this study will draw a list of where the researcher draws a sample from together with a sample space that is a list of possible outcomes for an experiment. The research will involve both types of bloggers with all the categories involved in personal bloggers as mentioned earlier together with their local and international locations. The possible sampling frames in this research are the websites listed in most search engines online (King, et al., 2018). In this manner, we will be able to derive the criteria of the specific bloggers in different categories that the research is intended to cover. Company websites will also be another sampling frame for the research in search of content marketers or bloggers working for companies. Different bloggers associations bear lists of bloggers and links to their specific blogs where there is much easier to get them (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). In this manner of the population frames, there will be explicit list of population elements. The frame will allow everyone in the blogging profession to be identified and have an equal opportunity for being selected as a subject or an element.
Sampling method
In qualitative research, it is very essential to make sampling choices that enable them to deepen their understanding of the situation that they are studying. In this research, we have a start of a complete sampling frame of all eligible subjects from which the sample is selected making it a probability or random sampling. In this manner, all the eligible professional bloggers have an opportunity of being chosen as a sample and there will be more probability of generalizing the study outcome. The probability method might be much consuming and a bit expensive though there are ways that will be employed in this research for efficiency and effectiveness through the usage of the internet all through the research study.
The stratified sampling method is the appropriate sampling method for this research. In this method of sampling, the population is divided into various strata with the same characteristics. It is mostly used in a similar case as that of professional blogging where there are different levels of interest between the distinct strata identified. The method of sampling will ensure equal representation from all the subgroups(Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). In this case, the population of professional bloggers is stratified in two categories where one is the individual bloggers and the other one is the bloggers for companies. Individual bloggers are further stratified on the bases of the modes they earn income via the blogs.
The study will ensure equality in sample sizes from every stratum. Also in stratified sampling, it might be appropriate to select imbalanced sample sizes from each subgroup. The stratified sampling ensures that there is an accurate and realistic estimation of professional bloggers nationally and internationally where random sampling might over-represent the number of bloggers from one category. At the analysis stage, it is very significant to note that the sample was stratified. Stratified sampling, in this case, will upgrade representativeness and accuracy of outcomes by minimizing sampling bias. Although it requires much knowledge of the right features of the sampling frame and the details, in this case, are not always available. It can, therefore, be difficult in the determination of which characteristic to stratify by.
Sample size
Qualitative analysis generally needs a smaller size than the qualitative assessment. Qualitative sample sizes should be large in a way that they can collect adequate information to describe professional bloggers and adequately address the research questions. The main objective of a qualitative researcher is to attain saturation that happens in addition to more participants to the research and does not add to other perspectives. Some scholars have recommended saturation in qualitative analysis to achieve the right sample size (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). In this case, the research will have a sample size of 40 individual bloggers from different sources of income and 10 company bloggers making a total of 50 respondents.
Methods and modes of data collection
Data collection is the procedure by which information is gathered from the relevant sources to find solutions to the research questions test the hypothesis and analyze the results. Data collection methods can be divided into two categories, that is, secondary and primary data collection methods. Secondary data is data that has already been publicized in the form of print or online. On the other hand, primary data can be subdivided into quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data methods of data collection are basically on some formats and arithmetic calculations. Quantitative data collection methods are inclusive of the questionnaires with questions that are open-ended, regression, methods of correlation and regression, mode, median and mean among others. They have a high level of standardization of the quantitative methods and it is very simple in comparing the findings (Peters & Halcomb, 2015).
On the other hand, qualitative research methods do not involve many figures and arithmetic calculations. Determining whether professional blogging is a professional career lies under the category of qualitative information. Qualitative research is closely related to the words, sounds, feelings, emotions, colors and other elements that are nonquantifiable. Qualitative study is objected to guarantee a greater level of understanding and qualitative data collection methods that are inclusive of questionnaires, interviews with focus groups and open-ended questions observations, game or role-playing as well as case studies (Peters & Halcomb, 2015). In this research, professional bloggers will be interviewed online. The interviews will be drafted and held online through video chats or being sent via mail for the respondent to respond. Interviews have been seen as the appropriate methods for collecting data from bloggers since it will give detailed information about personal feelings, perceptions, and options. They also allow more detailed questions to be asked since they usually achieve a high response rate and the respondent’s own words are recorded.
The online interviews will be conducted via computer-mediated communication or CMC like instant messaging, emails, video. However, the interview will consider several ethical considerations, rapport, and sampling rather than the traditional face to face interviews.
Interviewing procedures
The interviews for the study will be completed by the interviewer based on the words that come from the respondent. They are more of a personal interaction kind of research than a questionnaire since the interviewer directly works with the respondents. The interviews for the research will be drafted in a manner that they will be very easy for the respondent more so on the portions that are seeking for their impressions and opinions. However, they may tend to be intensive since they are time-consuming. During the interview t the professional photographers the interviewer will be considered as a section of the measurement instrument and the interviewer has to well trained on how to respond to any contingency. There are four types of interviews, that is, informal, conversational interview, Standardized, open-ended interview, Closed, fixed-response interview and general interview guide approach (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). The research will use Standardized, open-ended interviews with the professional bloggers where they will ensure that the same common areas of information are collected from each interviewee through similar open-ended questions. The standardized, open-ended interview will offer more focus than the conversational approach while still allowing a level of freedom and adaptability in deriving the information from the interviewee.
The study will be conducted by several researchers who must have computer basic skills to operate and maneuver on the different windows of the computer. The interviewers should also possess good communication skills to deliver the best results. Familiarity with the topic of the study which is professional blogging is a better quality of the interviewer. They should also have the capability structuring an outline process of the interview that is precise, spoken distinctly and understood by the respondent. The interviewers should be gentle in a way that they are sensitive, tolerant and patient to provocative and opinions that are unconventional(Peters & Halcomb, 2015). The interviewer should have the steering capability to control the entire interview to get rid of digressions from the topic under study during the interview. The ability to critically think about the reliability and validity of what the interviewee is talking about. Should have a good memory of retaining the subject information being interviewed on and also interpretation to the respondents where need be.
The interviewers have a very high possibility of controlling the quality of the result which makes training a crucial aspect before the time that the interview is conducted. It is also very vital to organize in detail and rehearse the interviewing process before commencing the formal research. The interviewers will be left to know and learn about the entire study on the professional bloggers and the simplest way to conduct the interview. The interviewers should be trained on the background and significance of the research. The sampling process also needs to be explaining to the interviewers by showing the interviewer the importance of sampling. The interviewers should know the importance of going through the difficulties of selecting the samples so carefully. The interviewer needs to know the several ways that can bias the outcome of the professional blogger’s research. They will be trained on the importance of not biasing the research since slanted results might be very detrimental to the results or the purpose of the research.
The initial stage of supervising the interview is by ensuring that the questions template is with the interviewers and all information recorders or their computers are good to go. Ensuring that the interviewers are consistent with their questions by asking one by one. Ensure that they remain in the most natural way as possible and encourage responses. It is essential to take care of the appearance during note-taking and also offer transition in between the main topics. Ensuring that the interviewers do not lose control during the interview.
Recruitment
There are several ways that an individual can recruit on the blogs that they want to participate in the research from the oldest to the most current. There are blog directories that are used to locate new blogs and other blogs regarding individual interest. For the blogs that an individual is aware of can be searched on the search boxes on the search engines online such as Google and bing. However, one can also use a similar method to look for the blogs that one is aware of (Peters & Halcomb, 2015). Emails will later be sent to the specific bloggers for approval of an interview request with options of the most appropriate interviewing mode such as video, text messaging and email. Also, a search will be conducted on the content writers who are known as the company bloggers. Major companies will be searched for and a formal procedure conducted to reach out for the company blogger considering all the research ethical measures that need to be put in place in harmony with those of the company (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). The company bloggers will also be requested to choose from video, instant messaging or email interviews. The interview templates will be provided to the interviewers sometime before the interview to ensure that the respondents are aware of the questions that they are about to be asked. It will enable them to deliver the most accurate, reliable and valid data that will accredit the research. The response will also be asked for their most suitable time for the interview where all will be programmed to have them interviewed at their comfort. All the respondents are assured of privacy and nondisclosure of their individual or company information. In the research, the respondents will be ensured paramount ethical practices.
Part B: Instrument design
The respondent should have a brief introduction of what it means to be a professional blogger. It is good to know whether the blogger was interested in professional blogging as a result of passion, interest in a thing like art, making money or comfort for working from home and self-employment. How has blogging been accessible to most people and how are they learning to blog and make a living from the blogs. Below are some of the questions that will be used to measure those concepts:
| Concept | Relevant questions |
| Meaning of a professional blogger | What does it mean to be a professional blogger according to you? |
| Part of the rising profession | What triggered your interest in professional blogging? |
| Blogging accessibility | How has blessing been accessible to most people?
Are people learning how to blog and make a living in blogging? |
| Entities of blogging | What is the work of a blogger?
Is there a difference between a normal blogger and a professional blogger? |
| Factors of professional blogging | What triggers bloggers to be professional bloggers?
How do bloggers become professionals? What does it entail to become a professional blogger? |
| Monetary aspect | Do professional blogging pay well?
Do you think it is one of the emerging careers? |
INTERVIEW LAYOUT
INSTRUCTION: Please answer all the questions honestly and exhaustively.
NB: This information would be used strictly for academic purposes only and would be treated with utmost confidence.
|
Tick |
| Masters | |
| Bachelors | |
| Diploma | |
| Certificate |
|
Tick |
| < 5 years | |
| 6-10 years | |
| 11-15 years | |
| 16 and over years |
- Which type of professional blogger are you?
- Personal professional blogger ( )
- Company blogger ( )
If you are a personal professional blogger, what is your money-making venture?
- Advertising
- Content subscriptions
- Membership websites
- Affiliate links
- Donations
- Ebooks
- Online courses
- Coaching or consulting
| Concept | Relevant questions |
| Meaning of a professional blogger | What does it mean to be a professional blogger according to you? |
| Part of the rising profession | What triggered your interest in professional blogging? |
| Blogging accessibility | How has blessing been accessible to most people?
Are people learning how to blog and make a living in blogging? |
| Entities of blogging | What is the work of a blogger?
Is there a difference between a normal blogger and a professional blogger? |
| Factors of professional blogging | What triggers bloggers to be professional bloggers?
How do bloggers become professionals? What does it entail to become a professional blogger? |
| Monetary aspect | Do professional blogging pay well?
Do you think it is one of the emerging careers? |
References
Bejdová, V., Homola, M., & Kubincová, Z. (2014, August). Blogging in the obligatory course: A bitter victory. In International Conference on Web-Based Learning (pp. 1-10). Springer, Cham.
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (Vol. 3). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ciampa, K., & Gallagher, T. L. (2015). Blogging to enhance in-service teachers’ professional learning and development during collaborative inquiry. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(6), 883-913.
Dalgarno, B., Reupert, A., & Bishop, A. (2015). Blogging while on professional placement: explaining the diversity in student attitudes and engagement. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 24(2), 189-209.
King, N., Horrocks, C., & Brooks, J. (2018). Interviews in qualitative research. SAGE Publications Limited.
Peters, K., & Halcomb, E. (2015). Interviews in qualitative research. Nurse Researcher (2014+), 22(4), 6.
Petersen, E. J. (2014). Redefining the workplace: The professionalization of motherhood through blogging. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 44(3), 277-296.
Prestridge, S. J. (2014). Reflective blogging as part of ICT professional development to support pedagogical change. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(2), 6.
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