Research Methods – NCAA Social Media

I am conducting exploratory research on social media in NCAA athletics, particularly in the Atlantic 10 Conference. I am interested in two different research questions. How does social media impact current and schools and how will social media impact the new NCAA Name, Image and Likeness rule? To conduct my research, I will be using surveys to collect data from each constituent level. I would be using a survey based on questions in a Likert Scale to gather feedback to answer the two research questions. This would be the best way to reach as many respondents as needed at selected Atlantic 10 Conference schools. Since I have changed by focus on two groups – current student-athletes and schools in general, I have decided to narrow the scope and only include similar Atlantic 10 Conference schools to Richmond, instead of all 14 schools. Trying to bring in survey feedback from all 14 schools and student-athletes, was too large of a pool of potential respondents. Choosing similar schools in size and institutional scope, I will focus on Richmond, Davidson, Dayton, Fordham and Duquesne. This would be roughly a third of the schools involved in the Atlantic 10 and would allow for a representative scope of the conference.