Article Review 1.

Introduction

            The aim of this quasi experiment was to identify the engagement that young users had when it contacts with money mule recruitment ads on Instagram.

Relation/Connection

            This study has a deep connection to ethnic neutrality, which is one of the seven principles of social sciences we learned, as it is a quasi-experiment where they are just testing the online domain of Instagram that targeted underage individuals. This calls for major ethic concerns on the basis people should know if they’re being studied. Secondly, the article demonstrated great parsimony as the data was easy to interpret and the study was easily conveyed in a way where understanding could be nothing but apparent. Also, seeing as this article was conducted in a virtual space, objectivity was important to conducting the study; since the experiment had to have no personal feelings attached that would interrupt the field study.

Research question/Hypothesis/ (in)dependent variable

            The research question for this article was that young users were more subject to money mules on social platforms. For the hypothesis, they predicted that younger individuals were more likely to engage with money mules on Instagram. The independent variable was the introduction of the ad to users with the dependent variable being the engagement from said ad.

Types of research methods used

            The whole research was not a regular experiment, but rather a quasi-experiment, which is quantitative experiment. For background, regular experiments are conducted with a random sample of people; however, quasi-experiment do not participate in random sampling, which is the fundamental difference between them .

Types of Data Analysis

            There were different types of data analysis types they used within the study, but the two that were the most apparent were table data analysis and some sort of bar/graph data table. Tables in the context of structuring data are set up in a grid like system to arrange information in a way that it conveys parsimony. For bar graphs, they are graphs that generally uses rectangular structures to convey the differences in information via the height.  

Connections to Course Concepts

            About cybersecurity, within the course, we talked about how regular experiments were not the best at collecting data, but field experiments are. IN this research study they conducted a field experiment, which for me solidified this belief. Additionally, this article helped me understand the difference between a regular experiment and a quasi-experiment, as I was having a hard time understanding the sampling.

Marginalized Group Concerns

            There were ethical concerns with this study, but they were approved by the Ethic Review Board of Hague University, mainly about the people being studied – younger individuals. Additionally, it can be seen as a easy opportunity for the less able (individual with financial struggles) to engage with the ad if they have seen it. Overall, this study displayed that we should have more concern over our children in the digital space, as they are immature and lack critical thinking skills.

Societal Contributions

            The article provided a lot of information regarding how to conduct this certain type of research, as they had to specifically do it the way it was done to get what they wanted. This in turn can help be a blueprint for others to conduct similar studies. Additionally, the study ultimately raised more moral panic around negligence of minors on the digital plans; because, with one ad they can be brought into a world of crime, which can lead to a felony and further delinquency.

References

https://odu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01ODU_INST/1fn1mn0/cdi_proquest_journals_3065638154

Article Review 2.

Introduction

            Knowing what your employes are doing is an essential part of running a business. Thus, for the experiment the aim of the research was to identify the determinants, psychological and organizational, that affect employee’s adherence to protocol for information security.

Relation/Connection to Social Sciences

             Relativism is the idea that all things are related and within the article it is undoubtedly clear that it is true, as everything affected the response to employee’s adherence. Additionally, there is the presence of objectivity being important within the study, since one of the hypotheses dealt with opinions about bosses. Within the study we can tell that the researchers had to have a back seated opinion about the character of individuals, especially during the senior opinion section.

Research question/Hypothesis/ (in)dependent variable

            The main research question within the article was that organizational and behavioral aspects play a key role in either support or deter people from safe practices about information. The research had 6 different hypotheses they tested: organizational culture is important for security compliance, cybersecurity awareness is important for security compliance, employee engagement is essential for security compliance, employee engagement is essential for information security compliance, trust in upper management is important for security compliance and upper management is important for information security compliance. Some of the independent variables in the research were cybersecurity awareness and trust in management. As a result, the individual’s idea of these directly impacted the dependent variable – adherence to security procedures.

Types of research methods used

             The study that the researchers used was a quantitative research approach, which was used to examine behavioral and organizational factors and how they were related to security compliance behavior. They achieved data from different departments through a questionnaire that were distributed both physically and digitally.

Types of Data Analysis

             The main way that data was collected through the different experiments were questionaries. The answers from the questionnaire’s were then turned into separate data tables that related to there respective hypothesis. The tables could be read through the standard p scale system.

Connections to Course Concepts

            One thing that I found directly related to the course was the general idea of each hypothesis – security risks and regulatory actions to follow it. One of the biggest things in the class was teaching employees proper security procedures, such as, turning computers off after leaving, not having password written on desktop, and not posting anything on social media. Interestingly, the study showed that people are more likely to do this if they trust & like there senior advisor.

Marginalized Group Concerns

            The only real marginalized group that is present within the experiment is the experiments themselves, as they aren’t senior management, so they are at the bottom of the power scale. Due to this, the two hypotheses that dealt with senior management play a big role in better management. To explain, it was proved that trust in senior management proved to increase adherence to security; as a result, if these groups were treated better by their management, they are more likely to comply with corporate security protocols.

Societal Contributions

            The article plays a key role in showing certain aspects of engaging employees to comply with more security procedures. It also highlights how important it is to have a good worker to advisor relationship, as it showed that it engages employees more, which could translate into other aspects of there work. Additionally, the research showed that cybersecurity awareness is essential for people to know about.

References

https://cybercrimejournal.com/menuscript/index.php/cybercrimejournal/article/view/437/123