Tandoc et al

• year?

  2015
• aim?

  * see whether depression was linked to facebook usage

  * see whether using facebook led to feelings of envy (which can lead ot depression)
• hypotheses?

  * Facebook users would report higher levels of envy

  * the greater network of friends, the greater feelings of envy

  * higher levels of envy associated with more symptoms of depression
• method?

  questionnaire conducted online, then responses were coded into quantitative data
• what did questionnaire measure?

  * facebook usage

  * levels of envy using rating scale

  * symptoms of depression
• sample?

  self selecting sample of 736 students from university in USA with average age of 19
• study found?

  * heavy facebook users reported higher levels of envy than light users

  * size of people's friend networks had nothing to do with levels of envy

  * facebook envy was positive predictor of depression

  * no relationship between how frequently facebook was used and how depressed people felt

  * facebook surveillance didn't predict depression either
• conclusion?

  facebook usage doesn't directly relate to depression but it's indirectly linked bc causes envy
• criticisms?

  * culturally biased bc all from USA and all were journalism students

  * fact that survey was online could be a bias bc it's likely to represent people who use technology frequently

  * social desirability bc of usage of questionnaire

  * findings could lack construct validity as complex answers were reduced to numbers as quantitative data used

  * difficult establishing cause and effect as even thought there were relationships between variables, cannot be sure of the cause