Heard a great video by Kevin Rose at his website, http://kevinrose.com/, and thought I'd share it to my audience (albeit infinitely smaller!).  Please comment and let me know what you think, and if you'd like to hear more of these types of videos!

Grad school is a lot like beef jerkey--it's tough, it has a kick that'll make you sweat, and too much will kill you.  And yet, people still eat beef jerkey.  Heck, I love beef jerkey.  And I love grad school.

Dr. Sweetser, my professor in research methodology, has assigned me quite possibly the most difficult project I've ever had to undertake for a class.  Not only that, but she has attached a time limit that is next to impossible considering the fact that I have three other classes with similar projects and impossible deadlines.

And I couldn't be more excited.

I am working with four other grad students.  We are researching credibility and social media; specifically, we are asking the following questions:

• RQ1:  When a link is shared via social media, does someone who is familiar with social media find the linked video encouraging HIV/AIDS testing more credible if it is endorsed by a peer rather than an unknown, official entity such as the CDC?
• RQ2:  When a link is shared via social media, does someone who is not familiar with social media find a video encouraging HIV/AIDS testing more credible if it is endorsed by an official entity, such as the CDC, rather than a peer?
• RQ3:  Is there a correlation between the credibility of an endorsed message and the likelihood of someone familiar or unfamiliar with social media to get tested for HIV/AIDS after watching the video?

To answer these questions, we have constructed a survey (technically, an 'instrument') that uses proven scales to test credibility, index one's social media familiarity, and measure one's intended behavior change.

This survey will be administered to a sample of students and adults over the age of 18 over the next few months.  We will then compile the data, analyze it, and then complete our research by writing an article.

Our article, the main deliverable of the research project, will hopefully be published in a respected journal, such as JCMC (Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication).  After we submit our article, you can bet I'll have a beverage and a big, spicy beef jerkey to celebrate!

Here is a diagram I made to model our research: