Then we’d probably also want more evidence that social media is playing a causal role, and would want to make an RCT of people who have never experienced social media and pair them with something thought to be addictive (Facebook) vs. something more inert (e,g, The WELL?)… would that pass an IRB?
One more ethical setup would be to use existing users and do a study of how many succeed with an intention of stopping to use a given website.
If a lot of people who decide to do a two week Facebook fast fail to follow through on the intention, that would be a sign of it being very addictive.
Your study can do that with a bunch of different behaviors and then rank how successful people are with the fast.
One more ethical setup would be to use existing users and do a study of how many succeed with an intention of stopping to use a given website.
If a lot of people who decide to do a two week Facebook fast fail to follow through on the intention, that would be a sign of it being very addictive.
Your study can do that with a bunch of different behaviors and then rank how successful people are with the fast.