Ch. 5: Additional Case 1

Researching Your College or University’s Acceptable-Use Policy

This case is best for groups.

Background

The president of your college or university has written to all the deans explaining a problem. Over the past two years, the number of complaints about inappropriate use of the school’s information-technology resources has risen dramatically. The subjects of the complaints range from hate speech communicated by email to downloading of large music files from the Internet. The president wants to know whether students are aware of the school’s “acceptable-use policy”—a set of guidelines that explains the rights and responsibilities of members of the university community when using information technology. Your instructor thinks this problem might present a good opportunity for students to practice primary-research techniques. In this case, you will perform research on this topic, then communicate your findings to your instructor.

Your Assignment

To complete this assignment, perform the following tasks:

  1. Study Chapter 5, concentrating on primary-research techniques.

  2. Study the acceptable-use policy of your college or university. It is likely to be available on your school’s website. If it is not or if you cannot find it, contact the appropriate person or department on campus for assistance.

  3. Create a set of questions that you need to answer in order to understand whether students are aware of the existence of—and the contents of—your school’s acceptable-use policy.

  4. Determine the most appropriate primary-research technique (or techniques) for answering the questions. For example, you might decide to distribute a questionnaire to students in several courses on campus.

  5. Choosing one of the techniques, draft the appropriate materials and carry out the research.

  6. Write a 1,000-word memo, addressed to your instructor, that presents the following:

    • the research questions you chose to investigate

    • a justification of your choice of technique for answering them

    • the materials (such as the questionnaire) you created

    • your findings

    • an evaluation of the exercise (Was it easy to carry out? Was it effective? What would you do differently if you were to carry out the technique in the future?)