Creating a Social Presence Measure: Self-Rated Behaviors that Indicate Mediated Presence

Authors

  • Scott Christen Tennessee Tech
  • Michelle Violanti University of Tennessee
  • Jennifer Morrow University of Tennessee

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v26i3.2202

Keywords:

Social Presence, Online Learning

Abstract

This study involved the creation and validation of a self-rated social presence measure. Study 1 utilized focus groups to create items. The focus group participants were presented with a set of items based upon past literature; through discussion of these items, a preliminary measure was created. Study 2 involved an exploratory factor analysis on the preliminary measure to eliminate items that did not work well with each other. This reduced the measure from 54 to 23 items. Study 3 validated a 21-item self-rated measure of creating a social presence (PSP), which can be used to determine if people have difficulty projecting themselves as real individuals willing to interact with other online communicators.

Author Biographies

Scott Christen, Tennessee Tech

Director of Communication Studies
Communication Dept

Michelle Violanti, University of Tennessee

Associate Professor of Communication
School of Communication

Jennifer Morrow, University of Tennessee

Associate Professor, Program Coordinator
Educational Psychology & Counseling Department

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Published

2022-09-01

Issue

Section

Section II