Chinese International Students' Messages on the Family Forum: Topics, Objectives, and Types of Assistance

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Author(s): Chenwei Wu (University of Arkansas, USA)and Lynne M. Webb (Florida International University, USA)
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 22
Source title: Identity, Sexuality, and Relationships among Emerging Adults in the Digital Age
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Michelle F. Wright (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1856-3.ch009

Keywords: Human Aspects of Technology / Information Science Reference / Psychology / Social Sciences & Humanities

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Abstract

We content analyzed the online messages of Chinese international students who are currently studying and living in the United States. We examined messages within the students' ethnic group as they sought and provided assistance to each other in understanding and acculturating to family life in the United States via a popular online forum. We randomly sampled 50 recent, original posts and their accompanying threads (147 pages of text containing 108,723 words). Thematic analysis indicated that students use the forum to achieve three objectives (seeking informational/emotional support, offering information/emotional support, offering topics for discussion) across a wide variety of family issues (e.g., conflict, child rearing/education, appropriate behaviors for husbands and wives). Users provided multiple types of assistance (e.g., informational/emotional support, topics of discussion, questions based on the original posts, self-disclosure, positive feedback, and negative feedback) to the posters.

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Chinese International Students' Messages on the Family Forum: Topics, Objectives, and Types of Assistance

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