Factor Analysis Approach in Understanding Student’s Attitude towards Social Media Usage in Agricultural Higher Education
P. Divakar Reddy *
Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management-Hyderabad-500030, India.
Sweety Sharma
Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management-Hyderabad-500030, India.
D. Thammi Raju
Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management-Hyderabad-500030, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The social media concept has received much consideration from higher education since a period of ten years in India. The study was conducted for analysing the usage and effects of social media on agricultural students. The primary data was collected through questionnaire. Simple random sampling was employed, a sample of 126 students in which 100 PGDMA students from ICAR-NAARM and 26 B.Sc. Agricultural students from ANGRAU. The responses were analysed by using factor analysis and the most influenced responses were social media is a part of their everyday activity (0.88), their communication skills were improved because of social media (0.83), They felt that they were part of the social media community (0.87) and they derived satisfaction through networking and communication (0.84). These were the most affected statements from PGDMA students and B.Sc. Agricultural students. Conclusively, social media has enriched the acquaintance of individuals and build cognizance amongst students in all the aspects.
Keywords: Social media, factor analysis, communication, simple random sampling and higher education.