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1 Understanding the Role of Weibo in Health- seeking Process of Chinese International Students in Canada Wenzhuo Liang Supervisor: Dr. Rukhsana Ahmed Research Paper submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Master s Degree in Communication Department of Communication Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa Wenzhuo Liang, Ottawa, Canada, 2015 Keywords: Chinese International Students, Social Media, Weibo, Virtual Community, Health- seeking Process, Social Capital

2 ii Abstract In recent years, the growth effect of technology has reached many heights, such as the more frequent use of new media platforms, like Twitter, Weibo, and Facebook. The technological revolution has enabled people to communicate across thousands of miles at a greater speed. With such advantages, social media can also be used to inform, educate, and empower people about health related issues. And, indeed, today there is a large number of people seeking health information online and through social media applications. However, there is a lack of data on social media adoption within broader public health settings, particularly among Chinese international students. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to understand the role of Sina Weibo in the lives of Chinese international students in Canada and their online health related information seeking process in particular. Results from quantitative and qualitative content analyses revealed that Sina Weibo could be seen as a virtual community. More importantly, its role from being an imagined to a real community is evidenced in its creation of various social capital for Chinese international students in terms of providing health related information and emotional support to make their overseas lives easier.

3 iii Table of Contents Abstract...ii Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Literature Review Overseas Lives of Chinese International Students The Unique Health Needs of Chinese International Students Health Related Information Seeking Social Media and Health Related Information Seeking The Role of Weibo: Creating An Imagined community for Chinese International Students How Do International Students Look for Health Related Information by Using Social Media? Creation of Social Capital Theoretical Framework 19 Chapter Three - Methodology Participants and Sampling Data Collection Data Analysis Limitations Chapter Four Results of Data Analyses Quantitative Content Analysis Results 34

4 iv Weibo Posts Results Weibo Participants Interaction Comments Results Gender Composition Qualitative Content Analysis Results Imagined Community From Imagined Community to Real Community 51 Chapter Five Discussion The Role of Virtual Community Imagined Community From Imagined to Real Community Real Community that Provides Social Capital Barriers and Opportunities Facing Chinese International Students Barriers Opportunities 63 Chapter Six Conclusions, Limitations, and Recommendations Conclusions Limitations Recommendations 67 References Appendix A: Health Related Weibo Posts Sample 81

5 v Appendix B: Weibo Interaction Comments Sample 83 Appendix C: One Typical Weibo Post with Participants Interaction Comments 90 Appendix D: Screenshot of One Typical Weibo Post with Participants Interaction Comments 92

6 1 Chapter One: Introduction The rapid growth of the Internet users and the economic booming in China has drawn much attention to the studies of Chinese social networking sites. Weibo, one of the most popular Chinese social networks, has been introduced along with the increasing number of Chinese international students worldwide. Globally, international students constitute a significant social media user group, and the majority of them are aged between 20 and 30 (Lin et al., 2012; Martin & Rizvi, 2014). TIMETechland reported on the tweets- per- second record (at 25,088 tweets) [that was] reportedly shattered by [a] Chinese microblogging service [with] an average of 32,312 messages per second in the first minute of the Chinese New Year (McMillan, 2012, p.1). With their several hundred million users, Sina, Tencent and other Chinese microblogging services allow netizens 1 to receive and express information more efficiently compared to previous technologies (Sullivan, 2014). Among them, the company of Tencent draws together multiple platforms from instant messaging to gaming, and boasts the number of registered users reaching 469 million (Guan et al., 2014; Sullivan, 2014). Compared with Tencent Weibo, starting life as a Twitter clone, Sina Weibo has added a number of features such as message threading and the ability to comment directly on other users posts (Sullivan, 2014, p.27). This 1 Netizens are defined as those who use the Internet to obtain information, regardless of their traditional media use (Lei, 2011, p. 10).

7 2 research paper is interested in studying the use of Sina Weibo platform (Guan et al., 2014) among Chinese international students in Canada. With the continuous trend of globalization, Canada has become one of the most popular destinations for international students all over the world. Canada s reputation for offering considerable educational opportunities in a multicultural context is an element that has made Canada a favorable destination. According to reports from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2013), Canada had welcomed more than 265,000 international students and over 80,000 Chinese students made the choice to study in Canada. More over, roughly fifty percent of international students stay for a long duration of time (for at least six months) and mainly arrive from East Asian countries: such as China, South Korea, and Japan (Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Inc., 2009). In other words, Chinese students are currently one of the largest groups of international students in Canada. As such, many researches have focused on the lives of Chinese international students across media studies, cultural geography, migration studies, cultural anthropology, sociology and architecture, etc. (Hendrickson et al., 2011; Kim, 2001; Martin & Rizvi, 2014; Ye, 2006). Studies show that the presence of international students has a wide range of benefits for host counties. For example, international students bring with them important economic benefit: they enrich Canadian society with their ideas

8 3 and with their different perspectives and they promote the tourism industry and so forth (Asanin & Wilson, 2008; Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Inc., 2009). However, the overseas life of Chinese international students is not easy. These students have to cope with multifaceted life stresses, such as financial pressure, job opportunities, dating and marriage, language barriers, interacting with institutions and clash of value, and so on (Carey & Denise, 2013; Hendrickson et al., 2011; Yan & Berliner, 2013; Ye, 2006). Yan & Berliner (2009) reported that topics concerning health did emerge during interviews with Chinese international students about how to deal with stressors in the host countries, including aspects of emotional health and physiological health (Carey & Denise, 2013; Yan & Berliner, 2013). For example, studies illustrated that in many cases students who study abroad experience homesickness, discontentment, and/or dissatisfaction with their current situation because of a lack of emotional bonds in the host country (Hendrickson et al., 2011). On the other hand, researches illustrated that the emergence of physiological health issue among international students in host countries was due to lack of responsibility for own health care needs and failure to seek medical attention with perceived need (Carey & Denise, 2013, p. 2). The possible reasons for this lack of responsibility and failure to seek attention could be that international students did not know whether the problem was important and did not know how to access health

9 4 services related information which include existence, location, public transportations, appointment procedures, absence of fees, and so on (Carey & Denise, 2013). For example, it has been mentioned that some students only eat one meal a day with sleeping less than four hours per night (Carey & Denise, 2013) and others reported, [I] never smoked in China but now smoke heavily to assist with coping academic stress (Carey & Denise, 2013, p. 3). Therefore, this study is interested to find out the unique health related needs of Chinese international students in Canada and the barriers they face when accessing health care information/services. In this way, it will be possible to help them with their life difficulties in the host counties. Several studies have focused on the topic of emotional health of Chinese international students (Carey & Denise, 2013; Yan & Berliner, 2013; Ye, 2006). Scholars illustrated that the formation of friendship and emotional support plays a significant role for students studying overseas and that international students form complex social networks (Hendrickson et al., 2011; Kim, 2001; Ye, 2006; Ying & Liese, 1991). For example, people have studied the role of traditional and online support networks in the process of cross- cultural adaptation and the results suggested that new arrivals reported higher perceived support from online ethnic social groups/communities (Lin et al., 2012; Ye, 2006). Besides providing emotional support, existing research also

10 5 focused on the advantage of online networks in providing help spread at a much faster pace, and it has been studied decades under the bridging social capital 2 topic (Ye, 2006). For example, scholars pointed out that, today, a large number of people seek health related information online through social media applications (Reynolds, 2010; Robillard et al., 2013; Thackeray et al., 2012). This is because social media are powerful tools for the dissemination of health information as they can reach a broad audience in a very short period of time, are easy and affordable to access and use (Robillard et al., 2013, p. 6). However, there is a lack of data on social media adoption among international students during the health seeking process within broader public health settings (Reynolds, 2010; Robillard et al., 2013; Thackeray et al., 2012). Most previous studies about health seeking process have been focused on how immigrations access and utilize health care services in a multicultural setting (Griffiths, 2011; Lin et al., 2011; Rubel & Garro, 1992). For example, scholars have studied the health- seeking attitudes and behaviour of Chinese- American adolescents (Chen & Mak, 2008), and the perceptions of Chinese immigrations regarding access to public health services (Asanin & Wilson, 2008; Bollini & Siem, 1995). Besides this, most studies about social media use for health care related purposes have been concerned with certain topics such as the quality of information online, 2 Bridging social capital consists of loose relationships (i.e., weak ties) which serve as bridges connecting a person to a different network, allowing the person to access to new perspectives and diffuse information (Lin et al., 2012, p. 4).

11 6 source credibility in social media health messages, young adults addiction to Facebook, and so on (Spence et al., 2013; Zheng, 2014). However, as mentioned before, there is a lack of attention to the health- seeking process of Chinese international students, especially to those made evident via social networking channels. In other words, research has not paid much attention to how Chinese international students use technology to manage social networks for the purpose of obtaining useful information, such as health related information, which has been considered one of the most important components of bridging social capital (Lin et al., 2011; Ye, 2006). Moreover, it has been illustrated in previous studies that aside from being informed by direct experience, most peoples understanding of health and health related policies is mediated (Ahmed & Bates, 2013). Therefore, it is important to investigate online health information seeking process of Chinese international students expressed, particularly, via social networking sites. Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on understanding the role of Sina Weibo 3 in the lives of Chinese international students in Canada and their online health related information seeking process in particular. Chinese international students in this study are Chinese citizens who come to Canada to pursue post- secondary education. For the purposes of the study, Chinese international 3 Sina Weibo is a Chinese microblogging website that has been called a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook. It is one of the most popular sites in China, with 368 million registered users as of mid 2012 (Millward, 2012).

12 7 students online search for medical treatment, medicine suggestions and other health- related information will be defined as health information seeking process.

13 8 Chapter Two: Literature Review This chapter reviews existing literature related to social media and health related information seeking process, with special attention to the experiences of ethnic groups online; and, in particular, it examines the experiences of Chinese international students in Canada. A review of previous studies provides a context and background that enables further examination into the online health related information seeking process of Chinese international students. It thus provides a foundation to explore barriers and opportunities these students may confront during their online health related information seeking process. Accordingly, the literature review is divided into three parts. First, a discussion of Chinese international students overseas lives will be presented, and their unique health care needs, including their online health related information seeking process. The second part will discuss how Chinese international students look for health related information by using social media, Sina Weibo, and the role of it in Chinese international students lives, following by a discussion of the concept of virtual community. Finally, the theoretical framework for this study will be introduced. The review covers both general ideas that provide a conceptual framework and specific areas that affect health related information seeking process in today s multicultural society. 2.1 Overseas Lives of Chinese International Students Studies have focused on the overseas lives of Chinese international students not only because they are one of the largest components of foreign students but

14 9 also because they have brought a wide range of benefits for the host counties (Asanin & Wilson, 2008). As mentioned previously, Chinese international students face many life difficulties that they need to cope with, including financial stress, cultural difference, language barriers, social isolation, and so on (Carey & Denise, 2013; Zhang & Zhang, 2013). Most existing studies about Chinese international students have focused on cultural adaption. They illustrate that social media play a critical role during the international students cultural adaption process, especially when they first arrive in a new country, the ways through which they make new friends, and build connections between the home country and the host country (Carey & Denise, 2013; Hendrickson et al., 2011; Yan & Berliner, 2013; Ye, 2006). For example, a Chinese international student claimed that it gave her the feeling of being back at home when watching videos shared by her friends online via social media platform (Martin and Rizvi, 2014). In other words, watching those short videos, movies, and photos shared by her friends via social media made her feel that she was at the same page with her friends and had common interests. Moreover, watching the familiar buildings, the scenes, and the people in videos/photos/movies made her feel that she was physically in her home city/country even though she was not. This is one way that social media build connection between the host country and the home country. As such, it gave her a sense of being back home. Besides providing this back- home feeling, social media also have enabled people to communicate across thousands of miles with the greatest ease. Shuling, a 19- year- old

15 10 international student in Australia, has shopped online with her parents in China by sharing photos via social media apps on her smartphone (Martin and Rizvi, 2014). Shirky (2009) explains that individuals use social communication tools such as blogs and Facebook because these tools can reach a wide variety of audience in a very short period of time with easy and affordable access. What is missing from existing literature is, however, research focusing on the unique health related needs of the Chinese international students, especially those sought via social media platforms The Unique Health Needs of Chinese International Students One research has been done toward 6,828 international students in Australia, of whom 22.9% self- reported as Chinese (Carey & Denise, 2013). The results showed that Chinese international students did not act on a perceived need for help from the health services because of several reasons, such as the feeling of discomfort, the concern about being understood, and doubt that the service would be able to help them (Carey & Denise, 2013, p.2). Obviously, there are a unique health needs among Chinese international students because of their different culture background. As we known, culture plays a critical role when communicating about health, in the health related information seeking process, and so forth (Ahmed & Bates, 2012; Ahmed & Bates, 2013; Ting & Hwang, 2009; Wang, Rosenberg, & Lo, 2008; Witte & Morrison, 1995; Wu, 2011). A great number of literatures have determined that culture has a significant influence on health related information seeking process and behaviours of

16 11 immigrants/newcomers (Carey & Denise, 2013; Griffiths, 2011; Han et al., 2013; Hendrickson et al., 2011; Khawaja & Dempsey, 2008; Lin et al., 2012; Mori, 2000; Rubel & Garro, 1992; Yan & Berliner, 2013). For example, scholars have studied the perceptions of Chinese immigrants regarding access to public health services. They have found that ethnic minority patients, including Chinese immigrants often face many barriers when accessing and using health care services compared with their non- immigrant counterparts because of cultural differences, language, length of stay in the host country, financial constraints, and so on (Abdulrahim & Baker, 2009; Ahmed & Bates, 2013; Asanin & Wilson, 2008; Liang et al., 2009; Sam, 2001; Scheppers, et al., 2006). Therefore, it is necessary to study health related information seeking process of unique population groups in broader cultural contexts. According to Kreuter and McClure (2004), cultural characteristics of any given group may be directly or indirectly associated with health- related priorities, decisions, behaviors, and/or with acceptance and adoption of health education and health communication programs and messages (p. 440). Kreuter and McClure (2004) also claimed that, different people (e.g., African Americans) use different mass media to gratify different needs [e.g., provide a sense of community, cohesiveness, relevant information (p.11). Therefor, this research paper will focus on health related information seeking process of Chinese international students through their use of Chinese social media platform. Specifically, this research paper will focus on the Sina Weibo, which was

17 12 originally created in Mainland China with Mandarin as its premium setting language. Sina Weibo has been one of the most popular social media tools among Chinese international students. The unique context of Chinese international students in Canada will be taken into account when studying Sina Weibo as a virtual community that provides access to Chinese international students in their online health related information seeing processes Health Related Information Seeking The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Official Records of the World Health Organization, 1948, p. 100). Accordingly, in order to discuss Chinese international students online health related information seeking process in the Canadian context, health is defined in this research paper as physical and emotional wellbeing, such as not having disease, living with positive attitudes, being friendly to other people, and so on (Davies, 1946; Green, 2011). In terms of health related information seeking, Lambert & Loiselle (2007) claimed that there is no apparent dominant definition of it because the definitions are varied based on the purpose or focus of particular studies. For the purpose of this research, first, a broader understanding of health information seeking has been employed that relates to the ways in which individuals go about obtaining information, including information about their health, health promotion activities, risks to one s health, and illness (Lambert & Loiselle, 2007,

18 13 p.3). Second, the terms "health related information seeking process" in this research paper is intended to encompass a wide range of behaviours, including individuals' health related information searching via social media platforms, posts related to health issues, and online interaction with other people revolving around these issues Social Media and Health Related Information Seeking Over the recent years, developments in technology have reached many triumphs: one such triumph is the more frequent use of new media platforms. Technological revolutions have enabled people to communicate across thousands of miles with the greatest ease. For example, Shirky (2009) explains that individuals use communication tools such as blogs and Facebook because these tools can reach a broad audience in a very short period of time, with easy and affordable access and use, catering to a large variety of audiences quickly. With such advantages, Hawn (2009) illustrates that web- and mobile- based applications of social media are powerful tools for the dissemination of health information. For example, Robillard et al. (2013) mentioned that today there is a large number of people seeking health related information online and through social media applications, such as the evaluation of word- of- mouth communication about medical corporate brands (Hawn, 2009; Naimy et al., 2013; Park, Rodgers & Stemmle, 2011; Reynolds, 2010; Thackeray et al., 2012; Vance, Howe & Dellavalle, 2009). However, as mentioned before, there is a lack of attention paid to the health related information seeking process, especially via

19 14 social network channels, of international Chinese students, who are considered one of the most important key drivers of Canada s future prosperity. Therefore, this research paper will focus on understanding the role of Weibo in health related information seeking process of Chinese international students in Canada The Role of Weibo: Creating A Virtual Community for Chinese International Students Weibo, one of the most popular Chinese social networks, has been introduced along with the increasing number of international Chinese students worldwide. There are two types of the most popular Weibos in China: Sina Weibo with 368 million users and Tencent Weibo with 469 million users (Guan et al., 2014). TIMETechland reported on the tweets- per- second record (at 25,088 tweets) [that was] reportedly shattered by [a] Chinese microblogging service [with] an average of 32,312 messages per second in the first minute of the Chinese New Year (McMillan, 2012, p.1). We may then examine how the use of Weibo among international Chinese students contributes to the social and psychological adjustments of this population in the host country. We may further explore how cultural differences and personality traits influence these students online health related information seeking process. Existing literature has focused on how Internet- based social media affect the way people interacting with others (Ellison et al., 2007; Ferlander, 2003; Lin, 2001; Wellman et al., 1996). For example, Wellman et al. (1996) argued that, computer- supported social

20 15 networks sustain strong, intermediate, and weak ties that provide information and social support in both specialized and broadly based relationships (p. 213). This study begins with the idea of imagined community in its attempt to study Sina Weibo as a virtual community. The idea of imagined community 4 has been introduced in order to understand how people use new technologies to form new connections and maintain old ones at the same time (Gruzd, Wellman, & Takhteyev, 2011). Like Little Italy (the Italian community) and China Town (the Chinese community), even when people are in networks with loose boundaries, they will often identify themselves as part of a more defined group or community (Freeman et al., 1989). Scholars have focused on locally constrained communities, such as neighborhoods appearing before the 1970s; however, from the 1970s and onwards, the proliferation of long- distance relationships has led some community scholars to expand their area of study to nonlocal ties among friends, relatives and workmates (Gruad et al., 2011; Wellman, 2001). With the rise of the Internet, the notion of virtual community has been rigorously studied in the early 2000s. After years, it has been illustrated that in- person contact is extended and enhanced by contact experienced over the Internet, and vice versa. Thus, these two methods of contact are not replaced by each other. This is true for most modern forms of electronic communication services such as , listserv, instant messaging, and social media (Gruad et al., 2011). Take Twitter as an example, Gruad et al. (2011) established that Twitter 4 "Imagined communities" is a concept coined by Benedict Anderson and he was dealing with societies forging a new social identity by emphasizing a common somewhat artificially constructed community. He focused on such developing societies as Indonesia, where the authorities have tried to construct a common identity out of thousands of islands and ethnic groups (Gruad et al., 2011).

21 16 users form what we can call an imagined community and that one s personal Twitter network exhibits the characteristics of what Jones (1997) has called a virtual settlement 5 (p. 24). Furthermore, by analyzing a person s Twitter account, it has been shown that the Twitter network is more than simply imagined; it also exhibits characteristics of both Jones s virtual settlement and the sense of community of McMillan and his research team (Gruad et al., 2011, p. 33). As such, with lots of similarities shared between Twitter and Weibo, the idea of imagined community will be applied to the understanding of Weibo s role in international Chinese students health related information seeking process. It is possible that Weibo can also be recognized as hosting Chinese online community; and, it furthermore provides a sense of belonging, emotional support and various forms of social capital to its users, such as health related information and so forth (Wu, 2011; Zhou, 2011) How Do International Students Look for Health Related Information by Using Social Media? Creation of Social Capital According to Safko and Brake (2009), social media refer to "activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media" (p.6). Moreover, Neiger et al. (2012) illustrate that social media can be used to inform, educate, and empower people about health issues, to enhance the speed of the communication process about public health emergencies or outbreaks, to 5 The idea of virtual settlement community is based on sociable and supportive social relations, and not on physical locality and a strength of Jones notion is that it is grounded in the combination of computer mediated communication, cyber- archaeology and virtual communities (Gruad et al., 2011).

22 17 mobilize community partnerships and action, to facilitate behavior change, to collect surveillance data (p. 1). However, few works exists on the discussion about international students health related information seeking process via social media. International students need to overcome many uncertainties and difficulties when they first arrive in the host country. As such, it is very important for them to build new ties/connections in the host country. These new sets of relationships can help facilitate newcomers adaptation to respective new cultural environments and maintain emotional well- being (Adelman, 1988; Kim, 1988). As mentioned before, social media platforms, like Twitter, have been considered as the virtual community, which provides its residents with a sense of belonging, and access to social capital (Gruad et al., 2011). Ferlander (2003) also claimed that the Internet could provide, create, and maintain various types of social capital, 6 which has been considered as one of the key elements during the social and psychological adjustment for newcomers, international Chinese students in Canada for example. According to Coleman (1988), social capital is the construct that describes potential cumulated resources and benefits embedded in the relationships with other people (p.2). Therefore, new social networks that have been establish by people in the host country and the long- distance relationships with the home country can help an individual draw upon different resources in order to cope with life difficulties, psychological stress and maintain emotional well- being 6 Social Capital is the construct that describes potential cumulated resources and benefits embedded in the relationships with other people, such as emotional support, useful information, or financial aid assistance. There are two types of social capital, bridging and bonding (Lin et al., 2012, p.4).

23 18 (Berry, 1997; Fontaine, 1986; Kim, 1988; Ye, 2006; Ying & Liese, 1991; Yum, 1982). Besides emotional support information exchanges (also known as bridging social capital), it is even more urgent for newcomers to acquire information/knowledge of the host country s language, culture, worldviews, beliefs, norms, and rules; and, it is important for them to develop interpersonal relationships during the process of communication (Kim, 2005; Lin et al., 2012). One of the most efficient methods is to establish new ties in the host country; this serves to bridge social capital, as we discussed earlier. Friendship has been rigorously studied for decades as one of the most important social support resources; it is an extremely important component for individuals in satisfying deeply personal and emotional needs especially in the host country (Hendrickson et al., 2011). Zalenski and Raspa (2006) illustrated that friendship falls in the third level of Maslow s hierarchy of needs, which fulfills the need for belonging and love. Therefore, similarly, the need to acquire knowledge of the host country language, and information regarding the norms, rules and medical facilities, health related information falls into Maslow s basic level in the hierarchy of needs; in this level, we find the physiological and safety requirements. Health related information is one of the most important types of knowledge that newcomers need to obtain in the host country. As such, it is important to study the extent to which the ability to acquire health related information in the host country can help improve the lives of newcomers, especially that of Chinese international students. However, few studies have

24 19 focused on this area. Therefore, there is room for a greater reflection on how Chinese international students seek health related information, especially via the Chinese social media platform Weibo; and, few studies have also examined the barriers encountered when trying to access quality health care services and information. Accordingly, two research questions are asked: RQ 1: What role does Weibo play in the health related information seeking process of international Chinese students in Canada? RQ 2: What barriers do Chinese international students face when accessing health care related information/services by using Weibo in Canada? The following section presents a discussion on the theoretical framework that the study adopted in order to examine the role of Weibo in the health related information seeking process of international Chinese students in Canada. 2.3 Theoretical Framework A large number of scholars have developed various theoretical frameworks to study communication among people with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. For example, Hendrickson and other researchers (2011) pointed out the need for the emotional well- being of sojourners during the adjustment process; similarly, Ying & Liese (1991) emphasized both sociocultural and psychological aspects during the process of cross- cultural adaptation; and, Kim (2001) examines the process and structure of cross cultural adaptation in which individuals adapt to new and unfamiliar cultures. As mentioned before, in many cases international students may feel homesickness, discontentment, and/or dissatisfaction with

25 20 their current situation when they arrive in the host country; this may be due to the lack of support, particularly emotional support (Hendrickson et al., 2011). Therefore, the social support theory examines how to assist an individual to reorganize different resources in order to cope with the difficulties of life, psychological stress and so on during the cross- cultural adaptation process (Adelman, 1988; Ye, 2006). Like the social support theory, Coleman (1988) focused on the conceptualization of social capital, which is the construct that describes potential cumulated resources and benefits embedded in the relationships with other people (p. 2). This paper will focus on the theory of social capital; in order to better understand the role of Weibo in the lives of international Chinese students and the role that Weibo plays in their health related information seeking behaviours. This theory will help facilitate examination of how Weibo helps international Chinese students in Canada overcome difficulties and how it provides various types of support during the cross- cultural adaptation process. In Coleman s theory (1988), social capital is the construct that describes potential cumulated resources and benefits embedded in the relationships with other people (p.2). There are many sources of social capital that can be found in our daily lives: examples of these are emotional support from old friends, useful information, advertisements, financial aid assistance, and so on. Generally, the idea of social capital has two kinds of functions: these two applications are referred to as bonding social capital and bridging social capital. More specifically, bonding social capital, also known as

26 21 strong ties, mainly provides emotional support through close relationships in our lives, such as from families and old friends. Bridging social capital ( weak ties ) normally serves a similar function as a bridge; this can provide people access to a different circumstance and help diffuse information (Lin et al., 2012). When paying specific attention to international Chinese students, it is necessary to explore specific ethnic social network sites. Weibo is an example of one such site, which has been considered as one of the most important sources that provides social capital as well as social support for Chinese international students. Therefore, to better understand the Chinese micro blogging Weibo, this paper aimed to study Sina Weibo as a virtual community and does so by using Benedict Anderson s (1983) idea of the imagined community. Benedict Anderson noticed that the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow- members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion (1983, p. 6). This seems to be what is happening on Weibo, which will be examined later. Besides Anderson s notion of Imagined Community, the application of Jones s (1997) notion of virtual settlement and McMillan et al. (1986) concept of a Sense of community, can provide insights into the role of Weibo in the lives of international Chinese students. There are four conditions to Jones s idea of virtual settlement : (a) interactivity; (b) more than two communicators; (c) common- public- places where members can meet and interact; (d) sustained membership over time (Gruad et al., 2011). This model has been applied to social media platforms like

27 22 Twitter. In this research paper, it will be used to examine the artifacts that community members create (in the case of Twitter, artifacts are source- follow relationships and their postings) and, based on these artifacts, [it will] quantify each of the four conditions described above (Gruad et al., 2011, p. 9). According to McMillan et al. (1986): Community members experience a sense of community if they feel that they belong to the community (membership), [that] they can make a difference to the community (influence), [that] they provide support and are supported by other members (integration and fulfillment of needs), and [that] they share history, common places, time together, and similar experiences (shared emotional connection). (Gruad et al., 2011, p. 9) Meanwhile, McMillan et al. (1986) also illuminate both the social and psychological mechanisms that serve to link individuals to their community even if that community is an imagined community; this is very similar to other scholars understanding that it is necessary to examine both sociocultural and psychological aspects of cross- cultural adaptation (Ward et al., 1997; Ward & Kennedy, 1994; Ye, 2006; Ying & Liese, 1990, 1991). Chapter Summary This chapter provided a review of literature relevant to the topic of Chinese international students health related information seeking process via social media. The next chapter introduces the methodology that has been employed in

28 23 this study. It describes the specific data collection, and data analysis procedures as well as methodological limitations.

29 24 Chapter Three: Methodology This study employed qualitative and quantitative content analyses to investigate health related information seeking process via Sina Weibo among Chinese international students in Canada. Wright (1986) claimed that content analysis is a research technique for the systematic classification it may involve quantitative or qualitative [approaches], or both (p. 125). With regards to quantitative content analysis, Starosta (1984) also argued that: Content analysis translates [the] frequency of occurrence of certain symbols into summary judgments and comparisons of content of the discourse whatever means [that] will presumably take up space and/or time; hence, the greater that space and/or time [is], the greater the meaning s significance [will become]. (p. 185) Robillard and colleagues (2013) pointed out that content analysis of tweets can be a productive method to evaluate discourse surrounding health and disease. Therefore, by conducting content analysis of Sina Weibo posts, the researcher will be able to discover how Chinese international students use Sina Weibo to seek health related information and potential barriers they may face and/or opportunities they may be afforded. Content analysis may also provide details of what sources of information about health related issues are promoted through Weibo. Most importantly, analyses of Sina Weibo users posts/reposts,

30 25 the way they use language, and types of interaction messages they share with each other will help to discover how Sina Weibo helps to create a virtual community that provides Chinese international students various types of social capital (Gruad et al., 2011; Ye, 2006). 3.1 Participants and Sampling Participants in this study are presumably Chinese international students in Canada who followed certain Sina Weibo accounts and contributed to the discussion through Weibo posts. In this study, four Sina Weibo accounts ( The bulletin of how to save money in Canada, Canadian Tourism Commission, University of Ottawa, The Chinese international students union of University of Ottawa ) were selected. This selection was based on the following criteria: 1) the account must be created under the name of Canada/Canadian/Ottawa and it must carry everyday information, which aim to help Chinese international students overcome difficulties; 2) the brands must be popular among Chinese international students; 3) the account must be active and employed by users of Weibo.com instead of being hosted on alternative accounts or cyber accounts. These four Weibo accounts have been selected based on key words searches, including Canada, Chinese international students, Ottawa, and University of Ottawa, that were applied to Sina Weibo user accounts, and those four Weibo accounts have been selected depending on how many followers each group has

31 26 and their popularity among Chinese international students. A systematic random sampling technique was used as a first step to create the database. The reason for choosing this technique was that it gave every unit an equal rate in the population and it had been considered to be an effective methodological procedure for maximizing external and internal validity by many researchers (Andersson, 2011; Budd, Thorp & Donohew, 1967; Dattalo, 2010). Specifically, this technique also helps to minimize sampling bias, and consequently, approximates results that would be obtained from studying an entire population (Dattalo, 2010, p.3). Similarly, Neuman (2011) stated that random samples yield samples most likely to truly represent the entire population (p. 312). Therefore, the quantitative results could demonstrate the pattern and frequencies of how Chinese international students use Weibo. With regard to the topic of health related information seeking process (e.g., how to benefit from student health insurance; which health plan is better for international students; how to find a Dentist who can speak fluent Mandarin in Toronto; information about how to get free health- related product), a purposive sampling strategy was employed for creating a database with health- related theme. According to Neuman (2011), purposive sampling can help researchers to locate all possible cases of a highly specific and difficult- to- reach population. Thus this method could help to identify potential barriers and opportunities

32 27 associated with Chinese international students health related information seeking process via Weibo. After creating the database of Weibo posts from January 1 st to the end of April 2014, the researcher went through all posts in the database and removed those that did not fit the topic of health related seeking information process. 3.2 Data Collection Data reported in this study were focused on texts only, and were generated through participants online activities, posts, reposts, and interaction comments on Sina Weibo. For quantitative content analysis, data were collected from the first post on Weibo.com from January 1st to the end of April 2014 by using systematic random sampling technique. The study was delimited to a certain period of Weibo posts (from January to April, 2014) to keep the sample size to a manageable size for analysis. As Berger (1982) argued, although the sample size for quantitative analysis should be as large as possible in order to improve reliability, it is also necessary to consider the variables required in order to conduct this study and reality as well. Besides this, the time frame (from January 1st to the end of April, 2014) has been selected due to two main reasons: first, the number of Chinese international students increased apparently, due to the beginning of a new semester; second, one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals, the Spring Festival, fell in the period of January to April. People

33 28 generally become more active and sociable during the festive season. Therefore, by focusing only on posts and participants interaction comments that occurred from the beginning of 2014 to the end of April 2014, the researcher were able to collect a sufficient and manageable amount of data for the study to allow the needed time to process and analyze the data. In table 1, a breakdown of the Weibo posts, from January to April 2014, was presented. There were around 4164 posts from January 1st to the end of April 2014 on the four Weibo accounts compared to a total amount of 28,234 by the end of 2014, an amount way too big to compete the current study given its limited scope. Table 1: The Number of Weibo Posts in The Four Chosen Accounts Name Weibo Posts (By the end of 2014) Weibo Posts (1 st January, th April, 2014) Canadian Tourism Commission The bulletin of how to save 21, money in Canada University of Ottawa The Chinese international students union of University of Ottawa Total 28, 234 4, 165 In order to produce a reliable and valid sample from the population size for quantitative analysis, a population ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 requires a sample of 10% (Neuman, 2011). Therefore, a total of 416 samples were gathered

34 29 for quantitative analysis, which was based on the division of the population by the sample size (4165/416) and it equals a sampling interval of 10. The number 2 was chosen as the random start, and the value of the interval was added to the randomly selected number to generate data. For example, the selected posts for analysis were the 2nd, 12nd, 22nd, 32nd, and so on (see Table 2). The next steps for data collection employed a purposive sampling technique. The research went through all 416 collected posts in the database and removed all posts not related to the research topic, health related information seeking process. Table 2: Sampling Illustration for Quantitative Content Analysis Population size = 4165 Sample size = 416 Interval = population/sample = 4165/4161= 10 Random number = 2 For qualitative content analysis, the researcher used theory- informed themes and sub- themes (see Table 3): the idea of Twitter as an imagined community (Gruad et al., 2011), Jones s (1997) virtual settlement and the sense of community of McMillan et al. (1986) that yielded insights into how Sina Weibo serves as a virtual community and provides Chinese international students various types of social capital and how Sina Weibo promotes health related information online.

35 30 Table 3: Main Themes and Sub-themes for Qualitative Content Analysis Main Theme Sub-theme Twitter as an imagined Common Language community Temporality High Centers Virtual Settlement Interactivity A Variety of Communicators A Common Public Place Where Members Can Meet and Interact Sustained Membership Over Time Sense of Community Membership Influence Integration and Fulfillment of Needs Shared Emotional Connection Table 3 emphasizes the importance of reciprocal connections and their position as a core element of the community. Even though Twitter was not designed to support the development of online communities, it has been noticed that Studying Twitter [by applying the idea of imagined community, the theory of virtual settlement, and a sense of community is useful for understanding how people use new communication technologies to form new social connections and maintain existing ones (Gruzd et al., 2011, p. 1). The aim was to examine how people specifically grouped together under a certain purpose, (e.g., health related information seeking) and how one community/group could be created during the process of communication. Moreover, this research focused on four different levels of study that could be used to examine virtual community : the self, the interpersonal level, Internet

36 31 norms, and the broader community level (Gruad et al., 2011). The researcher translated the Weibo posts and participants comments, with the assistance of a computer, from Chinese language (e.g., Mandarin) to English. In so doing, attention has been paid to verify, whether the translation has captured the meaning of each statement (Hesse- biber & Leavy, 2008, p. 216). 3.3 Data Analysis Data analysis was a complex process, which included data examining, testing, recombining evidence, and so on (Yin, 2009). To reiterate, quantitative data analysis in this study involved using descriptive statistics to categorize health related Weibo posts collected form the database. Qualitative data analysis in this study involved detailed examination of individual posts/comments and translation because of the language difference. After translating, the researcher employed thematic analysis method, which allowed an in- depth description of patterns within the data to be identified (Attard & Coulson, 2012). Thematic analyses of the Weibo posts related to health were undertaken. Besides this, in order to examine whether Weibo can be imagined as a virtual community, for the qualitative analysis part, the researcher applied three conditions of the Imagined Community (common languages, temporality, and high centers); Jones four requirements of virtual settlements (interactivity, a variety of communicators, a common public place where members can meet and interact,

37 32 and sustained membership over time); and the idea of sense of community to the collected sample Weibo posts and participants interaction comments from January 1st to the end of April, 2014 (Gruad et al., 2011). 3.4 Limitations There are several limitations that need to be taken into consideration when assessing the sample of this study. First of all, like in the case of in- depth interviews and focus group studies, content analysis is time- consuming. A voluminous number of posts and messages need to undergo analysis and in this case translation too. Hence, the sample size of this study had to be small enough to be manageable. Second, the sample included participants who were from a specific university (e.g., University of Ottawa) in Canada. Third, there are other major micro blogging platforms in China such as Tencent, Sohu, or 163, which have not been taken into account. Therefore, the sample of this study is not representative enough to make generalizations for the whole group. Chapter Summary This chapter discussed the selection of quantitative and qualitative content analysis as the research method for this research paper, both research method. The proposed study aims to understand the role of Weibo in the lives of Chinese international students in Canada; this study pays special attention to the health related information seeking process of Chinese international students via Sina