Chapter 5: Conclusion, Suggestion, and Limitation
5.3 Limitations of Study
This study, as in any scholarly work, involves limitations that may have influenced the findings of this research. Firstly, the respondent selection of purposeful sampling pose a challenge when one is attempting to recruit through sources from which output is
unpredictable.
Secondly, the number of years a student has been in the university significantly impacts adjustment and learning performance (Hwang et al., 2011). However, although past research considers this as a factor, this study did not consider the years as a consideration since the respondents all stayed in Taiwan within a three-year range.
Another limitation is that the interviews were conducted by a researcher who is also a Christian. This fact may have influenced the participants’ responses during the interview
because they may have simplified descriptions of their experiences, assuming that the researcher is one of them and should already understand what they were talking about. In
addition, the researcher’s background may have overemphasized or underestimated the
findings of the study because of personal experience. The participants were encouraged to make their sharing as detailed as possible and this researcher tried to remain neutral during the analysis stage of the study. However, it is inevitable that the above limitations also influenced the findings to a particular extent.
This research also limited its study to Protestant Christians. The reasoning behind this is
explained in the personal confession of the student, as mentioned in Chapter 1, and also since a study on the individual’s use of online spiritual resources is more fitting when studied
within the more the independent denomination of the Protestant faith. Comparatively, Protestantism is considered more independent than more heavily institutionalized forms of Christianity such as Roman Catholicism and the Orthodox Church, wherein there are
prescribed rules for individual behavior. (Lavrič and Flere, 2010) 5.4 Implications for Future Research
This study offers a starting point for understanding the features of online religious practice by foreign students. Future studies on online religion may take into account other religions and do a comparative analysis of their differing online practices. In fact, the online survey initially sent out to select respondents for the in-depth interview showed a number of Muslim foreign students who noted positive on their online use for religious purposes.
However, for the sake of simplicity, this study has limited its range to Christians only.
As more and more people are engaged in cross-cultural living in this new century, compounded with the fast pace of development in technology, it is increasingly important to further understand the challenges associated with this phenomenon and to develop
interventions to facilitate this transition. This study did not examine other descriptions of foreign students apart from their online media use. However, an analysis of their cultural background, religious denomination, years of stay, and acculturation process may be an interesting addition to this research. A look into the foreign students’ communication patterns with other aspects of their living or other media use can also be explored and compared with
how they communicate online when it comes to spiritual matters.
5.5 Epilogue
This study sought to see how a person uses technology to shape his faith. At the end of the day, as what previous literature have concluded, when all is said and done, it’s the
relationship with Jesus Christ that makes the difference, in both the offline and online world.
Ultimately, it is faith alone that really matters. Whether the Christian finds salvation through a post of a stranger on Facebook, through a Skype prayer with a friend an ocean’s
distance away, through the through the missionary who invited him over for coffee, or
through walking past an august church along the street, it does not merit an inquest since as what Lavric and Flere (2010) explains, the simple idea is that “Jesus loves everybody and
will ensure a place in heaven for all those who believe in Him.” And as for the Christian’s
spiritual growth, the core is having one’s whole life under the authority of God, allowing Him
to work through you on a daily basis, be it sharing the gospel door-to-door or through one’s
twitter shout-outs, spending a weekend at the prayer mountain, billing internet hours to intercede for a friend via webcam, reading God’s word by leafing through those worn-out Bible pages or using one’s finger jumping from one Bible translation to another off an Ipad…
Technology is powerful, but God can similarly use technology in mighty and creative ways to make us know Him and be with Him.
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