A Qualitative Study of Youth Evangelisation using the Internet by Sony Sebastian B Ph , B Sc , B Th , M A Student No 54177227 Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisors Dr Andrew G McGrady and Dr Kevin Williams School of Education Mater Dei Institute of Education Dublin City University October 2011 Declaration I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PhD, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: _______ Sony Sebastian id No, i f DaK: 2 - P te l TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents 1V Abstract V11 Acknowledgements vm List of Tables 1X List of Figures x List of Abbreviations x* Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1 The Church, the Internet and Young People An Overview 1 1 2 A Net Driven Church^ 3 1 3 Youth Excitement of Today and Promises of Tomorrow 4 1 4 The Internet Powered by Youth 5 1 5 Primary Objective of the Study 6 1 6 Structure of the Thesis 6 PART I - THEORETICAL CONCERNS............................ 7 2 EVANGELISATION IN A GLOBAL WORLD 2 1 Context and Main Topics 9 2 2 Evangelisation The Universal Mission of the Church 11 2 3 Pioneers of Modem Evangelisation Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II 26 2 4 Summary and Conclusions 47 3 THE CHARACTERISTICS AND POTENTIAL OF THE INTERNET AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION 3 1 Communication 51 3 2 Unweaving the Web 58 3 3 Sacred Space and Cyberspace 72 3 4 Conclusion 94 in Chapter Page 4 EMPOWERING YOUTH IN CYBERSPACE 4 1 The Concept of Youth 96 4 2 Characteristics of Cyber-age Youth 104 4 3 Natives of the Post-modern Era 106 4 4 Cyber Relationships Locale of Youth Ministry 115 4 5 From Hyper text to Hyper being a Proposal 122 4 6 Conclusion 137 PART II - FIELDWORK .............................................................. 139 5 THE CYBERSOULS PROJECT DESIGN, PILOTING AND IMPLEMENTATION 5 1 Design of the Cybersouls Project 140 5 2 Piloting of the Project 150 5 3 Research Ethics 155 5 4 Implementation of the Project 155 5 5 Data Collection and Case Study Selection 160 5 6 Conclusion 175 6 QUESTIONNAIRE FINDINGS AND CASE STUDY DESCRIPTIONS 6 1 Findings Online Questionnaire 176 6 2 Review of Research Questions 188 6 3 Case Studies using NVivo 191 6 4 Case Descriptions 194 6 5 Consolidation of Case Studies 207 6 6 Conclusion 209 IV Chapter Page 7 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CASES 7 1 Methods of Analysis 210 7 2 Dynamics of Online Interaction 214 7 3 Characteristics of Virtual Communication 219 7 4 Evangelisation in Cyberspace 239 7 5 Conclusion 252 8 SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS 8 1 Overview of the Study 253 8 2 Research Findings 254 8 3 Suggestions for Expanding the Project 266 8 4 Possible Areas of Future Research 267 8 5 Final Reflections 269 Appendices 271 Bibliography 296 v ABSTRACT A Qualitative Study of Youth Evangelisation using the Internet Sony Sebastian This research examines the effectiveness of the Internet as a means of youth evangelisation The project is divided into two mam parts (1) The establishment of a theoretical base relating to the concept of evangelisation, the Internet as a means of social communication and youth culture (11) The design, implementation and analysis of a cohort of case studies to test a research question based on the theoretical perspectives Following a general introduction (Ch 1), the chapter on evangelisation (Ch 2) defines the concept and examines its development The Internet as a means of social communication is considered in chapter 3, preceded by an overview of broader models of communication of relevance to web 2 0 In chapter 4 various aspects of contemporary global youth culture are considered in the context of web 2 0 The second part of the study - the fieldwork, covered in Chapters 5-7, is based on the design and activation of an online portal (Cybersouls) The mam research question was to test the efficacy of the online mentoring of young people by Faith Fnends (FFs) intended to deepen their understanding, appreciation and appropriation of their faith tradition This was facilitated through mutual online interaction in the context of religious education material presented in digital Scrolls Mixed methods were adopted m the analytical process In-depth qualitative analysis of data (using NVivo) was undertaken relating to a sample of cases selected by survey sampling and usage sampling techniques The key research findings are (l) Effective mentonng by a Faithfnend enhances the potential of the web 2 0 environment for youth evangelisation Such effective mentonng depends on careful selection and training of Faithfnends, particularly their proficiency m ICT skills, youth culture and knowledge of the faith tradition (11) A collaborative and constructivist model of using the Internet underpins an effective approach to evangelisation with young people (111) Making use of the full potential of web 2 0, the proficiency of multimedia and social networking enhances the effectiveness of evangelisation (i v ) The efficacy of an online environment of evangelisation is dependent on the calibre of the offline resources and organisational capacities that are utilised VI Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to everybody who offered me assistance in various ways in the course of my research First of all, I wish to thank my supervisor, Dr Andrew G McGrady, who trusted, challenged and inspired me on my research journey Also, I acknowledge the support and encouragement given by Dr Kevin Williams, as a co-supervisor Dr Paddy Devit and Dr Gabriel Flynn were most helpful during various stages of the project I am indebted to the staff in the registry and the library and the IT department of Mater Dei Institute of Education for their assistance during my time on the campus Special thanks are due to John Chacko for his input in the design and development of the website To those members of Jesus Youth who shared the task of authenticating Faithfnends, together with members of other youth movements, I offer my sincere appreciation The Faithfnends themselves and all Cybersouls who acted as the ‘salt of the earth’ ment special mention as, without them, this research could not have been undertaken I gratefully remember the congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) to which I belong, for their continued trust in me over these years Finally, my warmest thanks are due to my beloved parents and all my fnends m Ireland and India for their ongoing support throughout the project VII LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 5 1 Initial Case Processing Summary with 8 Variables 170 5 2 First Result of Reliability Test 171 5 3 Inter-item Correlation Matrix in Survey 171 5 4 Item-Total Statistics 172 5 5 Reliability Statistics with 7 Variables 172 5 6 Selected Participants for Qualitative Analysis 174 6 1 Pseudonyms Given to Selected CSs and FFs 194 7 1 Summary of Tools Used m Scrolls 214 7 2 Completion Rate of Scrolls within 13 Cases 238 8 1 Online Activities of FFs and CSs 260 9 1 List of Scrolls 276 9 2 Dynamic Tools Used for Interactivity and Conversation in Scrolls 280 V lll LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1 1 The Rise in Internet Use by Age 3 2 1 The Three Spheres of the Study 10 2 2 Various Currents Involved in the Onward Journey of the Church 49 3 1 Simple Form of Communication 52 3 2 Shannon & Weaver Model of Communication 55 3 3 Three Categories of Internet Users 89 5 1 A Jesus Youth member Chooses to be an Online Faithfnend 145 5 2 Cybersouls Begin the Registration Process 146 5 3 Scrolls (Lessons for Online Catechesis) 148 5 4 Interaction between a Cybersoul and Faith Friend 149 5 5 Online Activities Involved in the Project 153 5 6 Overall View of the Roles of Participants in the Cybersouls Project 159 5 7 A Drama Frame of Commumcation in Cybersouls 164 5 8 Usage of Scrolls by Cybersouls 168 6 1 The Scrolls/themes in this website helped me to reflect seriously about my faith 177 6 2 1 like interacting via social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, Orkut, Myspace etc 178 6 3 1 feel part of the online Cybersouls community 179 6 4 I am closer to my pansh/community because of the Cybersouls website 180 6 5 I understand my Catholic faith better now 182 6 6 1 would recommend the Cybersouls website to a fnend in order to deepen his/her faith 183 6 7 My Faithfnend in the Cybersouls website has helped me to deepen my faith 183 6 8 Taking part m the Cybersouls project has enlivened my faith 184 6 9 Additional Comments . 185 6 lOLmear Merge of the Three Spheres 189 6 11 Dynamic Merge of Three Spheres 190 6 12Elements in a Case 193 7 1 Research Model Adopted in this Study 212 7 2 Dimensions of Interactivity between Cybersouls and Faithfnends 230 7 3 Interactive Landscape in Cyber souls Portal 232 7 4 Average rate of Completion of Conversations between Cases 244 8 1 Important Factors in the Research 263 8 2 Convergence of the Three Spheres Forming the Space of Evangelisation 264 IX ABBREVIATIONS ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network BEC Basic Ecclesial Community CA Conversation Analysis CAQDAS Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis System CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church CCUN Church Computer User Network CMC Computer Mediated Communication CMS Content Management System CS Cybersoul DA Discourse Analysis EN Evangelu Nuntiandi FF Faithfnend FNC Federal Networking Council FTP File Transfer Protocol GDC General Directory for Catechesis GNU GNU’s Not Unix ICT Information and Communication Technology ISP Internet Service