The rapid growth of web technology, electronic devices, and usage of social network, bullying has expended into the technological realm. Cyberbullying are becoming widespread problem and has received a significant amount of attention by media, researchers’ community and society. Currently, there is ongoing debate regarding on definitions, what constitutes cyberbullying and the common conceptualization of the phenomenon. Basically, definitions of cyberbully are largely based on definitional criteria of bullying. However, cyber-based communication having their own unique nature, thus it is difficult to relate bullying criteria in relation to cyberbased abuse. Variations across definitions are problematic for researchers examining different cyberbullying phenomena. Furthermore, the absence of agreed conceptualization of the definitional criteria and characteristics of cyberbullying behaviors obstructs the development of reliable measure. In the other hand, different countries might use different words to describe the definition of the cyberbullying. Therefore, it is critically required the research back to fundamental tenet for defining and conceptualizing cyberbullying behaviors in order to move into new phase of research on bullying. Thus, studying the definitional criteria and characteristics of cyberbullying behaviors in Malaysian perspective is required to conceptualize cyberbullying measurement in Malaysian context. In order to achieve conclusive findings of the study, a mixed method research is recommended: qualitative data will be analyzed using the grounded theory analytical method and quantitative method is applied to verify the developed framework. The mixed method approach promotes both theory development and theory evaluation: thus bring conclusive findings that provides important insights for public and private policy-makers to interpret the research outcome and convert the laws into practical and understandable guidelines for educators.
Volume 11 | 08-Special Issue
Pages: 1041-1048