Katie Warners Blog: Experimental Research Comments

Katie Warners Blog: Experimental Research Comments: "In Public Relations Research class we have been discussing Experimental research. Experimental research is one of the more difficult method..."

Experimental Research Comments

In Public Relations Research class we have been discussing Experimental research.  Experimental research is one of the more difficult methods we have discussed in class because of all the sources of invalidity.  But even though there is a lot that can go wrong when conducting an experiment, if you are careful and take your time to thoroughly plan out your experiment you can have great success.  Experiments are used occasionally in the business world, and according to my fellow classmate Alexis Gerleit they are used frequently in the fashion world.  In the fashion industry experimental research is used to determine consumer trends.  When dealing with the fashion industry it is important to be up to date on all the latest trends or your clothes will be considered outdated and not sell.  Alexis talks about how “there are internal and external factors that drive people to shop.” Both intern and external factors are motivators within persons thoughts, the article Alexis talked about highlights all the different experiments conducted to get into the minds of shoppers and figure out what motivates their thought process.  Alexis’s article gave me a greater insight into the world of fashion; I did not realize that so much research went into the fashion industry.

Another one of my classmates Lisa Perez broke down control groups and experimental groups within an experiment.  She talks about the placebo effect by using two groups, A and B as an example.  “Group A would be the experimental group...and they would receive the ‘placebo’.  They would think that the pill is going to make them focus, when in reality it is just sugar.  And group B would be the control group and given the same amount of work to complete without any help.” She then said how if we were researchers we could test the results to see who was more successful at completing their work.  Lisa’s blog provided me with more information regarding control groups and experimental groups.  She was able to break down the two groups into a way in which students could relate to. 

Katie Warners Blog: Non-Profits Continue to Give Back

Katie Warners Blog: Non-Profits Continue to Give Back: "Throughout the semester I have focused my blog on non-profit organizations. I have spent various amount of hours researching the various re..."

Non-Profits Continue to Give Back

Throughout the semester I have focused my blog on non-profit organizations.  I have spent various amount of hours researching the various research methods of non-profits, and studying the patterns of their donors.  But today I wanted to focus on something more personal and closer to me as an individual.  Rather than defining research methods and stating how non-profits could better their research efforts I am going to talk about how non-profits benefit us as a society.

I read an article today called “Young Lumbee promotes community involvement”.  This article talks about a woman named Kendra Danielle Chavis who lost her apartment and all of her belongings in a tragic fire.  She was without a place to live and without any clothes or necessities to get her through the day.  But she was able to fine hope with help from her community.  “A local charity gave Chavis an $800 Wal-Mart gift card, the clothing retailer where she worked donated several hundred dollars worth of clothing, and local community members donated a television, an entertainment center and other household items.”  (Boney 2010)

With the support from community members Kendra was able to put her tragedy in the past and move on.  But Kendra’s story is different, instead of taking the donations and going back to her normal life she decided to dedicate her entire life to helping others.  Kendra began working on a platform called “UNITY” which stands for Uniting Neighbors Initially Takes You, this platform encourages people to become involved in their communities by helping out their neighbors.  Kendra used her tragedy to help others, where she even began volunteering with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and Special Olympics. 

I wanted to focus my blog on this topic today because we all need to take a step back at times and realize the good non-profits and philanthropy services are for our community.  Without the constant events and services put out by these organizations there would be very little community involvement.  Non-profits bring out the good in our communities, and are essential for any community success.  I decided to write my blog on non-profits this semester because I wanted to look into the organizations that have changed our society for the better.  We get so wrapped up in our own lives sometimes, and I wanted to look into the services done all across the country.  Through all of the research discussions we have had in class, I believe that I was able to learn a lot about the importance of research in any organization, especially non-profits.  Without research these great organizations would not remain successful, and stories such as Kendra’s would not exist. 

Katie Warners Blog: Social Media and Non-Profits

Katie Warners Blog: Social Media and Non-Profits: "Social media including twitter, podcasts, facebook, youtube, and blogs are taking over the business industry. One of the main ways to reach..."

Social Media and Non-Profits

Social media including twitter, podcasts, facebook, youtube, and blogs are taking over the business industry.  One of the main ways to reach an audience now is through media networking, and with the number of users growing daily, social media is rapidly increasing.  Non-profit organizations however have been slower to jump on the social media band wagon, according to an article in the Philanthropy Journal titled Social media not yet routine at foundations, “68 percent are using YouTube at least occasionally, 53 percent are using blogs at least occasionally, 39 percent are using Podcasts at least occasionally, and only 18 percent are using Twitter at least occasionally, while 60 percent have never used Twitter.” 

Throughout this semester of Public Relations Research,  I have focused much of my blog on the importance of research within a non-profit organization.  Here in this article, the researchers used a survey to determine the amount of foundations that are up to date with the latest social media trends.  And unfortunately the research found that nearly half of the foundations they surveyed have yet to utilize social media.  Non-profits rely heavily on their donations, without them they would not be successful, so why are they not utilizing every outlet that will get them recognized? 

In my opinion, I believe that non-profit foundations are focusing their attention on their typical target audience.  They are more focused with previous donors rather than branching out to potential new members.  But by doing this they are missing out on a whole new audience, which is audience on social media sites.  This audience is so large, according to marketing pilgrim 80% of Americans use social media at least once a month.  By utilizing social media sites in a proper manner, non-profits could be gaining much more consumer awareness, which in the end will bring in more donations.

By using survey research, the researchers were able to discover exactly how many foundations were utilizing social media.  With the results being so low, hopefully non-profits will get the hint that something needs to be done.  They are missing out on a large group of consumers, and that could all be changed with the simple task of using social media.  The surveys that were taken in my opinion will open the eyes of non-profits all over the country; they will hopefully use this information and start expanding their target audience. 

Katie Warners Blog: Qualitative Research and Non-Profit Organizations

Katie Warners Blog: Qualitative Research and Non-Profit Organizations: "Qualitative Research is a topic we have spent a good deal of time discussing in class. A broad definition of Qualitative research is the ma..."