For our Final Exam in FYE 1220, Mackenzie and I would like your help. Let’s develop a list of what you consider to be the most important things you’ve learned, and then turn that list into multiple choice questions. You’ll find out in class which categories you’ll need to write questions for.
Working with the GSU Eagle Print Shop :: Fall 2009
[Updated from a post from Fall 2008]
Not long ago, my PRCA 3339 (PR Publications) classes took a field trip to the Eagle Print Shop on the Georgia Southern University campus. Our goal was to learn how students in the PR program could work most effectively with the print shop, especially for their PR Publications, PR Research and PR Campaigns classes. Here are a few of the tips shared by Eagle Print Shop Manager Brenda Aytes:
In General
- Allow enough lead time for the work to get done. For most PR class projects, two to three days are appreciated.
- Know what you want the output to look like before you go to the Eagle Print Shop. For example, for the PR Pubs brochure, you’ll want to tell them you need “80-lb. glossy paper, 8.5×11, printed duplex in color.”
- Design your document so it will cost you less. For example, rather than creating one small handbill and centering it in the middle of a page, put four copies of the handbill on one 8.5×11 page. Then the print shop can cut your document into fours.
- It is possible for the Eagle Print Shop to print your brochure as a bleed, with the print running to the edge of the paper. However, it will cost you a bit more and take a bit longer. You’ll need to ask them to print the brochure on 11×17 paper and trim it to 8.5×11.
- Photos and other graphic print best when they are a minimum of 300 dpi; 150 may print fairly well, too.
- If using the Georgia Southern logo, be sure to use the correct logo and be sure you have permission to use it. See the GSU Identity Standards for guidelines. (Note: Only the Athletic Department can use certain logos.)
- Have your flash drive or CD prepared. Create ONE folder with all the necessary files in it for this specific print job. (Necessary files include the .indd file, .pdf file, fonts and photos.) Name this folder with your name and the contents; for example, “Barbara Nixon, PRCA 3339 Brochure.”)
- If printing something from InDesign, it’s best to export the file as a PDF and print the PDF. This will ensure that the file looks the way you intended to when it prints (fonts, layout, etc.). Also have the original InDesign file with you, just in case you notice something that needs to be changed at the last minute. You can’t easily edit a PDF.
- The Eagle Print Shop has InDesign CS3 (the version we have in the Veazey Hall computer labs). If you’ve downloaded the newest trial version of InDesign from Adobe’s website, it will be InDesign CS4 – and the print shop will be unable to work with your file, unless you export the file as InDesign Interchange first.
- The Eagle Print Shop will give you a price quote after you answer a series of questions detailing exactly what you want. They cannot give you a complete printed price list, however.
- If you choose to e-mail your project to Eagle Print Shop to printshop@georgiasouthern.edu, be sure to include the following:
- A clear subject line
- Your name & phone number
- Date & time you wish to pick up the printed project
- Number of copies
- Exact type of paper you need
- And the PDF file, of course 🙂
For PR Campaigns or Research Books
- To save you money and time, when preparing your PR Campaigns book files, make two (no more, no less) files: one for all your color pages and one for all your black/white pages. If you have multiple PDF files, combine them into one file by using Adobe Acrobat Professional’s Insert Pages feature. (Note: The Insert Pages feature is not available in the free Acrobat Reader; it’s only in the Professional version, which is in most of the labs on campus.)
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If you want tabs or dividers in your books, you’ll need to purchase them elsewhere and bring them in. Be sure that the dividers have square, not rounded, corners – or they cannot be bound into your books.
Social Media Monitoring Report :: PRCA 4330
For Prof. Nixon’s PRCA 4330 Public Relations Research Class:
This assignment gives you an opportunity to learn how to monitor blog and other social media content in a way that provides similar insight offered by more traditional environmental scanning methods.
Many people will discuss your client or organization and its products/services on their own Web sites or on social media sites, outside of realm traditional media. Just as it is important for you to know what the media and your community are saying about your organization and its products/services, it is important to know what is being said in social media sites like blogs, social networks, and message boards. For this assignment, you will
- monitor the online conversation that has occurred about an organization or brand of your choosing since November 1, 2009
- create a table for your data
- write an analysis of the conversation with suggestions for action.
You might find bloggers who are blogging about your client organization or brand, people who are creating Web sites about it, message board members who are discussing it in forums, Twitter users who are twittering about it, social networking users who are commenting about it, or online video producers who are posting YouTube videos about it.
Let me know by November 15 how you choose to complete the project (individual or in pairs) and which organization you are choosing using this Google spreadsheet. NOTE: The first person (or pair) to “claim” a Fortune 500 company “gets” the company. No duplicates, please.
For details on the report, see below.
Social Media Monitoring Report
Many thanks to Kelli Burns, from University of South Florida, for allowing me to slightly modify a project posted at her Social Researcher blog.
PRCA 3711/4711 Portfolio Review
Sign up for an appointment for your portfolio review. The times listed in the Google Doc are the ONLY ones that will be available. There are slightly more times than we have students in PRCA 3711/4711. [As of 3:00 on November 4, about half of the spots are already taken.] The review will take about 10 minutes total.
Bring along your professional-looking portfolio with several samples of your best work, along with your resume. Review Portfolios for Public Relations Students for a reminder of how to assemble your portfolio.
Tips
Dress professionally, as you would when you go to a job interview.
Carry only the things you would for a “real” job interview (no backpacks or bulky purses).
Present the team with your business/social card, if you have one.
Expect some or all following questions:
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Tell me a little about yourself.
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What are you doing to keep current on public relations trends?
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Show me two pieces in your portfolio that you’re most proud of. Tell me about them.
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If you’re not yet published, what are your specific plans for getting published?
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Think about a time you were a part of a team completing a project. How did it go?
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All of us have some pluses and minuses in our performance; what are some of yours?
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After our interview today, I am going to look you up online. How do you think my impression of you will change after I do this?
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How do you want us to remember you?
Share a few questions that you would want to ASK in a real job interview.
Prepare a “leave-behind” for the review team, with two or three pieces you’re most proud of and a revised version of your resume. Package these items professionally. NOTE: You will NOT leave your entire portfolio with the team. The only time they will see your portfolio is during the brief time that you are together.
Points Breakdown
- Poise, Professionalism & Confidence: 50 points
- Portfolio Presentation: 100 points
- Interview Q&A: 50 points
TED :: Peter Donnelly shows how stats fool juries
In today’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, the instructor PC didn’t seem to have the correct version of Flash to show this video. It’s a fascinating talk where “Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics — and the devastating impact these errors can have on the outcome of criminal trials.”
How to Lie with Design Research
“Dan Saffer at the sixth annual IIT Design Research Conference, held September 21-22, 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Chicago. ABSTRACT: How to Lie with Design Research: Same Data, Different Findings “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Thus said Mark Twain. Should we add “Research Findings” to the list? Experience shows that, especially with qualitative research like the type designers often do, two researchers can look at the same set of data and draw dramatically different findings from them. How do we deal with this? If the findings are in conflict, who is correct? Is there a way to make our findings more objective, or is the nature of qualitative research such that subjectivity (what some might call lying) is always necessary?”
Statistically Speaking, That’s Funny!
Statistics can scare even the bravest PRCA 4330 student . . . so let’s look on the lighter side. Using your best search skills, find one or more funny cartoons (or YouTube videos) on the topic of statistics or math.
Here’s one of my favorites, from the PhD (Piled Higher & Deeper) comic strip:
Reply with a comment to this post, giving a link to the cartoon or video — or if you’d prefer, a link to your own blog, where you’ve embedded the funny item. We’ll share the best ones in class on Wednesday afternoon.
PRCA 4330 Research Project Format
Students in my PRCA 4330 class asked for more details on the format for their Public Relations Research Projects that they are completing for Georgia Southern University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching.
Cover Page
- Client name & logo (if available)
- Research team name (if you have one) and list of all members
- Date
Table of Contents
- Include your Level One headings only (“Executive Summary,” “Introduction,” etc.)
- Use Word’s Table of Contents feature to make this easier for you
Executive Summary
- Written for client’s senior management team
- No more than one page
Introduction
- Research problem
- Importance of the problem to the client
- Purpose statement (use script from Creswell to write this)
Literature Review
- Should accomplish two purposes
- make an argument for the need to conduct this specific study (identify a gap, or a need in previous literature)
- present the previous theories, concepts, etc. that this study uses and builds upon
- Usually, each paragraph or small section of the literature review covers a body of literature. The best literature reviews are organized thematically; clearly identify and label these themes.
- Typically, this section will be several pages long and will reference a dozen or more sources
Methods
- Explain the research methods and procedures used for the research study, and your rationale for choosing said method(s)
- Include your specific research question(s), not survey or interview questions, but the question(s) that your research attempted to answer
Results
- Present your data, along with your (statistical or interpretive, etc.) analysis.
Limitations & Suggestions
- What constraints were on your team?
- What additional research is recommended based on your results?
Discussion
- What do your results mean, in the context of the literature you reviewed?
- Explain how the problem from the introduction is solved, how the research questions are answered, and whether the purpose of the study was accomplished.
Conclusion
- Summary of the entire project (in a paragraph or two)
References
- Cite sources using APA Style 6th edition. Use Word’s References feature or EndNote to make this easier for you.
Appendixes
- Number and content varies by project
- All projects must include
- High-level project plan (Gantt chart format works well for this)
- PowerPoint slides used in presentation to client (printed six to a page)
- Consent agreement
- Your team contract
- Provide a signed copy of your team’s contract (the contract you turned in during the week of October 5)
- Agreement re: final version
- Each team member will sign a page agreeing that the version you are submitting for a grade is your final version
- Typically also includes
- Complete survey, just as the participants saw it
- Survey results, raw
- Questions/scripts for focus groups or interviews
- Verbatim transcripts of focus groups or interviews
NOT PART OF THE PAPER
Finally, each team member will individually submit in GeorgiaVIEW:
- Team Member Evaluation Form (this will count as part of your team members’ grades) Coming Soon; not yet available
- Will include
- Client service
- Meets deadlines, keeps promises
- Quality writing
- Creativity
- Quality of presentation capabilities
- Research capabilities
- Participates in all activities
- Takes initiative
- Is accessible & responsive
- Will include
- Personal Reflection on Research Project (this will count as part of your own grade)
- Roughly 500 words
- Answer these questions
- What did you learn from doing this project? (You can discuss what you learned about research in general, PR research, working with clients, working with teammates, what you learned about yourself through this process, what you might do differently next time . . .)
- What surprised you?
- What do you want to know more about?
- This reflection is between you and me; your team members will not see it
NOTE 1: This information will be discussed in depth in class during the week of October 5. I will update this blog post after our discussion to add any necessary clarifications.
NOTE 2: Use APA Style for formatting your paper for citations, margins, headings, etc. The expectation is that you will use the most current version of APA Style (6th edition) unless you clear it with me beforehand. (Using 5th edition is fine, as long as you tell me ahead of time.)
NOTE 3: You will submit a PDF of your final project in GeorgiaVIEW (one per team), plus a professional-looking hard-copy for both your professor and your client. For your own portfolio, you may also want to print & bind your own hard-copy; it’s usually easiest if all the printed copies are created at once. The Eagle Print Shop on campus will have the best local prices for printing.
Job Search: A Delightful Dozen Posts
It’s now the start of fall, even though it doesn’t really feel like it here in the Savannah area, and many college seniors’ minds are turning to “how will I get a job when I graduate.” Over the last year or so, I’ve written several blog posts on the job search. Here are a few that might be helpful. especially for public relations majors:
- Portfolios for Public Relations Students (posted 22 September 2009)
- Resumes That Resonate . . . Revisited (posted 17 September 2009)
- Soon-to-Be PR Grads Get LinkedIn (posted 1 February 2010)
- Informational Interviews (posted 2 September 2009)
- Resume Tips from Phil Gomes (video, posted 17 February 2009)
- Job Interviews: 10 Things You Oughtta Know (audio, posted 16 February 2009)
- The One Job Interview Question (video, posted 12 February 2009)
- Making the Most of a Phone Interview (posted 10 February 2009)
- Wordle Me This (14 July 2008)
- Join a Social Network, Get a Job? (video, posted 30 June 2008)
- Seeking a Public Relations Internship? (audio, posted 11 April 2008)
- Watch Out for Digital Dirt (posted 9 April 2008)
Are there other blog posts that have helped YOU in your job search? I’d appreciate it if you could share them as a comment here.
Thanks!
Writing Research Purpose Statements
One of the most useful books I purchased as part of my doctoral program at Capella University is Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd Edition). Though I rely heavily on several of the chapters when embarking on a new research project, the one I come back to most often is Chapter 6: The Purpose Statement. Creswell shares “scripts” that can be adapted for qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches.
Below is a PPT (created by Chris Anderson) that I discovered at DocStoc today. You can view the slides here at my blog, or visit Chris’ page at DocStoc to download or print the presentation.
