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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:

fun with statistics

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.

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PRCA 4330 Research Project Format

The Trap... by clicksense.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

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

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
  • 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.

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Job Search: A Delightful Dozen Posts

Clouds with sun peeking out by you.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:

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!

barbara_is_listening

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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.


Chapter Six The Purpose Statement –

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Resumes That Resonate . . . Revisited

resume-tee-back.jpgWhat’s the purpose of a resume? It’s not to get you a job. . . instead, it’s to provide a positive first impression that MAY garner an interview for you. The advice below comes from my years of being a hiring leaders – and listening to many more. If you’re lucky, hiring leaders may scan your resume for up to 15 seconds before they determine if it’s worth pursuing further.

  • Tailor your resume to the specific position that you’re applying for. Use the same phrasing in your resume that you’ve found in the employer’s want ad whenever possible.
  • If you have less than 10 years of experience, it’s best to stick to the traditional one-page resume. Each additional 10 years may help to “earn” you an additional page. (If you want or need to provide more details, offer the URL of your LinkedIn profile. See my profile.) If you are not yet out of college, it’s presumptuous to think you need more than a one-page resume.
  • If your blog has content that may be of interest to your potential employer, include its URL on your resume.
  • Pepper your resume with terms that are relevant to the career field and industry in which you desire employment. Phrase your work experience in terms that are relevant to your career goal.
  • Use reverse chronological order (most recent first) when listing your experience and education.
  • If you are still in college, it’s okay to leave your high school on your resume if you have available space for it, especially if you did something noteworthy during your high school years. After you graduate from college, leave high school off your resume.
  • Always start every bullet point in your experience section with an action verb. Use past tense for previous jobs and present tense for current jobs. Never start a bullet point with “responsible for” or “duties included.”
  • If you have little paid work experience, provide details on projects done in classes to show that you are prepared to enter the working world.
  • Volunteer experience counts too! Don’t forget to include service projects you’ve been involved with.
  • Explain acronyms and cryptic group names on resumes. A potential employer will not automatically know that SOCS stands for Society of Communication Scholars, ILA stands for International Listening Association, or that PRestige is a public relations firm made up of college students.
  • Many employers assume that if an organization’s name includes greek letters, it’s a social fraternity or sorority. If you belong to something Phi Kappa Phi, indicate that this is an honor society.
  • What to do about that GPA? If it’s above 3.0 (on a 4-point scale), you may want to include it. If it starts with a 2 or lower, definitely leave it off. Or, you can include your GPA just in your major if you’d like, for example “3.4 GPA in Major.”
  • Before you graduate, you can still include your anticipated degree on your resume. For example, “Bachelor of Science in Public Relations expected in May 2010.”
  • Use the same header for your resume, cover letter and reference page. Everything should coordinate.
  • To make it look more professional, use your computer, not a pen, to address the envelope.
  • Check postage prices before mailing your resume. You don’t want it to arrive postage-due.
  • In your cover letter, watch for overuse of the words “I” and “my.” Instead, be company-focused.
  • Remember to sign your cover letter.
  • Never in a million years should you start a cover letter with “To whom it may concern.” Use the name, or at least the title, of the hiring manager instead.
  • For your reference page, include complete contact information for each reference. Include name, title, company, mailing address, e-mail address and phone number.

For entry-level public relations positions, Jennifer Abshire of Abshire Public Relations & Marketing offers these additional suggestions:

  • Leave the objective off, or customize it for the specific position you’re applying for. Don’t use a generic one that you found on a template somewhere.
  • Include all your work experience, even if it seems not directly related to the position. (The worst that will happen is that it will show that you are a hard worker.) Abshire holds in high regard people who are well rounded and street smart, rather than with a high GPA and no work experience or community involvement.
  • Send a few samples of your writing or design work along with your resume.
  • If sending your resume (and samples) electronically, make one PDF file that has all the information in it, rather than sending multiple attachments. (For an inexpensive and easy-to-use program for creating PDFs, try CutePDF.)

After you’ve created your resume, have several people proofread it for you. Set it aside for a while. Then measure your resume up against this Resume Checklist.

Updated from my original Resumes That Resonate: Tips for Entry-Level Positions.

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Ethical Research: Protecting Human Participants

123/365 by This Year's Love.For this semester’s PRCA 4330 (PR Research) class, students will complete the online training offered through Georgia Southern University’s Office of Research Services and Sponsored Programs. This training, created by the National Institutes of Health, consists of seven modules, four of which are followed by quizzes. The NIH suggests that this training takes approximately three hours, and you do not need to complete all the training in one sitting.

Take the “Protecting Human Research Participants” training.

Once you’ve completed the training, print the certificate. Make two copies: one for your own files and one to hand to me in class.

Then, write a one-page reaction paper to the NIH training, using the format we often use in my classes:

  • What did you learn?
  • What surprised you?
  • What do you want to know more about?

Please save your reaction paper with your name as part of the filename AND put your name on the paper itself. Turn in the paper via GeorgiaVIEW no later than 5:00 PM on Friday, September 25. The total assignment is worth 100 points, 75 for the training and 25 for your reaction paper. (To get the 75 points for the training, hand me the certificate in class no later than Monday, September 28.)

Questions?

barbara_is_listening

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Informational Interview Recap :: PRCA 3711/4711

For my PR Practicum Students:

? by Oberazzi.For this 100-point assignment, you will choose and interview a public relations professional, and then write about this interview at your blog. This post will be a minimum of 250 words. (It’s likely that it will take ~500 to answer these questions fully.) You may post your recap on your blog or upload it to the Assignments area in GeorgiaVIEW.

Though a face-to-face interview is preferred, a phone or webcam interview is acceptable. An interview that is e-mail or text-based only is not acceptable.

Include an introductory paragraph that introduces the PR professional, including title and company, educational background, etc.

Questions/Topics you need to include:

  • What’s a typical week like? (If no week is typical, then what was last week like?)
  • Tell me about a project you worked on that you are especially proud of.
  • How important is writing in your career?
  • What three tips would you offer someone just starting out in PR?
  • What do you do to keep current in the PR industry?
  • What do you wish you would have known before starting your career in PR?
  • After interviewing this person, are you (the PRCA 3711/4711 student) more or less likely to want to have a career in PR? Why?

Some questions you may wish to ask:

  • Did your education prepare you for working in PR? How? 
  • What has surprised you the most about working in PR?
  • How has PR changed since you entered the field?
  • How does technology affect your daily work?
  • When your company is hiring for an entry-level PR position, what makes a candidate stand out?
  • What professional organizations are you involved in? (For example, PRSA, IABC, etc.)
  • More informational interview questions

Some things you may wish to do:

  • Include a photo of your interviewee. (This can be a photo he or she provides or one that you take yourself.)
  • Link to your interviewee’s LinkedIn profile and/or blog.

As we discussed in class, you can feel free to use a Q / A format.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening