Final Blog Post

So for our last blog, comparing two classmates blogs, I decided to focus on week 9's survey blogs.  My group and I researched surveys and did a power point presentation, so I wanted to see how they learned from it.

The first blog I looked at was Sacha's, that focused on survey in PR Non-profit.  Currently, I am taking PR Non-profit and this is something that we haven't gone over yet.  Sasha brings up a good question, "How can non-profits, then, who are not as successful improve their skills so they can better help the community?"  A survey has been conducted over the last six of seven years, which is something I wouldn't think to do, but now know how essential it is.

The second blog I looked at was Kelley McDonough's.  I also focused on week 9's survey post, but it intrigued me because she raised the question, "I wonder if they would be the best method to research and analyze ethics."  Ethics is a large part of the pr world, so how exactly do you measure "ethics"?  She goes on to say she doesn't think this is the best method because people wouldn't answer the questions honestly and I have to agree with her.  Like she says, surveys are important, but not if they are used incorrectly.

Before taking this class, I had never blogged or ever really followed a blog.  It has enhanced my knowledge and with technology advancing, I know this is something that will help me in the pr world.

Experimenting in Soccer

Experiments are done all around us everyday, but most of us don't even realize it.  With sports, teams experiment all the time to find different techniques or better ways to get a win.  In soccer, the same applies.

The 2010 World Cup was one of the most anticipated and watched games during the summer.  Cristiano Ronaldo, who played on the Portugal National Team is known for his crazy shots that almost always end up in the back of the net.  The ball used this year called the Jabulani, was given to the teams to practice with before the World Cup started and that's when the experimentation started.

Cristiano is also known for his free kicks, so this is where he experimented.  He was able to hit the ball in a certain spot and in the air the ball would flatten out and at the last minute pop back to its original shape and bend into the back of the net.  The goalie would essentially be tricked, thinking the ball was going one way and go another way.  So throughout 2010, he perfected this technique by experimentation.

This is the final product.

Internet makes surveys go round

No matter how hard you try, surveys are inevitable.  Whether you just got finished talking to Dell Support or online shopping, one of the last steps in these conversations relates to the consumer filling out a survey.  How necessary are they though?

The last few weeks, my group has been researching different types of surveys, in order to teach the class, and I myself learned how important survey's are in any industry.

Survey Monkey is one of the many survey sites, where anyone can make a survey on any topic and send it to whoever they want.  The beauty of the internet is that you can reach anyone.  If you were to hand them out in person, your demographics would be limited, but with the internet, you can send survey's to other countries and it's virtually free.

With technology advancing, the way we keep up with surveys is also important.  That's why the internet is one of the most essential channels through which surveys travel.

Qualitative Research on the QUWS Team!

Qualitative research is done through observation, focus groups, and interviews, but this week in class we focused mainly on observation.  Most of the time, people don't even know they are a part of a study and that's the case with the QU Women's Soccer team.

One of our assistant coaches works at Yale and he conducts many different methods of research whether it is surveying us to see how healthy we eat and if that effects our play, or observing how many times in a game a specific player wins a head ball or their passing rate throughout the game.

For the first few games of the season, non of the players knew we were being observed until he mentioned it.  The whole purpose was to look at your own percentages and see if by being aware of it, can you improve as a player.

Another form of observation we practice is actually watching all 90 minutes of our games.  This improves our play drastically because we can actually see what we're doing wrong and improve it in practice.

Observation, however, cannot solely depended on for consistent research results.  Many different methods of Qualitative research must be present in order to have these reliable results.

The Social Network

So I recently saw the new movie Social Network, which is the story of how facebook came to be.  This week in my blog, I decided to focus on social media because it is so prominent in all of our lives.

Francesca's last blog focused on the unobtrusive research methods we talked about in our previous classes and related it back to social media.  Statistics show that over 500 million people check their Facebook to see what there friends are doing for more than 700 billion minutes per month.  Whether they know it or not though, they are all conducting unobtrusive research by "keeping tabs" on their friends, as Francesca mentions in her blog.  Personally, I spend a lot of time on Facebook and never realized that I was doing "research."

The second blog I wanted to focus on was Katie Warner's because she took social media to the next level.  She blogged that it is essential for non-profit organizations to invest time in creating a Facebook page and even money for advertising.  She states that, "with 39 million people using Facebook multiple times a day, it is easy to put a message out there and get more views than you would have on a standard website dedicated to the organization."  She also agrees that facebook is an example of unobtrusive research, even though many don't even realize they are conducting it.  Now Facebook isn't the only social media outlet that organizations can use, but for now, it is the most popular and ensures the company will gain recognition.

One of the most important points about unobtrusive research methods is that results are immediate.  By using these social media sites, companies can keep track of clients, employees, and volunteers.  The possibilites are countless!

QUWS!

This week I decided to focus on unobtrusive research methods and how it relates to the QU Women's Soccer program.  Unobtrusive research is done mainly by observation and the subjects don't necessarily know they are being measured.

On Facebook, we have a QU Women's Soccer page, so I decided to use this as means to conduct my own study.  As a team, we created a page to remind friends and fans what time and when our games are and before every game, we invite them via Facebook.  So I tracked how many people said they were attending our Friday games compared to Sunday games to see which day would get more fans.  I was surprised to find that more people would attend Friday games because there are classes throughout the day.

I also came across a book online that goes more into detail about observation.  It gave me an idea, so I applied it to the films of our game.  After each game, we look at film ranging from goals scored and goals against to mistakes and positive aspects of the game.  I noted how going over negative film footage of players actually affects them (as in how they react to the negativity and so on).  Every time my coach would point something negative out, I noticed the same girls getting upset and in some cases challenging his opinion.  At the end of each film footage, the attitude of these girls was always negative.  So before each film from now on, I've noticed that the attitude of these girls start out negative because they automatically assume the game footage will point out their mistakes.

From my research, I've noticed little things that even our coaches have looked over.  From this simple research, I can talk to my coach about trying to stay more positive to see how it will change the player's attitude.  It could also help us get more fans to our games.

Blog 4: Commenting on 2 classmates blogs

My blog focuses solely on the sports industry in the public relations world, but this week I want to take a look at the different aspects of pr.  I wanted to compare my blog to another student that has a different focus and one student that has a similar focus (of sports).

The first blog I enjoyed reading was Blains blog about research results in the media.  It makes sense that research would be an important aspect of the media, but I never put too much thought into it.  With television it's so essential to research what is working and what isn't in order for a television show to succeed.  I thought the example of "The Hills" was perfect because it showed how successful a television show could be, when the viewers were manipulated into thinking it was real.  I think with these research results, they can use them to produce more successful shows.

The second blog I took a look at was from the second week about ethics in public relations.  Andrews blog also focuses on the sports industry, mainly baseball, so I thought it would be a good idea to compare ours and to see if there was anything I could take from his blog and use towards mine.  I liked how he focused on PED's or steroids because that is the number one problem relating to ethics in public relations.  He compared two different baseball players who were on steroids that handled the situation completely different.  Andy Pettitte came right out and addressed that he did take performance enhancing drugs and the situation was dropped shortly after.  Roger Clemens, though, denied the reports and is still dealing with the repercussions.  This was similar to my blog because Michael Vick also denied the allegations of dog fighting and people still talk about this issue whenever his name comes up.

In reading other classmates blogs, I was able to take away new ideas for future blog postings.  I also liked learning about the different industries pr deals with and how each student has a different interest.

Research in the sports industry

Research is essential no matter what part of the pr world you end up in.  It's a necessity in order for a company or industry to move ahead.  The sports industry is no different.  Teams, sporting goods, trends, and television coverage are just some of the many areas that need to be researched.

One website I came across focuses on every sport known to mankind.  If you ask anyone that knows anything about sports, statistics would be high up on the list of things that are essential in this industry.  Not only does it focus on statistics, but it also shows trends, reports, articles, and anything a fan would need to know about a team/sport.

Ethical issues in sports

So we all know the sports industry is full of ethical issues that athletes face everyday.  Issues that vary from steroid usage to dogfights, but how do these athletes recover from the big hits they take from the media?  They may never fully recover, in the sense of regaining respect from fans or other athletes, but how does it effect their sports career?

One athlete that got media coverage across the nation is Michael Vick.  He was sent to federal prison for torturing and killing dogs and lying to the feds about it.  Before getting caught, Vick played for the Atlanta Falcons, but was dropped from the team after the incident.  He currently plays for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, but how well has he recovered?

Almost 2 and a half years later, he is still the topic of debate.  Fanhouse.com wrote an article, speaking highly of Michael Vick's athletic ability, but they mention the "dogfighting thing" a total of 4 separate times.  The article, though, also reaffirmed that the fans still love him and many say the Falcons never should have let him go.

In reading the article, the main thing I took away from it was the dogfighting.  The media focuses on negativity because gossip is what makes the world go round.

It's safe to say that Michael Vick will always be associated with dogfighting.  Wherever you see his name, that's probably going to be the first thing that pops up in your head, but people always love a comeback.

Blog Focus

I've been playing sports since the age of 4 and I wouldn't know a life without them.  My father played college soccer and he passed on the love of the game to me, where I now play at Quinnipiac University. With a minor in Sports Studies, I thought it was appropriate to start a blog that focuses on the sports industry.
My blog will incorporate the various sports that we are surrounded by daily.  Along with my own thoughts, I will be posting links from an assortment of different websites in order to support my ideas. Week to week each post will differ in topic and the ideas surrounding sports.