Final Chapter

    This week will be my last blog that I will be writing for the semester.  I really hope you enjoyed reading my posts each week and learning more about the research tools that the fast food industry uses in order to collect valuable information about their services.  For this week, I will again discuss two of my classmate’s blog posts that I have found really interesting throughout the semester.
    The first blog I would like to discuss is Lisa’s blog on entertainment.  Throughout the course of the semester, Lisa has given a wide range of interesting topics regarding entertainment whether it  pertained to radio, television, fashion, ect.  Lisa has done a great job relating our class discussions to current events.  One of her most recent blog posts discusses the research method of surveying.  Lisa decided to talk about the November month which signifies election time.  She goes on to talk about the survey process that goes hand in hand with the voting process.  The act of voting consists of a individual doing a survey.  It’s interesting to know that surveys are used in order to decide who is going to run our country.  It makes you realize how important this research tool really is.  I really liked how Lisa connected our registration for classes to the survey process that QU students use.  For example, I use ratemyprofessor.com during each registration period and without these survey’s the class selection process would definitely be more of a  tedious process. 
    The next blogger I will be discussing is Rachel B’s blog  that focuses on Google’s success and it’s future expansion in regards to public relations.  I found this blog extremely interesting because Google is a search engine that people use everyday.  It has been known to be one of the most successful search engines available on the internet today.  Rachel does a exceptional job researching the current issues that Google has experienced and the different research methods used in order to deal with crisis management and public awareness.  In her latest blog about surveys, Rachel discusses a job description that was found posted on Google’s corporation website that is entitled survey research scientist.  Rachel uses this to explain how important research, especially survey research is to every industry.  The role of this particular job  was to have the opportunity to design, execute and analyze surveys across the most important parts of Google’s business and products.  This was interesting to read about because many corporations hire individuals just specifically for survey analysis.  This shows how important these research methods really are and shows the time and effort put into them. 
    Well it has been a real pleasure not only writing my blog but having the opportunity of reading what my classmate’s have to say about the world of PR research.  I’ve learned that research methods are used so often that they have become such a vital part of the public relations industry.

Experimental Research Design

          This week in class we discussed experimental research which is a type of quantitative research.  Experimental research is a method that involves testing some sort of hypothesis.  A experiment involves one or more independent variables that are manipulated in order to determine the effect of a dependent variable. Many times the purpose of the design is to find some sort of causal relationship between two variables.  During a experimental research there are two groups; the control group and the experimental group. These two groups are exposed to the same environment, asked the same questions and given the same treatment . The only exception is that the experimental group gets some sort of variable that is different than what the control group gets. 
    Instead of doing my usual blog where I look up a article on a past experimental design I decided to set up a experimental design that could test a potential hypothesis instead.  The hypothesis for this experimental design says that listing calories on a menu will not affect a customer’s choice in buying fast food.  The set up would include a group of customers at a McDonald’s restaurant.  These participants would not be aware whether or not they were in the experimental group or the control group. This is known as a blind experiment. The experiment would be to test the relationship between calories and people’s food choices at McDonalds.  Instead of looking at the menu above, the participants are handed menus that show the indicated meals for the day.  The only variable that is different between the menus is that one set of menus have the calories listed and the other menus don’t.  The researcher however, knows which participants are in the control group and the experimental group.  If this was not the case, the experiment would be known as a double-blinded experimental design because both the participants and the researcher would be unaware of who is in the contol group and who is in the experimental group.  The experiment is testing whether or not the people who received the menu with the calories listed beside the foods would make healthier decisions when ordering their meals at McDonalds.  The experiment tests the causal relationship between calories and people’s diet choices.  Many people who see the calories right in front of them could feel more guilty when ordering from a fast food place.  People who remain unaware about the health conditions of the McDonald’s meals also may feel that they can order whatever they want without feeling guilty afterward. 
    As you can see this experimental design would help show how calories influence people’s diet choices.  The initial hypothesis saying it doesn’t would be tested after the participants ordered their food.  This is a example of what a experimental research design would look like in the fast food industry.     

Surveys

        As we discussed in class, the survey technique is the most popular method for quantitative research. Survey’s provide a typically easy and inexpensive way to get measurable results that provide structured answers.  Almost every company in the industry conducts surveys in order to get feedback about their company, client or service. It is the easiest way to receive public opinion in the most straightforward  possibly way.  Many times people are hired and designated to conducting and distributing surveys out. 
    Fast food companies such as McDonald's, Wendy’s and Arby’s want their customers to fill out as many survey’s as they offer.  A important plan for marketing and business strategy comes from the feedback received from survey’s.  They want to know how the public perceives their new products and service.  While browsing online about this issue I came across a article that showed some of the tactics used by restaurants in order to get customers to fill out survey’s.  Because online surveying is one of the easiest ways to conduct this type of method, many fast food restaurants offer free food in exchange for the completion of a survey.  For example, Arbys and Wendy’s printed free food offers on the back of their receipts in order to urge customers to go online and fill out their survey.  The article also briefly explains how the surveys work.  For example, the customer would go to the website printed on the receipt, and answer a survey that usually takes 5 minutes.  Many of these survey’s ask you for the store # in order to get specific responses to that store location.  After the survey is completed you get a validation code which you bring back to the restaurant to receive your fast food items. 
    Giving away free food is worth it to these fast food industries because they need these survey responses to conduct market research and keep in touch with the opinions of the customers.  Many times when a new commercial or product comes out surveys are given out at the actual fast food restaurant in order to get immediate feedback from the costumers.  Surveys will continue to be part of the fast food industry because customer service is always a main priority for business planning.