a5

Assignment 5

In assignment 5 I will be looking back to my first semester in design studies and looking back into celebrity endorsements/advertising and why different research techniques would benefit and detract from my final conclusion, I will also be using new research techniques gained in semester two which will further enhance the data I gathered.

To start off with I would begin with the task of creating a mind map, starting off with the main point, which is celebrity endorsement/advertising in the centre then connect subject that relate to it. Mind mapping would be useful because it allows you to see how much you no already on your given subject. This also allows you to see the subdivisions and May help focus on a certain point u may have written down. Another method which would be useful would be to brain storm, this could be done on your own but may be most effective if done with numerous people as you have more view point and a larger variety. However in some cases this may just complicate things it is up to the individual weather he/she thinks this is the right thing to do.

After my mind mapping I would then move on to looking in the Universities cross search facility which allows you to access journals, books and articles on your chosen field, for this you have to specifie the particular area you are looking for. After this you then need to read the synopsis to see if the journal, article is relevant to your research, if it is you can gain access to it to print it off, if it is not relevant then its back to searching for one that is. From the articles you acquire you should start to see similarities between them this is positive and will help to focus your search.
The cross search facility will only be useful if you already have a focused area to search on and you are looking for evidence to back your theory up I wouldn’t advise this otherwise.

I would use a selection of pictures of different brands or products and ask a variety of people to show which product or brands they own. Then ask the same people which celebrity would be associated with the given picture, after this I would then ask if the associated celebrity was the reason they chose the product/brand or if this would make you more likely to by the product.
This would be very helpful, as it would show a clear link between celebrities and brands and the entanglement of both. However if it was not the result I was looking for I would put the first attempt down as a pilot and tweak the picture and questions till I go the result I was looking for.

I would not use a generic questionnaire as I think the general public like to feel individual and would not be honest with their answers as they would not like to be seen following a certain trend or wearing similar clothes to a specific celebrity as the may feel embarrassed in front of peers and quickly distance themselves for this. Therefore any data you gained maybe invalid or corrupt.
Although I would not use a questionnaire I would conduct one to one interviews. I would do a series of pilots to test my questions to see if I was gaining the correct result from them. However if you feel our questions are right but still getting a different answer than you expected you could try changing some of the variables such as the room/environment the interview took place (change the layout/the room or lighting), the person asking the question (maybe change him/her) the way they asked the question (the tone they took on certain words) the way the questions are set out or even the way the questions are worded. All these variable are to be taken on board but can be changed to suit the result you want, this may be time consuming however it is an effective way to gather data that is true and is use full in your given subject. I would highly recommend this as a technique.
Another interviewing technique is to start off with the same question and let the conversation guide the questions from that point. This is different to the above interviewing technique as u may gain a deeper insight into how people view themselves as the questions seem less revealing and forward, however the same, if not more data is revealed and more importantly is not influenced by any one or thing.

Remember that in both of the above methods you need to obtain the permission of the person you are interviewing, a signed permission slip is ideal.

A method I think would not suit this would be observation, this is due to I myself would not be sure what to look for, as I don’t read magazines so sitting in a waiting room or shop watching people reading them means nothing and the fact that my attention span is very short.

After I had carried out all of the appropriate methods above, I would then look at all the data I had and analyze it with a new eye. I would also get my class mates to start a discussion on what they thought was relevant in the data I had collect giving valid reason why. As well as there input I would ask them about the technique they used in there research and see if I could transfer there methods to my subject, it is always useful to speak to other about what they have done or would do as they give you different angles to view your subject.