Peer Reviews

It is often from reading others' work that I find I can improve in areas I had not previously realized.  For this reason, my blog this week will focus on my evaluation of the blogs from two of my fellow classmates.  Purposely, I chose two blogs which focus on areas of public relations I was not particularly familiar with. 

First, I read Paige Weiner's blog: Paige's Blog, which focuses on Fashion PR.  I really liked how Paige brought in her personal opinions right from the first post.  She made clear why she chose the topic, what education she had gone through to get to this point and what her favored areas of this topic were.  She even brought up a famous public relations professional who sounded like a type of role model to Paige so I know this field is not a new one to her; rather it is one she has invested time in researching and following previous to this assignment.  Right away it was quite clear I would learn a lot from reading her posts.  The topics she commented on in her posts that followed the introduction focus on current happenings in the areas of fashion.  I also really like how after discussing this current topic, she ties the situation into what we have been talking about in our Public Relations Research class or how the situation is important in the general field of public relations.  She does this very well in her second post and third post in the ending paragraphs.  After this post, I will continue to follow her blog.  Each post had paragraphs full of important information for me to learn as an aspiring public relations professional and her blog may even persuade me to turn my focus to this exciting field of Fashion PR that Paige writes about. 

For the second evaluation, I chose Sacha Kaufer's blog: Sacha's Blog, which focuses on Non-Profit Relations.  Right away I could tell Sacha's blog was very different from Paige's because Sacha mostly remains very objective.  Rather than inserting a lot of personal opinion, she fills her blogs with many facts.  Her blogs, as a result, are thorough and very informative.  When she does include herself in the posts, it concerns a personal experience and strengthens what her blog is saying so much more.  I really liked this post, in which she supported her first two paragraphs with details about her internship at a local non-profit.  This shows she is invested in this area beyond the classroom, and that dedication definitely makes me want to read more from her experiences and thoughts. 

I think both of my classmates are doing a great job with their blogs.  Both areas they are researching sound fascinating and I really appeciate the opportunity to learn how our class topics can be applied to other areas of public relations.              

Research Results

Research in public relations serves many functions.  In addition to aiding in choosing the best path for a campaign to proceed, eliminating inefficient moves, research can also be helpful to a public relations firm in advocating or disseminating certain features of products, services and ideas.  Reports then stress the findings and resulting recommendations of the research because the public generally is interested in the conclusions rather than the detailed means of how those conclusions were found.

In this way, I think research results and their publication is a topic closely associated with my blog from last week on research ethics.  A lot of weight is put on the integrity of the researchers and public relations firm to publish what they found wholly, truthfully and without bias.  Research results should never be fixed or changed from the actual findings to sway the public in a certain way.   

An example where this is not the case is described in this article, "Fattened Statistics," from the Social Issues Research Center (SIRC).  The SIRC, according to their website, is an independent, non-profit organization that conducts research of their own on social topics while also monitoring social and cultural trends.  In "Fattened Statistics," SIRC exposed flawed percentages used by the media to denote the number of obese children in Britain.  Obesity, a battle nutritionists across the globe are still fighting, existed, according to this article, in Britain in 2006.  The problem this article exposes however, shows that the obesity issue was not as large then as it was made out to be.  The published numbers were based on outdated UK National Body Mass Index (BMI) standards for defining obesity in children.  The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, was one of the media outlets who bit at the bait and published the percentages.  However, they had legitimately gotten the information from data published by The Health Survey for England and from the NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre.  The article then stated that the National BMI standards used in the reports by the Health Survey for England exaggerated obesity in boys by approximately 200 percent and in girls by approximately 100 percent. 

In this case, the information did get into the main media stream.  Because the percentages were inflated, the situation had the potential of causing the public unneccessary worry.  Not only does the reputation of a company depend on their truthful dealings with the public, but also, their reports should be as factually correct as possible in order for a tailored solution to have a good chance at fixing or dealing with the reports.     

Research Ethics

For this week's assigned reading in Advertising and Public Relations Research, I read about Research Ethics.  I learned that although PRSA's Code of Ethics is thorough for the entire field, research has its own ethical issues and conducts that can be followed to avoid serious problems. 

Research is the ethical baseline shown here in the The Public Relations Resource Center's Ethics Pyramid.  Ethical practices include conducting the research truthfully and professionally, ensuring the elimination of any biased feelings in both collecting research and analyzing its results, keeping feedback confidential and guaranteeing full disclosure of methodology and results.

Also, voluntary participation is crucial.  No one can be forced to participate in a study against their will.  Once they've consented, the participant has the right to know exactly what is being researched and who is doing the research.  Misrepresentation of the company behind the research or withholding information from the participant are both issues that can arise while collecting research. 

This, of course, can be applied to all research done in the food and nutrition field of public relations. In an article published in 2003, "The Public Does not Blame Fast Food Industry for Obesity," the quantitative survey is conducted by a repudiable source, Gallup.  The main reason the survey's results have so much credibility is because they were conducted from a such a well-known and unbiased source.  If, however, McDonalds had released the same poll numbers with the claim the research had been conducted through a group with a feel-good yet fishy name, such as "Americans for Burgers," or something to that effect, an investigation would be needed to determine who was funding this group, this poll and whether the participants were coerced and/or fully aware of this information.

To me, these ethics seem to be no more than common sense.  By following these steps and disclosing truthful information, companies will save themselves the hassle of a black eye on their reputation and the damage control they would have to then implement.       

Blog Focus

Hello, all!  Thanks for visiting.  My name is Meghan Parmentier, I am a junior at Quinnipiac University studying English and Public Relations.  For my Public Relations Research class this semester, I will be reviewing and commenting on food and nutrition public relations.  This field in particular interests me because it is one that is constantly evolving and important to everyone's daily lives.


Whether you eat to live or live to eat (most of the time I find myself in the latter category), I hope you enjoy my examination of the public relations efforts behind new diet fads, the newest and most important vitamins to take, and how these and other features actually align with nutrition.gov priorities.