Survey Questions

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/22SXHR9

Research Questions/Economists sell bagels

My first research question is: Does birth order play a role in academic success?  The way in which I plan to research this is a survey.  In this survey I will ask my fellow classmates a few things.  One would be where they fall in their family in terms of age.  Are they first born, a middle child, or the last born?  Then I would ask questions that would indicate academic success.  Examples of these questions would be: What was your high school GPA? What is your expected college GPA?  What was your ACT score?  I could then also ask question about if their siblings did better or worse than they personally did.  Based on this data I should be able to draw a conclusion on if birth order plays a role in how academically successful the person is.
My second research question is: Is the freshmen fifteen real?  I would also use a survey to investigate this question.  I would ask a variety of questions regarding weight, diet, exercise, etc.  Some of the questions would be: Have you gained any weight since leaving for college? Do you consider yourself to eat a healthy diet? How often do you exercise?  I would investigate my fellow classmates again, considering they are all first semester freshmen.  Based on this data I could analyze if the freshmen fifteen was real, how many people this affects, and what factors play a part of gaining weight in college.

There are some similarities and differences between the two readings we had to do.  Some similarities are that both of the writings are analyzing something and presenting their data.  The main difference that comes between these two writings is how they present their data.  In Freakonomics, the results are merely explained, and very little evidence is given on how they managed to obtain these results.  Also, in Freakonomics the research was not done by the authors.  They are using evidence that was gathered from a different experiment.  In Economists sell bagels, the data was presented much more effectively.  This writing supported the claims they made with concrete evidence and provided charts and graphs to help the reader understand the data that is given.

IMRaD Report

There are some significant differences between the IMRaD Report and the argument based research papers that I have written in the past.  One of the major differences is that for the IMRaD report I have to gather the research myself.  I am required to conduct an experiment or a survey to acquire the data I will use.  In the papers that I have written in the past, I usually gathered that sort of data from outside sources, and did not acquire my own data.  By acquiring my own data, I give this report more credibility by referencing results that I obtained myself.  Along with the data I gather, there is a different way of presenting it that is different than a normal research paper.
Another major difference is that in this report I will have to present the data in the paper.  The IMRaD report requires me to use graphs and chars in the paper and reference them throughout my writing.  In my past writings, I have never included charts and  graphs in the actual paper.  I may have referenced a fact that I found from a chart, but I would not include the entire chart in my paper.  These charts and graphs allow the audience to better follow along with the point you are attempting to make.
I think that last major difference is the format that this report will be in.  In my past classes, I would write in a typical format: introduction, body, and conclusion.  I did not use headings, nor did I have separate sections included in my paper.  In the IMRaD report, I am supposed to use different sections such as introduction, methods, results, and discussion.  These main ideas may have been presented in my last papers, but they were not displayed in this sort of format.  This also allows the reader to follow along more easily.  There are many ways to break down this information, and this allows the reader to be able to find the information they are looking for much faster.

Speech Outline

1. Introduction
   1. Hook
      1. According to Forbes Magazine Sports Clips is the number two best franchise in America
   2. Background Information
      1. Sports Clips is a haircut place that has a sports theme
      2. They cater to men and boys
      3. 13,000 stores
      4. It is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas
   3. Thesis
      1. Sports Clips uses advertisements to attract a specific audience and uses pathos to persuade their target audience to use their product.  The advertisements I have analyzed are specifically tailored to men, and they all use pathos by showing people having a good time while getting their haircut.
2. Body
   1. Audience
      1. Show print advertisement
         1. The print advertisement shows two guys getting a haircut.  Everyone is smiling and they are having a good time.  There is a TV in the background.  The tagline says, “Guys watch sports.  Guys get haircuts.”
      2. Mention the tagline “Guys watch sports. Guys get haircuts”
         1. Sports Clips specifically tailors to men
         2. Limits the potential market that could exist
            1. Although women will not use this product, there is no mention of younger males being able to use this product.
         3. Makes assumption that men are the only people that will really care about this product
      3. Show the commercial
      4. Things to note about the commercial
         1. Only males getting haircuts
            1. All older, no teenagers or kids
               1. By doing this Sports Clips seems to limit the potential market that could be using their product.
               2. Many male teenagers and kids would also seem to want this type of experience.
         2. Tagline: “It’s good to be a guy”
            1. Again specifically addresses only the male population
   2. Pathos
      1. Print Advertisement
         1. Everyone is smiling in this ad
            1. Makes the viewer feel like this is something fun
            2. Possibly makes them feel like they are missing out on something
         2. Uses good looking people
            1. Maybe by going to this haircut place, you will look better than if you went somewhere else
      2. Commercial
         1. Music
            1. Very upbeat
            2. Positive
            3. Tricks people into being happier or having more fun while watching this commercial
         2. Beginning
            1. In the beginning there is a narration that says “Every day is a sport.  Getting that raise.  Asking her out.”
            2. Implies that by going here you would get a raise, or get a girlfriend
               1. This creates a feeling in the viewer that by going to Sports Clips this is something that they can do.
               2. It creates a feeling of jealousy or longing that maybe they would want a raise, or a girlfriend
            3. Also implies that the easiest way to do this is by using their product
         3. The Actors
            1. Again, everyone is having a good time and smiling
               1. Emotions of fun and happy are presented to the viewer
            2. Again, they use good looking people
               1. You can look like these people by getting your haircuts at Sports Clips
               2. You could get your hair cut by someone attractive which men might want
   3. Effectiveness of these Ads
      1. Forbes ranked them as the number 2 franchise in America
      2. Nearly 70,000 likes on Facebook
         1. From these you can gather that the concept is working and advertising plays a big role in this
      3. Yelp Reviews
         1. “I look forward to my hair cuts at Sports Clips. It is usually a short or no wait. I get their best service and it is so relaxing and a great haircut.” – Ted
         2. “Good haircuts at a good price.  TV's and atmosphere cater to men.” – Jeff
            1. These quotes show that overall many people enjoy going to Sports Clips.  Jeff mentions how the atmosphere caters to men, which is exactly what Sports Clips is trying to accomplish. 
3. Conclusion
   1. Overall, Sports Clips uses pathos to connect with a specific audience in their advertisements
   2. Although, the ads limit their potential market by only advertising to men, they still maintain a lot of success
   3. Clearly, the ads are working because of how successful they have been

Speech Proposal

The company that I am giving my speech on is Sports Clips.  Sports Clips is a place to haircuts that has a sports theme.  I am choosing to do a speech about them because the way in which they use advertising is interesting to me.  They focus on a very specific audience, and I was interested what affect that may have on their business.  I think their advertisements play a big role in why they are successful.
I am choosing to analyze a few advertisements.  One is a print advertisement.  It shows two guys watching TV and smiling.  The caption says, "Guys watch sports. Guys get haircuts"  The other advertisement I am choosing to analyze is a commercial.  The basis of the commercial is that everything we do has some sort of competition so Sports Clips is the place to go for a haircut.  I also have two outside sources that tell me the successfulness of the company.  One article is from Forbes, and states that Sports Clips is the second best franchising opportunity.  The other one is from NASDAQ.  These are both very reliable sources that evaluate Sports Clips.
The two main things that I am going to analyze about these advertisements are audience and pathos.  Sports Clips has a very specific audience.  In terms of the print advertisement they address it to men specifically.  Also, in the commercial there are only guys getting a haircut.  I found this to be interesting because they are narrowing the potential market for their product.  The other thing that plays a big role in their advertisement is pathos.  The main emotions they try to instill in their audience is a sense of fun.  They attempt to show people having a good time getter their haircut, which they believe will get more people into their store.
The visual aid I will use for the speech is a PowerPoint.  On the PowerPoint I will display the advertisements I am using to point out to the audience what I am talking about. 

Print Analysis

The company that I am choosing to analyze is Sports Clips.  They are a haircutting business that focuses on having sports entertainments while getting your haircut.  The author of this advertisement is Sports Clips.  Sports Clips focuses on advertising to a very narrow audience.  Their audience is basically men who enjoy watching sports.  Because of this, their potential market is decreased.  They do not really seem to advertise to females, which makes sense, but also limits their audience.  The purpose behind this advertisement is to attract more customers to their business.  Their purpose is also to make more people aware that a place like this exists.  Most people do not enjoy getting haircuts, and this place can provide a better alternative for some people.  I think the main way they try and do this is pathos.  I think they use pathos a lot in their advertisements.  In their advertisement they have two guys sitting getting haircuts in front of televisions.  They appear to be having a good time.  The caption states that "guys watch sports, guys get haircuts"  The main goal from this was to establish the fact that this would not be a typical haircut, and that you might actually have a good time when doing this.  From their target audience this could induce emotions of jealousy, fun, intriguing, etc.  They play off of these emotions to attract their audience into going to their store because if they do, they will have a better time.  The only other aspect that is maybe touched on is ethos.  In the ad they have people cutting the hair.  That may be a concern for some people going to this place is that they would not be able to receive as good of a haircut.  By placing the hairdressers in the ad it might cause people to think differently.

Conferences

I found the conference very useful.  It helped me realize the improvements that I needed to make to my paper.  It also allowed me to know what my professor expected of my paper.  It also helped me narrow my focus on what I needed to improved, rather than being overwhelmed with revising my whole paper.  It gave me a specific starting point.
I think that the conference and the written comments were useful, and I would want that to stay the same way.  I took notes on what you said in the conference, but there were things that I did not write down that appeared on the comments on the paper.  This was useful very useful for me.  I think that the written comments were more useful than the conference because I did not have any specific questions on this paper.  I think a good way of doing it would be to post the written comments and then give us the option of making an appointment to meet with you to discuss the comments further if we needed it.
On thing that I would consider changing would be to have the conferences before the peer reviews.  The comments that I received changed the way I wrote a lot of my paper.  Thus, many of the comments the peer reviewers made didn't apply as much because I changed the paper so much.  I think that  if we had the conferences then revised the paper then had the peer conferences that would be more effective, from my point of view.