For this class assignment, I had my choice of designing a survey, content analysis or experiment. I chose to design a field experiment to go along with the strategic communication plan I put together for Apple Inc. The aim of this experiment is to determine whether or not showing relevancy of and providing training on an iPad or MacBook Pro has any bearing on the desire of seniors, age 65 and older, to own one of these devices.

 

Because the intent of this course was simply to introduce the class to communication research, we did not actually follow through with our projects. Therefore, instead of actual results and a typical discussion section, we were instructed to discuss weaknesses of our research and directions for further research instead.

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Never having written a research protocol before, I found this assignment challenging and invigorating. It stretched me in ways I hadn't been stretched before, and my hard work paid off. My professor asked to use my paper as a sample for future classes.