Looking for advice on forum etiquette

[JimWhalley]

Hi,

I’m new to the forum and hoping to get some advice. I’m an academic based in the UK and recently started work on a new project that involves a survey of US opinions. It’s housed in a website and I’m seeking to get as many respondents as possible. My intention was to publicize the survey in two ways:

1) Through press releases to American media
2) Through posts to forums such as this one

So far, press releases have had no impact, and the forum idea is proving more complicated than I had expected because of forum rules around links and promotion. It’s on this second point I’m hoping to get advice:

In your view, does publicizing an academic survey count as “advertising for personal gain?” If I were to join a number of forums purely to promote my project, would this be frowned upon by the majority of forum users? Are appeals of this kind common? Could anyone suggest alternative methods to increase awareness of the project? Where on the web would be appropriate for this kind of posting?

Any suggestions or views would be welcome,

Many thanks.

 

[editec]

Your survey will be essantially worthless and if you professor isn't alerting you to that statistical fact, then you need to get your money back from the university bursar.

There will be nothing remotely RANDOM in your tested population, ergo the survey will not represent the greater US population.

The ONLY way you can survey for the US population is for YOU to randomly select your test subjects fromthe greater US population.

Using a survey on a website, will only give you misleading data because the website (or websites) will be surveying those self selected subjects already biased by being on that website.

If you don't understand what I am talking about, go read a book on statistical methodology.

 

[JimWhalley]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned that the survey is qualitative rather than quantitative: the intention is to collect memories and opinions of the movies. We realize that the results won't be statistically accurate; the hope is to capture a range of voices.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

You will probably get very little response from political forums like this one.
For the most part, people who come here and other political forums are interested in current events, political issues, economic issues etc.
This would explain why you will almost never see threads about entertainment news, what is on TV etc.
Sure there are a few, but you get the idea.
You need to reach people who live their lives around a TV.
I would go to the various forums sponsored by popular television shows and go from there.

 

[JimWhalley]

Again, thanks for the reply. Going back to editec's post above, while we can't ensure the survey is statistically correct, the hope is to reach out beyond movie 'fans' (who would post on forums specifically for film and TV) in order to get a wider range of views. In some ways this is part of the problem: I want to post in forums that don't immediately seem suitable for the topic.

 

[California Girl]

You should ask the Admins whether it is viewed as spamming. Generally, we tend to mock anyone who shows up purely for their own gain without vesting any time and effort in the board.

Also, you probably should have developed a decent communications strategy while you were scoping out your project. Not very smart for an academic to overlook that vital part of your research. Personally, I can think of far better ways than this to achieve your required results.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Again, thanks for the reply. Going back to editec's post above, while we can't ensure the survey is statistically correct, the hope is to reach out beyond movie 'fans' (who would post on forums specifically for film and TV) in order to get a wider range of views. In some ways this is part of the problem: I want to post in forums that don't immediately seem suitable for the topic.

Then all I can say is good luck.
You will get very few responses for your efforts.
If you was to make a thread right now with a link to your survey - I would be surprised if you got more than 3-4 responses.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

What is difficult for folks who are not Americans to understand is we are inundated with offers every single day. Businesses spend $billions annually trying to reach American consumers.
We are so use to solicitations that we ignore at least 80% I would say.
Look at this website...see the advertisements? I don't - like many folks I block them so I don't have to.
Most Americans are on "no call" lists where it is actually illegal for businesses to call your number.
People DVR television shows so they can scan past the commercials.

You will be hard pressed to get past all of this.
You better have a contest. Say, every person who goes to your survey will be entered into a contest with a grand prize of X.

 

[JimWhalley]

RE: California Girl. The survey is one part of a larger project, and is very much experimental in terms of how to engage people and how they respond. As I mentioned in the first post, we are pursuing several avenues. You suggest far better ways to achieve results. Could you give examples?
Thanks

 

[California Girl]

RE: California Girl. The survey is one part of a larger project, and is very much experimental in terms of how to engage people and how they respond. As I mentioned in the first post, we are pursuing several avenues. You suggest far better ways to achieve results. Could you give examples?
Thanks

Yea, I could. But I charge for that. Wanna pay me? I'll write you a comms strategy.

 

[JimWhalley]

RE: iamwhatiseem. Thanks for this. The situation you describe is much as I suspected. The goal is to engage people through the project's aims: to write a new history of American cinema. By completing the survey, people can add their voice to that history.

 

[freedombecki]

Welcome to USMB, Mr. Whalley. Hope you enjoy the boards.

I might add if there were one board in America where you would like to hang out, this just might be that stellar one.

 

[JimWhalley]

Thanks for the offer, California Girl, but at the moment we're just trying to decide if appealing to forum communities should be part of our strategy (and whether such appeals would be welcome). All of these replies are extremely useful.

 

[California Girl]

Thanks for the offer, California Girl, but at the moment we're just trying to decide if appealing to forum communities should be part of our strategy (and whether such appeals would be welcome). All of these replies are extremely useful.

If it's an appropriate forum, then fine. This is not that forum.

 

[saveliberty]

Abandonment of the scientific method will not yield anything of merit. Not sure why a school would be interested in comments from folks who have little interest in a subject. Attempting to appeal to nonmovie goers would probably reduce the overall number of movie goers. I'd probably sue the school for spending your tuition poorly.