01/27/2017
With less than one week of school left, it is just starting to set in that I won't be attending school on a regular basis for 6-7 months. While I am definitely excited to leave, start my new Starbucks job, and preparing for college (big decisions ahead in these next few months!), I am also a little nervous about completing the rest of my research and writing the results and discussion sections with the only support being a weekly meeting with Ms. Haag.
In terms of the progress I have made in the past week, I have created a much nicer flow from my lit review to my methods section and cut down a lot of words. I have also integrated a lot more justifications supporting my blind consumption test scale and exit survey questions (vignette - thank you, Kristiana, for sharing your sources - and Likert scale-style). Overall, I am feeling a lot more confident about the lit review and methods section, and I think a little bit of editing, adding, and reorganizing truly went a long way.
I have scheduled another date - Saturday, February 4th from 10-2pm - for going in to Skin Apeel Beauty Bar and testing participants. While this is the only OFFICIAL date I have locked down, I also plan on going into Skin Apeel the following week during the times when I am not working and trying to get as many walk-ins as possible to participate in the test.
Additionally, in terms of statistically analyzing data, I met with Mr. Peacher and we came up with some good ideas. Before, I had two main problems - determining the "number of mismatches" (how "off" participant product rankings were between their blind consumption test and the exit survey) and determining how related these misconceptions were to the natural product movement's influence on participants.
Before, I was determining the number of mismatches simply by looking at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place slots and counting how many were "off" between the two ranking lists. Thus, it was only a number 0-4, and it did not take into account how far each product moved on the ranking list (for example, if someone ranked the 1st place product in her blind consumption test 2nd on the exit survey, it would be less of a misconception than if she had ranked it 4th on her exit survey, and my previous way of counting mismatches didn't take this into account). Mr. Peacher suggested that I add how far off the rankings were from each other to get the "mismatching" number. For example, if a participant's rankings for the blind consumption test were product 1, product 2, product 3, product 4, and for the exit survey was product 4, product 2, product 1, product 3, their mismatching score would be 3 (for the number of places product 4 moved) + 2 (number of places product 1 moved) + 1 (number of places product 3 moved) = 6.
To determine how correlated these mismatching values are with the natural product influence on participants, I will create a linear regression between participants' mismatching scores and the added number (-20 to 20) from the exit survey questions. Thus, I will be able to determine how related the participant product misconceptions were to their preference (or lack thereof) for natural products. If there is a strong correlation, then it is likely the natural product movement is a major reason consumers have misconceptions about their favorite makeup brands. However, if there is a weak correlation, then misconceptions are likely due to other/additional causes.
(598)
Friday, January 27, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Implementing and Editing My Method
01/22/16
Last Saturday, I conducted my first round of blind consumption testing and successfully finished 21 participants (so almost half, considering that my final goal is 50) within a few hours, so I am feeling pretty good about my progress so far. In terms of what I learned, it was really only feasible to guide one or two participants through the test at a time, given the tedious process of making sure they are testing the right lip gloss at the right time (each participant has a specific random order they need to test them in for validity reasons) and filling out the section of their blind consumption ranking form that corresponds to the product they are currently sampling. Otherwise, the process went smoothly and was a lot more efficient than I originally thought (each participant only took 5-10 minutes to complete both the test and the exit survey).
As for the results I am finding, 6/21 participants clearly favored unnatural makeup in the blind consumption even though they claimed to prefer natural brands in the exit survey and their answers to the multiple choice questions demonstrated that they were influenced by the natural product movement. 10/21 participants (not including those 6) had rankings that did not match between the blind consumption test and the exit survey, but they were simply personal misconceptions about their own taste and were not necessarily related to a perceived preference for natural makeup over unnatural makeup. The final 5 participants had similar or identical rankings in their blind consumption test and exit survey, some preferring natural products in both, some preferring unnatural products in both, and some preferring drugstore/high end products in both. Overall, participants did not lean toward any one of the 4 products and each participant seemed to prefer different ones, although L'oreal (the unnatural drugstore brand) surprisingly was the most popular in terms of the blind consumption favorite. Thus, I seem to be concluding so far that consumers' emotional responses to brands definitely impact their decision-making, and the natural product movement is lending to some of these emotional responses, but it is by no means the only or primary societal influence present in the makeup market.
As far as getting more participants done, I plan to go into Skin Apeel Beauty Bar when Pam has a lot of appointments scheduled and ask walk-ins if they would be willing to participate in the study. I do not have a specific day picked out yet, but I plan to contact her Monday (I just got a job at Starbucks - super exciting! I am going in after school on Monday to fill out the final paperwork and come up with a training schedule for the next few weeks, so my hands are kind of tied until I figure out what days I am free). However, I am confident that I will be able to get 50 participants by mid-February.
This upcoming week, I will be focusing mainly on editing the written methods section of my research paper. I worked with the organization of the end of my lit review (since it previously included a justification of my blind consumption methodology and justifications for the makeup I am testing) and my methods, and I was able to cut down a lot of words (thank goodness!). After I finish smoothing over the new transitioning at the end of my lit review and the beginning of my methods, I will focus on the explanations and justifications for the vignette and Likert-scale questions in my exit survey.
(589)
Last Saturday, I conducted my first round of blind consumption testing and successfully finished 21 participants (so almost half, considering that my final goal is 50) within a few hours, so I am feeling pretty good about my progress so far. In terms of what I learned, it was really only feasible to guide one or two participants through the test at a time, given the tedious process of making sure they are testing the right lip gloss at the right time (each participant has a specific random order they need to test them in for validity reasons) and filling out the section of their blind consumption ranking form that corresponds to the product they are currently sampling. Otherwise, the process went smoothly and was a lot more efficient than I originally thought (each participant only took 5-10 minutes to complete both the test and the exit survey).
As for the results I am finding, 6/21 participants clearly favored unnatural makeup in the blind consumption even though they claimed to prefer natural brands in the exit survey and their answers to the multiple choice questions demonstrated that they were influenced by the natural product movement. 10/21 participants (not including those 6) had rankings that did not match between the blind consumption test and the exit survey, but they were simply personal misconceptions about their own taste and were not necessarily related to a perceived preference for natural makeup over unnatural makeup. The final 5 participants had similar or identical rankings in their blind consumption test and exit survey, some preferring natural products in both, some preferring unnatural products in both, and some preferring drugstore/high end products in both. Overall, participants did not lean toward any one of the 4 products and each participant seemed to prefer different ones, although L'oreal (the unnatural drugstore brand) surprisingly was the most popular in terms of the blind consumption favorite. Thus, I seem to be concluding so far that consumers' emotional responses to brands definitely impact their decision-making, and the natural product movement is lending to some of these emotional responses, but it is by no means the only or primary societal influence present in the makeup market.
As far as getting more participants done, I plan to go into Skin Apeel Beauty Bar when Pam has a lot of appointments scheduled and ask walk-ins if they would be willing to participate in the study. I do not have a specific day picked out yet, but I plan to contact her Monday (I just got a job at Starbucks - super exciting! I am going in after school on Monday to fill out the final paperwork and come up with a training schedule for the next few weeks, so my hands are kind of tied until I figure out what days I am free). However, I am confident that I will be able to get 50 participants by mid-February.
This upcoming week, I will be focusing mainly on editing the written methods section of my research paper. I worked with the organization of the end of my lit review (since it previously included a justification of my blind consumption methodology and justifications for the makeup I am testing) and my methods, and I was able to cut down a lot of words (thank goodness!). After I finish smoothing over the new transitioning at the end of my lit review and the beginning of my methods, I will focus on the explanations and justifications for the vignette and Likert-scale questions in my exit survey.
(589)
Friday, January 13, 2017
Refining the Method
01/13/2017
With 14 days of school left (how did that happen?!), we have been working on refining our methods sections and preparing to dive into research.
I am actually beginning to conduct my consumer tests tomorrow, and (fingers crossed that I am not proven wrong) I feel confident that I have a solid procedure for administering my blind consumption test and exit survey and sufficient understanding of the validity precautions I need to carry out.
However, my first shot at writing the methodology section of my paper turned out pretty weak, mostly due to poor organization, lack of justification, and ineffective presentation of complicated information.
At the beginning of my methods section, instead of diving directly into what I did, I need to articulate my research question and explain how a blind consumption test paired with an exit survey best provides the information necessary to answer it. As of right now, the explanation for why the method works is just thrown in at the end of the paper, leaving the reader confused while sifting through the procedure.
Next, I will explain why I chose lip gloss and the specific shades I did. Instead of addressing personal practical concerns for choosing lipgloss (i.e. the economical nature), I will cite why lipgloss is useful for my research (e.g. easy and quick for participants to apply, one shade works on many skin tones, its short-lasting nature (hence, its quality is not determined based on how long it lasts so much as its appearance and feel (shine, non-stickiness, etc.) meaning that participants can judge it in a short amount of time).
In explaining gathering my participants, I will point to why my sample was worthwhile for my research, for, as of right now, I mainly just focus on the sample's limitations.
My procedure needs a lot more justification, especially in terms of the exit survey and the value of using vignette and Likert scale questions to judge participant emotional responses to natural products. I also need to find a source that backs up shine, taste, texture, and color quality as key factors in assessing the quality of lip gloss so that I can justify using those categories to measure participant liking of the lip glosses in the blind consumption test. Also, when explaining the -2 to +2 scale for the questions, I should present the information in a set of tables, as opposed to using a long, drawn-out explanation within the body of the paper.
Overall, while I have a clear outlook for actually conducting my research and the method itself seems strong, I need to put a lot of work into justifying and explaining my work within the written methods section of my paper. Through some reorganization and using more sources, I think that I will be able to complete this task without too many issues.
(472)
With 14 days of school left (how did that happen?!), we have been working on refining our methods sections and preparing to dive into research.
I am actually beginning to conduct my consumer tests tomorrow, and (fingers crossed that I am not proven wrong) I feel confident that I have a solid procedure for administering my blind consumption test and exit survey and sufficient understanding of the validity precautions I need to carry out.
However, my first shot at writing the methodology section of my paper turned out pretty weak, mostly due to poor organization, lack of justification, and ineffective presentation of complicated information.
At the beginning of my methods section, instead of diving directly into what I did, I need to articulate my research question and explain how a blind consumption test paired with an exit survey best provides the information necessary to answer it. As of right now, the explanation for why the method works is just thrown in at the end of the paper, leaving the reader confused while sifting through the procedure.
Next, I will explain why I chose lip gloss and the specific shades I did. Instead of addressing personal practical concerns for choosing lipgloss (i.e. the economical nature), I will cite why lipgloss is useful for my research (e.g. easy and quick for participants to apply, one shade works on many skin tones, its short-lasting nature (hence, its quality is not determined based on how long it lasts so much as its appearance and feel (shine, non-stickiness, etc.) meaning that participants can judge it in a short amount of time).
In explaining gathering my participants, I will point to why my sample was worthwhile for my research, for, as of right now, I mainly just focus on the sample's limitations.
My procedure needs a lot more justification, especially in terms of the exit survey and the value of using vignette and Likert scale questions to judge participant emotional responses to natural products. I also need to find a source that backs up shine, taste, texture, and color quality as key factors in assessing the quality of lip gloss so that I can justify using those categories to measure participant liking of the lip glosses in the blind consumption test. Also, when explaining the -2 to +2 scale for the questions, I should present the information in a set of tables, as opposed to using a long, drawn-out explanation within the body of the paper.
Overall, while I have a clear outlook for actually conducting my research and the method itself seems strong, I need to put a lot of work into justifying and explaining my work within the written methods section of my paper. Through some reorganization and using more sources, I think that I will be able to complete this task without too many issues.
(472)
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