<p> This study explored perceptions of Public Relations (PR) among graduate higher education publics regarding distance learning as contrasted with face-to-face learning contexts. The research questions assessed student, faculty and administrator perceptions of characteristics of PR: trust, communication, quality, respect and rigor.</p><p> Participants included students and professors who had experienced both online and face-to-face learning, as well as administrators from two private universities. The larger of the two schools was in the Midwest region of the United States, and at the time of this study, was relatively new to online instruction. The smaller school was located in the Southeast region and offered an established online instruction program. Survey responses were collected from 69 students and 108 faculty, staff, and administrators. Out of those surveyed, six students, seven faculty, and six administrators were interviewed. Furthermore, I interviewed three human resources administrators from educational establishments who had experience hiring people with graduate education degrees. In addition, I analyzed student evaluations of courses taught both online and face-to-face at the smaller university. </p><p> Following completion of qualitative coding of interview data, examination of numeric descriptive trends within survey responses, and analysis of course evaluations, the findings revealed overall positive perceptions with strengths identified in online communication, respect, and rigor and weaknesses in trust and quality. Recommended improvements included strengthening academic integrity efforts through the consistent use of anti-plagiarism software and implementation of a rigorous culture of ethical enforcement. There is also a need for proactive provision of professional development for online teaching to provide the most student-efficient distance learning environment. Additionally, results of this study indicated a need for restructure of student evaluations of teaching to ensure assessment of the unique dynamics of online coursework. </p><p> The significance of these findings is two-fold: First, the data can potentially help university administrators effectively connect with internal and external publics and possibly foster collaboration between administration, faculty, and PR staff. Secondly, the insights reported from the analyzed data may be useful in rationalizing institutional beliefs and subsequent needs when writing departmental or institutional strategic improvement plans.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4261. Adviser: David M. Gardner. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-149) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> American Heart Association officials and other expert cardiologists recommend omega-3 (n-3) dietary supplementation for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, a prevalent health problem in the United States. Physicians' lack of understanding of possible n-3 preventive health benefits results in underprescribing n-3 dietary supplements and lower n-3 dietary supplement product sales. N-3 dietary supplement marketers do not understand physician n-3 prescribing decision criteria enough to optimize high-impact communication to physicians to increase n-3 dietary supplement product use. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to improve n-3 marketers' understanding of how physicians reach decisions to prescribe or recommend products including n-3 dietary supplements. Argyris' ladder of inference theory provided the study framework to facilitate understanding physicians' decision criteria. Rich data collected and analyzed from 20 primary care physician interviews in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee revealed physicians use similar decision criteria for drugs and n-3s. Three essential influencers of physician decisions included clinical evidence, personal experience, and cost. Other influencers were opinions of peers, pharmaceutical representatives, samples, direct-to-consumer advertising, and knowledge of dietary supplements. Study outcomes may inform pharmaceutical marketers regarding presentation of clinical evidence, cost emphasis, and pharmaceutical representative skills and may facilitate competitive advantage for n-3 marketers. The social benefit of this study is improved physician understanding of n-3s may result in more accurate and appropriate prescribing to augment positive health outcomes. </p>

<p> The problem addressed in this study is that the recency of the social media phenomena created a research gap in terms of understanding how companies exploit various social media platforms for marketing purposes and measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns. Thus, there is a need for increased understanding of the effectiveness of social media marketing techniques. <i>Social media marketing</i> is defined as the blending of sociology and technology as a means to change marketing efforts from a monologue to a dialogue. The purpose of this study was to determine, based on research participants' perceptions, the reasons that select organizations use social media marketing, the different social media marketing strategies that companies utilized, and the perceived effect of social media marketing on revenue generation. In particular, the research questions concerned whether social media marketing had its own specific social metrics, and the study investigated the evolution of social media marketing and the benefits that social media brings to traditional marketing approaches. The overall research design employed semi-structured, in-depth, individual interviews with seven executives in regard to their use of social media marketing and its role as part of an integrated marketing approach. Commonalities in the interview data were color coded and analyzed, and field notes, verbatim transcriptions, and member checks were used to triangulate the data. The results of the study generated three specific categories: engagement with customers, the essence of social media presence, and communication by choice. Knowledge in each of these categories provides companies with a deeper understanding of the social consumer and enhances the value of social media marketing in terms of competitiveness. Specifically, based on such knowledge, companies have a greater ability to target qualified leads as well as to improve the conversion rate of those leads. Finally, they have a means to determine how their social media marketing efforts contributed to the overall revenue generated. </p>

<p> Over two million military personnel will leave the service over the next decade (Cook &amp; Kim; 2009). The majority of these veterans will receive the most generous GI Bill since its inception (United States Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], 2011). Institutions will covet these students to offset discounting (Barr &amp; McClellan, 2011; Basch, 1997; Curs &amp; Singell, 2010; Parrott, 2008; United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee [HELP], 2012). To recruit and retain these students, military veterans must view these institutions as friendly (Bean &amp; Metzner, 1985; Radford, 2011; Vacchi, 2012). </p><p> Previous studies focused on transition and access to veteran services (Ackerman, DiRamio, &amp; Garza-Mitchell, 2009; Cook &amp; Kim; 2009; Diamond, 2012; DiRamio, Ackerman, &amp; Mitchell, 2008; Griffin &amp; Gilbert, 2012; McBain, Kim, Cook, &amp; Snead, 2012; Rumann &amp; Hamrick, 2010). They identified factors that contribute to military friendliness along dimensions of cost, culture, collaboration, convenience, caring, and characteristics; however, they did not correlate these variables with veteran perceptions of friendliness (Ackerman et al., 2009; Diamond, 2012; DiRamio et al., 2008; Rumann &amp; Hamrick, 2010). These studies were qualitative and used small samples (Ackerman et al., 2009; Diamond, 2012; DiRamio, et al., 2008; Rumann &amp; Hamrick, 2010). This study determined how military veterans ranked these variables, compared how they differed by demographics, and determined to what extent these factors explained impressions of military friendliness at their institutions. </p><p> This quantitative correlational study surveyed veteran populations (N=188) at five institutions in the New England. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to run descriptive and inferential statistics to rank military friendliness factors and compare these rankings along various demographics. Findings revealed significant differences in student perceptions based on gender, marital status, children, age, combat experience, military status, educational assistance eligibility, academic status, institution type, and college residency. Findings also determined to what extent and in what manner these factors explained respondents' perceptions of military friendliness at their own institutions. The results of this study may inform higher educational leaders how to prioritize initiatives and to provide better support to military veteran students.</p>

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