Comments on: Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRs http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs How to communicate Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:10:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: domainnamesresearch.com – http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-290821 domainnamesresearch.com – Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:13:58 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-290821 [...] Bad Language / Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRsWriting about business, technology and marketing I t s time to turn the spotlight on another PR problem: the abuse of surveys. 100 per cent of the Posted by on August 23rd, 2006 [...] [...] Bad Language / Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRsWriting about business, technology and marketing I t s time to turn the spotlight on another PR problem: the abuse of surveys. 100 per cent of the Posted by on August 23rd, 2006 [...]

]]> By: Renegade Publicist http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-198959 Renegade Publicist Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:09:23 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-198959 <strong>The Value Of Bad Language ...</strong> ... The Value Of Bad Language …

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]]> By: Bad Language / Unnecessary meetings cost 17 billion pounds a year http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-53723 Bad Language / Unnecessary meetings cost 17 billion pounds a year Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:36:01 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-53723 [...] am sceptical of PR-driven market research. (See my previous post on Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRs). Still, I think this particular pieces reflects something that most people feel intuitively about [...] [...] am sceptical of PR-driven market research. (See my previous post on Surveys: uses and abuses for writers and PRs). Still, I think this particular pieces reflects something that most people feel intuitively about [...]

]]> By: Todd And - The Power to Connect http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-13861 Todd And - The Power to Connect Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:03:56 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-13861 [...] Matthew Stibbe of the Bad Language blog probably falls into the Twain camp. He wrote about PR survey abuse back in June. Personally, I think “abuse” of research by PR folks may stem from email marketing. Or, at the very least, has been enabled by the proliferation of email marketing. It seems like every web-based email marketing application offers a survey tool. [...] [...] Matthew Stibbe of the Bad Language blog probably falls into the Twain camp. He wrote about PR survey abuse back in June. Personally, I think “abuse” of research by PR folks may stem from email marketing. Or, at the very least, has been enabled by the proliferation of email marketing. It seems like every web-based email marketing application offers a survey tool. [...]

]]> By: Bad Language / Writing about next week’s catastrophe http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-1774 Bad Language / Writing about next week’s catastrophe Tue, 12 Sep 2006 07:15:40 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-1774 [...] The challenge is to provoke action without causing despair or fatalism.  Or boredom. One thing I try to do is avoid ‘rubber statistics’ of all kind.  You know: “10% of all top bloggers suffer a hard disk failure.”  Usually, such statistics are generated by backup software vendors and lack credibility.  (See my post on the uses and abuses of surveys.)  I also try to offer an antidote or remedy for any problem I cover. I imagine the problem is that much harder for people writing about global warming.  This subject has been pressing in on me recetly: a big feature in the Economist this week, a big piece in last night’s Radio 4 news and this morning a glib piece in Slate: how to protect your beach house from global warming. [...] [...] The challenge is to provoke action without causing despair or fatalism.  Or boredom. One thing I try to do is avoid ‘rubber statistics’ of all kind.  You know: “10% of all top bloggers suffer a hard disk failure.”  Usually, such statistics are generated by backup software vendors and lack credibility.  (See my post on the uses and abuses of surveys.)  I also try to offer an antidote or remedy for any problem I cover. I imagine the problem is that much harder for people writing about global warming.  This subject has been pressing in on me recetly: a big feature in the Economist this week, a big piece in last night’s Radio 4 news and this morning a glib piece in Slate: how to protect your beach house from global warming. [...]

]]> By: Amy http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-1140 Amy Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:33:10 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-1140 I agree - I've heard of friends who've been asked to completely fabricate surveys (albeit on frivolous matters) in order to generate a press release for a client. I personally think its disgusting that PR agencies can get away with this, and lazy journalists will accept this information without question in order to pad out the quieter days. I agree - I’ve heard of friends who’ve been asked to completely fabricate surveys (albeit on frivolous matters) in order to generate a press release for a client. I personally think its disgusting that PR agencies can get away with this, and lazy journalists will accept this information without question in order to pad out the quieter days.

]]> By: Bad Language / Want a good website, on time? Prioritise content. http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-1038 Bad Language / Want a good website, on time? Prioritise content. Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:52:57 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-1038 [...] Another interesting statistoid was the fact that sites typically contain 50 to 100 pages and 25,000 to 100,000 words.  That’s a LOT of copy.  A short novel might be 60,000 words.  You can’t magic this amount of content up overnight unless you have an infinite number of monkeys. Generally, I am sceptical of surveys. However, this rings true with my experience at Articulate Marketing (where, among other things, we produce website content).  I often see websites produced with ‘lorem ipsum’ placeholder text and clients who think this can be easily replaced by sparkling copy but who are often disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Here is my manifesto about writing for the web, with links to previous posts. [...] [...] Another interesting statistoid was the fact that sites typically contain 50 to 100 pages and 25,000 to 100,000 words.  That’s a LOT of copy.  A short novel might be 60,000 words.  You can’t magic this amount of content up overnight unless you have an infinite number of monkeys. Generally, I am sceptical of surveys. However, this rings true with my experience at Articulate Marketing (where, among other things, we produce website content).  I often see websites produced with ‘lorem ipsum’ placeholder text and clients who think this can be easily replaced by sparkling copy but who are often disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Here is my manifesto about writing for the web, with links to previous posts. [...]

]]> By: Todd And http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-925 Todd And Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:18:10 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-925 Great post, Matthew. It's a great perspective, and one that I recently blogged about myself. If you don't mind, here is a <a href="http://toddand.wordpress.com/2006/07/31/lies-damned-lies-and-pr-surveys/" rel="nofollow">link to my post that reflects on yours</a>. I look forward to reading Bad Language (great name by the way). Great post, Matthew. It’s a great perspective, and one that I recently blogged about myself. If you don’t mind, here is a link to my post that reflects on yours. I look forward to reading Bad Language (great name by the way).

]]> By: Bad Language / By 2015, 70% of companies will have bogus research http://www.badlanguage.net/surveys-uses-and-abuses-for-writers-and-prs#comment-336 Bad Language / By 2015, 70% of companies will have bogus research Sun, 02 Jul 2006 08:48:01 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=168#comment-336 [...] Over at The Church of the Customer Blog, there’s a post about a recent Jupiter Research report that makes some predictions about large company blog.  It traces the efforts of several bloggers to uncover the methodology behind the research. I posted recently about the abuse of similar surveys and research by PR companies.  Now it feels as if large companies also use these kinds of research reports and futurology to make their business decisions.  It’s almost as if they’re drinking their own Kool-Aid.  Where does it end? [...] [...] Over at The Church of the Customer Blog, there’s a post about a recent Jupiter Research report that makes some predictions about large company blog.  It traces the efforts of several bloggers to uncover the methodology behind the research. I posted recently about the abuse of similar surveys and research by PR companies.  Now it feels as if large companies also use these kinds of research reports and futurology to make their business decisions.  It’s almost as if they’re drinking their own Kool-Aid.  Where does it end? [...]

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