Finally, it talks about the page design of proposal. That is another way to establish your echos, since "a proposal's design signals the attitude, the competence, and the quality of people submitting the proposal or grant" (182).
Well, my problem was that I'm used to being concentrated on the design as I first started writing. I paid so much attention to the font, alignment and heading levels that I can barely keep on working on the content. However, as it says in the chapter, design goes after the content, because "even the best design will never hide a weak understanding of the current situation or a flawed plan" (182). So an additional principle for me is not to worry about the design until the content is almost done.
In the chapter, it states four principles of design, that is, balance (by using grids, pullouts, margin comments and sidebars), alignment, grouping (by using headings of different levels and borders) and consistency (by unifying headers, footers, typefaces, labeling of graphics, sequential and nosequential lists). By following those principles, you will be able to write a seemingly professional proposal. Addtionally, we have to follow the formatting requirement, if there is any.
Lastly, practice makes perfect. As the author says, "good design is not something to be learned in a day" (183). On the other hand, it is very possible to read as much good design samples as possible, in order to gain others' experience.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Progress Report 3
Date: 06/11/2008
To: Dr. Holmevik
From: Jin Liu
Introduction
This research is going to answer two questions:1) whether the high-/low-context culture of China and U. S. influences the visual strategies of their commercials; 2) whether the Chinese and U. S. audience appreciate the commercials customized according to their culture.
Work Completed
I made a big step forward last week while writing the first draft. First, I know better what I'm going to do. Second, I reduced the brands from 6 Asian and U. S. brands to be 3 U. S. brands. Third, I identified two kinds of important variables, including high-/low-context cultural characteristics and the related visual strategies. Forth, I raised seven specific hypotheses to examine.
Next Steps
The multimodal presentation for the proposal is due next Thursday, and the storyboard is due next Monday. So I will be working on the video this and next week. And I need to contact the instructor of ENG 103 summer class, and pick up 2-3 Chinese commercials for them to watch. Besides, I will continue the literature review, and keep on looking for the commercial samples.
On the other hand, I will try to find fundings for this research, which requires me to research the application process, and calculate my budget.
Conclusion
Things work much better than I expected this week. And thanks to Barbara, I will probably be able to conduct a preliminary experiment this or next week among the students in ENG 103. And it will be awesome if I can get funding for my research, and for the flying home this Christmas break! Now that gives me another reason for harder work.
To: Dr. Holmevik
From: Jin Liu
Introduction
This research is going to answer two questions:1) whether the high-/low-context culture of China and U. S. influences the visual strategies of their commercials; 2) whether the Chinese and U. S. audience appreciate the commercials customized according to their culture.
Work Completed
I made a big step forward last week while writing the first draft. First, I know better what I'm going to do. Second, I reduced the brands from 6 Asian and U. S. brands to be 3 U. S. brands. Third, I identified two kinds of important variables, including high-/low-context cultural characteristics and the related visual strategies. Forth, I raised seven specific hypotheses to examine.
Next Steps
The multimodal presentation for the proposal is due next Thursday, and the storyboard is due next Monday. So I will be working on the video this and next week. And I need to contact the instructor of ENG 103 summer class, and pick up 2-3 Chinese commercials for them to watch. Besides, I will continue the literature review, and keep on looking for the commercial samples.
On the other hand, I will try to find fundings for this research, which requires me to research the application process, and calculate my budget.
Conclusion
Things work much better than I expected this week. And thanks to Barbara, I will probably be able to conduct a preliminary experiment this or next week among the students in ENG 103. And it will be awesome if I can get funding for my research, and for the flying home this Christmas break! Now that gives me another reason for harder work.
Comments for Katie's proposal
Hi Katie,
After reading your proposal, I know that you have done much work for the research. You've already diagnose the problems with the OSP website, and you've clarified which specific theories will be adopted. So you got those weapons, and the proposal was to explain how to use the weapons. That's good.
I think you also did well in the research design part, which explained the specific steps of usuability testing. And I was impressed by your tight time schedule. It's good to finish things ahead of time. And I will suggest you take more time to refine your paper since you will have several months before May.
And here I have a suggestion for the current situation part, which begins with the introduction to some scholars' research. I think it may be more attractive to the readers, if you exhibit the connection between their theories and your research topic immediately in that part. Otherwise, the readers might be a little confused about what those theories have to do with this study. Though you've know the logic behind the argument, but the readers need easier and clearer explanation.
After reading your proposal, I know that you have done much work for the research. You've already diagnose the problems with the OSP website, and you've clarified which specific theories will be adopted. So you got those weapons, and the proposal was to explain how to use the weapons. That's good.
I think you also did well in the research design part, which explained the specific steps of usuability testing. And I was impressed by your tight time schedule. It's good to finish things ahead of time. And I will suggest you take more time to refine your paper since you will have several months before May.
And here I have a suggestion for the current situation part, which begins with the introduction to some scholars' research. I think it may be more attractive to the readers, if you exhibit the connection between their theories and your research topic immediately in that part. Otherwise, the readers might be a little confused about what those theories have to do with this study. Though you've know the logic behind the argument, but the readers need easier and clearer explanation.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Chapter 9 Style
Here, the "style" is an important approach to establish echos. It is a chance to represent the author's commitment and confidence in the project, by writing plain sentences and paragraphs. Different from academic writing or literature, proposal is a practical genre. Its main purpose is to inform, to convince, and to persuade. Therefore, the ideas must be expressed clearly and considerately to make sure the readers will interpret it correctly and favorably.
To write plain sentences, it recommends to use active voice in proposal writing--"make the Doer the subject" (164). And in class, Dr. Holmevik mentioned that it worked better to use active voice in proposal. However, I was actually taught it made the writing more objective and professional when using passive voice since I started learning English. (I don't know why. Probably they wanted to teach us academic English.) So I was a little confused.
But now I understand. The proposal is supposed to explain things as clear as possible. So it is important to clarify who is going to that, for instance, who will move the coffee maker, followed by the explanations like why he/she is uniquely qualified, how he/she will make it, and so forth.
On the other hand, if it is hard to predict who, it will be appropriate to use passive voice. And the author may be considered as a considerate and honest person at that point.
To write plain sentences, it recommends to use active voice in proposal writing--"make the Doer the subject" (164). And in class, Dr. Holmevik mentioned that it worked better to use active voice in proposal. However, I was actually taught it made the writing more objective and professional when using passive voice since I started learning English. (I don't know why. Probably they wanted to teach us academic English.) So I was a little confused.
But now I understand. The proposal is supposed to explain things as clear as possible. So it is important to clarify who is going to that, for instance, who will move the coffee maker, followed by the explanations like why he/she is uniquely qualified, how he/she will make it, and so forth.
On the other hand, if it is hard to predict who, it will be appropriate to use passive voice. And the author may be considered as a considerate and honest person at that point.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Introduction
It is believed by many researchers that the power of advertising is conveyed in visuals which are more concise and more easily and quickly processed than verbal language (Berger 1998; Lester 2000). On the other hand, it has been proven by psychological studies (Nisbett, 2003) that the way people interpret images is impacted by their cultural background (high-context verse low-context culture). Therefore, properly designed visuals are especially significant to the success of advertising campaigns. Moreover, the culturally localized commercials have been proven to be more effective than those “generalized” (Mueller 1994; Taylor, Miracle & Wilson 1997)
This research will take the TV commercials of three US brands aired in China as the research subject, to examine whether their visual strategies have been customized according to the Chinese society’s high-context cultural characteristics in comparison with the US versions.
Generally, this research will address this question: “Have those commercials aired in China been impacted by the high-context cultural characteristics in comparison with the US versions?” and “Does the audience prefer the commercials adopting culturally localized visual strategies?”
The first question will be further explored by justifying these 7 hypotheses associated with 6 high-context verse low-context cultural characteristics. I will conduct two experiments among Chinese and U. S. audience by showing them 6 most ads from the samples which most typically present the local cultural characteristics. And then the participants will report their feedback during the interviews and questionnaire. By doing so, I want to justify whether the culture matters to the audience when perceiving the commercials. If so, which cultural characteristics are most appreciated by the audience? Based on those findings, the research is expected to generate a model of visual representation for culturally based advertising campaign targeted at Chinese market.
This research will take the TV commercials of three US brands aired in China as the research subject, to examine whether their visual strategies have been customized according to the Chinese society’s high-context cultural characteristics in comparison with the US versions.
Generally, this research will address this question: “Have those commercials aired in China been impacted by the high-context cultural characteristics in comparison with the US versions?” and “Does the audience prefer the commercials adopting culturally localized visual strategies?”
The first question will be further explored by justifying these 7 hypotheses associated with 6 high-context verse low-context cultural characteristics. I will conduct two experiments among Chinese and U. S. audience by showing them 6 most ads from the samples which most typically present the local cultural characteristics. And then the participants will report their feedback during the interviews and questionnaire. By doing so, I want to justify whether the culture matters to the audience when perceiving the commercials. If so, which cultural characteristics are most appreciated by the audience? Based on those findings, the research is expected to generate a model of visual representation for culturally based advertising campaign targeted at Chinese market.
Chapter 8 Budget
After convincing the significance and feasibility of your project plan, it finally comes down to the money. In this part, the point is to clarify the use of most of the dollars (except for the unitemized budget), and convince the readers that your plan is reasonable and desirable.
For those who are doing unfunded research, like us, it may not be necessary to talk about budget right now. But for the people conducting long-term studies, like the PhD research of Dr. Holmevik, it is important to ask money to recruiting participants, or purchase technological equipment.
If I conduct the experiment for my research in China, I may apply for the funds from agenda supporting international studies. The budget I could think of now generally includes my flight tickets, visa application fees, the gifts for the participants, the rental for the research room and equipment, like TV, CD/DVD player, video camera, eye-tracking equipment and software, and the software for data analysis, and lastly, the expense of printing questionnaires.
For those who are doing unfunded research, like us, it may not be necessary to talk about budget right now. But for the people conducting long-term studies, like the PhD research of Dr. Holmevik, it is important to ask money to recruiting participants, or purchase technological equipment.
If I conduct the experiment for my research in China, I may apply for the funds from agenda supporting international studies. The budget I could think of now generally includes my flight tickets, visa application fees, the gifts for the participants, the rental for the research room and equipment, like TV, CD/DVD player, video camera, eye-tracking equipment and software, and the software for data analysis, and lastly, the expense of printing questionnaires.
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