Organizational Studies. While There Is Focus Upon

¶ … organizational studies. While there is focus upon the articles and their contents, the greater focus or endeavor of the paper is to analyze the writing techniques and approaches to research. At the center of the assignment is the relationship among the construction of the research question, the research question, and the research. By studying and referencing the methods of master researchers and writers, the paper forges a path into the unknown, yet mandatory territory of conducting research and sharing it with the academic community.

Organizational Studies: Article Reviews

The state of public research on over-the-counter drug advertising by Denise DeLorme,

Jisu Huh, Leonard N. Reid & Soontae An

The authors' suggestions for further research are rather climatic in this article. The authors pose nine questions to the readers and those questions serve as possible directions future research could go. Out of these nine questions, the two areas that speak the most to me are

"Q4. What role does advertising play in patient/physician interactions and patient/pharmacist interactions regarding OTC medicines?" (DeLorme et al., 2010,-Page 223) and "Q2. What is the nature and character of the content in advertising for OTC medicines to which the average consumer is exposed?" (DeLorme et al., 2010,-Page 222)

Often in the advertisements of over the counter drugs, the narration in the advertisement states that readers should ask their doctor if the advertised product is right for them. In the long run, does the relationship between physician and patient become more along the lines of drug dealer and junkie? The content of these advertisements is subversive and often laughable, particularly as the narrator lists the most common side effects. I choose these specific areas for further research for the aforementioned reasons.

The first research question under examination is "What role does advertising play in patient/physician interaction and patient/pharmacist interactions regarding OTC medicines?" (DeLorme et al., 2010,-Page 223) This question is a descriptive research question. This question seeks to understand what the current natures of the aforementioned relationships are. The authors want to know how relationships between physician and patients as well as patients and pharmacists stand regarding OTC medicines. This implies learning and characterizing the history of behaviors and dynamics among the parties involved. On top of this understanding, the research question further ponders what role advertising has in these relationships. The research question implies that there exist multiple roles advertising could play and multiple affects advertising has.

The research question asks which of the many roles advertising plays, are the ones that play a part within the scope of these particular relationships regarding OTC drugs. Within the research question is the word "interactions." Interactions imply relationships. If the question is concerned with relationships and interactions, then it is arguable that the nature of the research questions is moreover relational in addition to being descriptive. The variables in this relational research question are the patients, the pharmacists, the physicians, the OTC medicines, and the advertisements. The question pairs variables together into relationships and then asks the nature of the relationships between the pairs and the additional variable of the advertisements. This research questions may also be indirectly causal. While the primary concerns of the research question are about relationships, the questions indirectly or subversively asks, what effects does advertising about OTC have upon the relationships between patient/physician & patient/pharmacist? It is therefore arguable that this research questions is casual as well, or at least as causal implications within it.

Having come to a deeper understanding regarding the nature of the research question, another research question I derive from this research question is "What are the kinds of interactions between patient/physician and pharmacist/patient directly sprung from advertising?" Once the role(s) of advertising is known among these relationships, it follows that there will be patterns to the changes in behaviors and interactions. What are they? What do they mean? How do the interactions affect the healthcare experience? How does advertising change patients perceptions of OTC medicines and their experiences with their physicians and pharmacists as a direct result of advertising?

The second research question that suggests areas of further research to be examined is "What is the nature and character of the content in advertising for OTC medicines to which the average consumer is exposed?" (DeLorme et al., 2010,-Page 222) The advertisements are powerful. They have the power to alter relationships as mentioned in the previous research question. A compelling and logical question is, then, what content is within these advertisements that is so causative such that it affects behavior patterns and series' of interactions in consumers/patients? This research question is certainly casual. The advertisements cause changes in the consumers. The changed consumer further changes the nature of his/her interactions with his/her physician and pharmacist. What are those changes? How did the advertisement effect such changes? How are these advertisements written, produced, constructed, and distributed? These questions lie within the overall research question.

The question is also descriptive. In order to answer the question, the advertisements must be observed and the observations must be documented, organized, and studied. Observations are descriptions; therefore, if the answers to the questions are a series of descriptions, then the question itself must at least in part be inherently descriptive as well. This question, too, is arguably relational. It hints to the relationship between the content of the advertisements and the rate of exposure per average consumer. The content would have to be studied; the frequency of appearance of the advertisement would have to be charted; information regarding the consumption rates of the average consumer/patients would also have to be known in order to effectively answer this question from a relational perspective.

Once again, having come to a deeper understanding regarding the nature of the research question, another research question I derive from this research question is "How do rates of exposure to OTC advertisements contribute to behavioral changes in consumer?" Once the research reveals the nature and character of the content, we know to what the consumer is exposed. What we are left wondering is do consumers need to see the advertisements a lot or a little before they change their behaviors, interactions, etc. Is once enough or are multiple exposures necessary? What is the threshold of overexposure and what are those affects?

Hypotheses from the first research question I constructed, "What are the kinds of interactions between patient/physician and pharmacist/patient directly sprung from advertising?," are: "Interactions between pharmacist and patient become more educational in nature as educated consumers inquire about OTC medicines in advertisements they have consumed"; and, "Interactions between patients and physicians have become more about selling as educated consumers develop stronger preconceived notions of OTC medicines in advertisements they have consumed." Hypotheses for the second research question I created are: "Consumer behaviors regarding OTC medicines are likely to change based on the advertisements they consume and their reactions to the advertisements"; and "There comes a point where exposure to advertisements numbs consumers/patients and there is negligible change in consumer behaviors because of advertisements about OTC medicines."

A variable used in this line of research are the OTC medicine advertisements themselves. They are critical in this study and related studies. Using the variable of the OTC medicine advertisements, I will present three hypotheses in reference to the two research questions I came up with as a result of studying the authors' section of suggestions for further research. Question 1: "What is the nature and character of the content in advertising for OTC medicines to which the average consumer is exposed?" A null hypothesis is: "The content is persuasive and semiotic." An alternative hypothesis is: "The content is intentionally designed to distract and captivate consumers/patients." A directional hypothesis would be: "The content of OTC medicine advertising helps consumers/patients be more selective regarding OTC medicines." Regarding the second research question created, "How do rates of exposure to OTC advertisements contribute to behavioral changes in consumer?," three hypotheses are: "Over exposure to OTC medicine advertisements do not effect significant behavioral changes in consumers" (directional); "Exposure to OTC medicine advertisements make patients more likely to choose them while shopping" (null); and "OTC medicine advertisements make consumers choose them more often while shopping, but also make them more paranoid about OTC medicines in general" (alternative).

Regarding the first research question, the best hypothesis is "The content is intentionally designed to distract and captivate consumers/patients." It is both descriptive and relational just like the question to which it refers. Regarding the second question, the best hypothesis is "OTC medicine advertisements make patients more likely to choose them while shopping, but also make them more paranoid about OTC medicines in general." This hypothesis is descriptive and casual, similarly like the research question. This hypothesis also accepts that the advertisements are both effective, ineffective, and cause unintended effects.

Part 2: Independent and Dependent Variables

The two hypothesis I will work with in this section are: "The content of OTC medicine advertisements intentionally distracts and captivates consumers/patients," and "OTC medicine advertisements make patients more likely to choose them while shopping, but also make them more paranoid about OTC medicines in general." An independent variable in the first hypothesis is the content of the OTC medicine advertisements. Dependent variables in the first hypothesis are the degrees to which the consumers are distracted and to which they are captivated and/or engaged. An independent variable in the second hypothesis is the OTC medicine advertisements. Dependent variables in the second hypothesis are the shopping patterns and attitudes of the consumers regarding OTC medicines. The content of the OTC medicines will not change in either hypothesis. The relationships among the OTC medicine advertisement content and the subsequent attitudes and/or behaviors of the consumers as a result of consumption of the advertisements are contingent on the ads themselves. This logic guides the assignments of dependent and independent variables in each hypothesis. The critical variable in the hypotheses is the OTC medicine advertisement content. This is a primary focus in the article in Part 1 and it arises in both instances in the hypothesis developed by the author. Therefore, it seems that a due amount of attention is necessary regarding the OTC medicine advertisement content.

As instructed, four articles were located with similar independent and dependent variables as the ones in the article in Part 1 and the original questions & hypotheses developed by the author. The first of the four articles to be understood is "Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertisements on Network Television: An Exploration of Quantity, Frequency, and Placement." The primary research question of this article could be "How can we understand the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and television executives based on startling data regarding quantity, frequency, placement, and duration of drug advertisements?" Early on in the piece the authors describe the purpose, intention, and result of their study. Though they do not pose a research question as a question, what they write and the study they conduct is the answer to the aforementioned question:

"Although OTC drug ads were more common, Rx drug ads on average were significantly longer. Direct-to-consumer drug ads appeared most frequently during news programs and soap operas and during the middle-afternoon and early-evening hours. Overall, we found that direct-to-consumer drug advertisements occupy a large percentage of network television commercial advertising and, based on time and program placement, many ads may be targeted specifically at women and older viewers. Our findings suggest that Americans who watch average amounts of television may be exposed to more than 30 hours of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements each year, far surpassing their exposure to other forms of health communication." (Brownfield et al., 2004,-Page 491)

This question is relational and descriptive. One hypothesis is "From a health communication perspective, direct-to-consumer drug ads may be useful for increasing awareness and knowledge among the public of specific conditions and available treatments, but they also may lead to inaccurate self-diagnoses or incorrect perceptions of illness risk or treatment efficacy." (Brownfield et al., 2004,-Page 492) An independent variable is the ads and dependent variables are inaccurate consumer perceptions. The authors differentiate between theoretical constructs in the research question. They do so clearly.

The second article located is "A Decade of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs." The primary research question is "What is the history of the specific affects of direct-to-consumer drug ads has on society?" This research question is descriptive, relational, and casual. The authors want to know, now that a significant duration of time has expired, what they can learn about the affects these ads have and in what areas of society and culture the affects appear. One hypothesis is "Evidence suggests that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs increases pharmaceutical sales and both helps to avert underuse of medicines and leads to potential overuse." (Donohue et al., 2007,-Page 673) The dependent variable are the advertisements created in the space of time they study. The dependent variables are the economic, political, social, psychological, and physical affects the ads have on society. The theoretical constructs are implied, yet they are directly stated in the research question. The constructs could be clearer by providing a more definitive perspective from which they conduct their research. Otherwise, all other elements are clear.