Topic Interests
Hello there!
Due to my indecisive nature this assignment will likely be the most difficult assignment for me to complete all semester. I won't lie; I had a very difficult time producing intriguing research topics to pursue during this course. Honestly, producing any research topics was difficult irregardless of how interesting I find them. Nevertheless, below are a the four options I am considering.
1) Theoretical: Analyze the effect of integrating AI with technical writing on customer satisfaction.
Specifically, I am intrigued by the ever-growing presence of chat-bots and I think I would like to focus my study on the usefulness of chat bots as a means of replacing traditional customer service and user manuals. Questions to answer would be:
- How many consumers use the available chat bot option?
- Is customer satisfaction better or worse when using chat bots as opposed to speaking with a representative or scrolling through user manuals?
2) Empirical: Test the hypothesis that traditional face-to-face or phone contact is more effective than newer forms of communication, i.e. email, social media, and AI, for small businesses.
As our world becomes more technologically dependent large scale corporations have benefitted drastically from the transition to marketing via digital mediums. Small businesses have largely moved their operations to strictly digital mediums as well in attempts to imitate such levels of success but I posit that small businesses benefit from more personal forms of communication such as face-to-face and phone contact. Questions to answer:
- How are small business sales/contracts affected by using a majority in-person communication model as opposed to majority digital communication?
- How does utilizing features of digital mediums meant to foster personal relationships (i.e. video calls and TikTok/Instagram Reels/TV) affect small business models?
3) Postmodern: Investigate how AI algorithms account for differing English dialects such as ESL and AAVE and expose any disparities apparent in consumer experience/satisfaction.
I think this topic is the most intriguing of the four that I was able to produce. It evolved from my theoretical research topic as I discussed it with a friend who mentioned they had recently read Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Questions to answer include:
- Are chat bots equally effective at answering questions for customers of all English dialects?
- Is customer satisfaction evenly represented by customers of all English dialects?
4) Evaluative: Compare and contrast effectiveness of search capabilities and clearly defined headings/sections in digital user manuals.
This was the first idea I had for a research topic. I was thinking about my recent experience using an online tv manual that was rather difficult to use due to poor search capabilities. I originally thought it would be better as an interpretivist or developmental topic focusing on search capabilities alone but I ultimately decided it would be better to evaluate search capability against user error itself. Questions to answer:
- Are search bars or headings quicker for providing consumers pertinent information when navigating online user manuals?
- When presented with both options do customers use search bars or headings more?
Delaney
Hi Delaney!
ReplyDeleteThis was pretty difficult for me to, mostly because I've never thought of doing much research outside of psychology projects. I think using the empirical approach makes the most sense when it comes to how people interact with social media specifically. I think the most interesting idea you proposed is the impact of social media features on small business. It would be interesting to see if utilizing the internet in a specific way can help small businesses find employees and help them cooperate.