I'm posting up the link to a paper I wrote based on the argy bargy between Harry Potter and Discworld fans that happened last year. This is a small segment of what my PhD is on but seeming as how thats coming along incredibly slowly I figured I'd put up the bits I write in segments and see if anyone wants to read and comment on it... The link is in pdf format (there are copyright issues) but feel free to read and comment, you can even tell me how wrong I am Actually I'd like to know if I'm wrong cos it'll make my analysis of the rest of the data better... This is written for the purposes of a consumer research conference I'm hoping to attend in the US later this year. Edit: I've tried to get the tage to work and they won't can someone with the power and the knowledge fix them for me (otherwiase just copy and paste the link. Thanks
Very interesting ideas. The influence of the news media on the markets. What do you expect the marketing community to get out of this, or is it just knowledge for knowledge's sake? And what is your whole disertation on?
Wow, just read it all. As a late comer to the forum and online community it was quite illuminating, I'd not even heard there was such an official divide beyond the occasional sarcastic comment aimed at Harry Potter some people throw around in posts here. It might be useful to include in the paper a copy of or at least exert of the letter from Terry Pratchett and JK Rowlings statement that originally sparked it off, for basic comparative referance(and space filling).
I've just read the whole thing without my brain exploding (though it was trying to shut down in self-defence by about page 8! ) - definitely PhD material (Robert Heinlein in "The Number of the Beast" claims that PhD stands for "Piled Higher and Deeper") - seriously scholarly, plenty of references, and written in a way to delight any university professor (Except possibly Mustrum Ridcully! ) On a serious note, I would put in a note that the quotes from the internet are "as copied", to cover the erratic spelling.
[quote:978edbdb09="Pixel"]On a serious note, I would put in a note that the quotes from the internet are "as copied", to cover the erratic spelling.[/quote:978edbdb09] I'm now wondering if you could put that at the beginning of the whole thing so you wouldn't have to check the spelling at all... Way to go, Spiky, looks like good work, as soon as I get my brain in gear, I'll read past page 3...
Is this linked to the questionnaire some of us participated in many moons ago? I can't seem to open the link (computer people in work won't let me there are security warning messages flashing round my screen right now.. Is there anywhere on the board you can post it to so that I can have a read?
[quote:d3b6d22140="Perdita"]Is this linked to the questionnaire some of us participated in many moons ago?[/quote:d3b6d22140] It is linked in my phd but for this paper I ran out of time and had to concentrate on just one source of data... DOing the analysis takes a very long time... which is why I still haven't go to the interviews with you guys but thats on the agenda. Honest Spelling: If the reviewers pick it up I will put in the (sic)s although on some of the posts it will be every second word requiring (sic)s. I also would have liked to put in the articles but the conference guidelines only let you do 20 pages including references and pictures, I simply ran out of room, I did put the links in the reference section... And I'm a little disappointed that the academic writing didn't make more people's heads explode. It is one of the main aims of the whole exercise. It is an insider secret of academia, that now I've told you I'll have to come to each of your houses and kill you (or turn you into academics with my Fairy Godmother Wand, that or a pumpkin will do).
[quote:c37967a215="spiky"] .......................Spelling: If the reviewers pick it up I will put in the (sic)s although on some of the posts it will be every second word requiring (sic)s. ............[/quote:c37967a215] That's why I suggested an overall disclaimer!
[quote:fbd2a33b11="spiky"]And I'm a little disappointed that the academic writing didn't make more people's heads explode. It is one of the main aims of the whole exercise. It is an insider secret of academia, that now I've told you I'll have to come to each of your houses and kill you (or turn you into academics with my Fairy Godmother Wand, that or a pumpkin will do).[/quote:fbd2a33b11] I'm still on page 3, it is wednesday, after all.
[quote:2375710f20="Katcal"][quote:2375710f20="spiky"]And I'm a little disappointed that the academic writing didn't make more people's heads explode. It is one of the main aims of the whole exercise. It is an insider secret of academia, that now I've told you I'll have to come to each of your houses and kill you (or turn you into academics with my Fairy Godmother Wand, that or a pumpkin will do).[/quote:2375710f20] I'm still on page 3, it is wednesday, after all.[/quote:2375710f20] *Holds wand at the ready*
I think there should be an 'a' before the word 'crucial' in the first paragraph. I just started reading but I wanted to mention this now in case I forget. P.S. Also where is says, According to this theory the spirit relationships.. in [i:a29284c2da]Defining Brand Heroes[/i:a29284c2da], should there be an 'of' after 'spirit'? P.P.S. I'm not being picky, I do this every week with a writing group, it's just that I know how easy it is to miss little things when you've read them a thousand times yourself. P.P.P.S. I wonder if, although you do mention online communities, where you use the word 'forum', and possibly 'threads', that you should clarify it a little by showing that forum (in this case) means online community within your text. I know the word forum is very common now and has taken on the meaning of a message board, but it might be ambiguous to some scholar types - i.e. when you say 'additional forums were assessed', it could easily mean that you asked people in the streets, watched TV shows and all kinds of other forums. P.P.P.P.S. It is very interesting, a lot of it could easily be applied to any online community, even where no brand is involved - where you replace brand with an activity, such as computer programming or stamp collecting, anything at all really. P.P.P.P.P.S. Saw 'spirit relationships' again in the second [b:a29284c2da]Defining Brand Heroes[/b:a29284c2da], perhaps it's a term I just haven't heard? Sounds like something to do with ghosts though. P.P.P.P.P.P.S. There's a bit that says, Terry Pratchett on an online blog explaining his 'lactions', which I guess should be 'actions'? P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. It is very though-provoking, and an original study I think. As I was reading it I did wish Terry Pratchett's statement had been at the beginning somewhere to give the reader an idea what the whole thing was about, but perhaps you know better than me on that and it isn't needed in this document?
Mal - don't you think that using so many 'P's is coming close to multiple exclamation marks? Besides, I am sure (although Grammar Queen Grace will correct me if I am wrong) P.P.S is a postscript to a postscript - and so on - not a new postscript on a different point - we're talking about a PhD thesis here - let's all get scholarly and/or picky (possibly the same thing)
Thanks Mal (not withstanding all those Ps)... A lot of the spelling errors I had found myself when I did a reread before posting it here. Since I've already submitted it to the conference there's no point fixing it until they tell me whether I'm in or not. Spirit relationships is a term from the Caughey research, he's talking about in certain cultures the relationship between their gods (and yes sometimes ghost) is more of an inter-personal one. Like they actually have conversations with a mental picture of them. Its kind of like if you were the Greek who got it on with the Swan who was the god. Even though the god is imaginary there was a (love) relationship there. I'll just have to see what the feedback is on whether I'll have to try and find the space to add all of these extra things. I also think that if it does get accepted I then have to reduce the 20 pages into 5... Oh the butchering that will have to happen then :axe:
