Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Unobtrusive Research

An aspect of PR I will focus on in this post is unobtrusive research.  Believe it or not, all of us conduct, and are subjects of unobtrusive research each and everyday.  Unobtrusive research is the gathering of data without any formal or direct relation to the research subjects.  It can simply be observing subjects in specific enviornments to collect data to pertain to your study.  Unobtrusive data can also be gathered by published statistics or sources without the subjects knowing.

Unobtrusive research is very relevant to the Fitness and Supplement Industry.  In fact, most of the data that is gathered by companies in this industry is obtained by unobtrusive research.  One aspect of collecting data in this manner is through bodybuilding profiles and statistics.  There are many websites where anybody is able to create a profile, list their supplements, and provide their results and progress regarding their body and health.  The most famous site is a network called Bodybuilding.Com-BodySpace.  This is a social network of bodybuilders listing their supplements and progress.  Any person, from a supplement company or not, can go on the website and "creep" on each member's bodybuilding information.  This is an example of collecting unobtrusive research.

Another example of conducting unobtrusive research within this field takes place at supplement retailers such as GNC and Vitamin Shoppe.  Supplement company employees can gather data by going to these stores and observing the subjects that come into the store and choose what they want to purchase.  A lot of information can be gathered by subjects' body language, questions, and decisions made between supplements.  Once again, this is a form of gathering information from unobtrusive research.


In my opinion, unobtrusive research, including aspects such as content analysis and indirect measures, is how most data is collected within the fitness and supplement industry.  Companies greatly rely on obtaining information from subjects without them knowing.  This serves as a very important method in the industry.

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