PRIMARY RESEARCH PAPER

BRCAC Communication Survey Envision One conducted an online survey through the Media Effects Lab (MEL) located on Louisiana State Universitys campus. The survey combined different styles of questions and was available online from Oct. 17 through Oct. 25. The goals of the survey were (1) to calculate the percentage of LSU students who know information about the Baton Rouge Childrens Advocacy Center (BRCAC), (2) to obtain information on the amount of students who would like to be involved in volunteering with BRCAC, (3) to gain preliminary knowledge in order to redistribute the BRCAC Communication Survey during the evaluation phase of the campaign and (4) to obtain information on how young adults receive information through media outlets.

Methods
The BRCAC Communication Survey was conducted through the MEL Research Facility. LSU students who completed the survey were rewarded with 0.5 points and the possibility of bonus toward a class. Students had the option to participate in the survey along with other surveys in the system. To take the survey students had to meet an age requirement of 18 years or older and agree to participate. Using the server site surveymonkey.com, the BRCAC Communication Survey was created with a series of multiple-choice, open-ended, ranking and closed-ended questions. These questions asked participants about their knowledge of BRCAC and if they have ever received information from the organization. Other questions asked participants to identify how they receive news on a daily basis. Options consisted of online, social media, bulletin boards and traditional new sources as opportunities for information.

Results
A total of 130 participants took the survey; 127 completed the survey fully and three partially completed the survey. Among the respondents, 81 percent (n=105) were female and 18 percent (n=24) male. Further information shows that of those surveyed 65 percent (n=85) were Mass Communication students and around the age of 18 to 21 with age 18 being the highest level of respondents at 29 percent (n=38). Have you ever heard of the Baton Rouge Children Advocacy Center? Seventy nine percent (n=103) stated no to knowing about BRCAC. Only 10.8 percent (n=14) recognized BRCAC and 10 percent (n=13) were unsure. Students who recognized BRCAC were asked to detail how they have heard of the organization. The majority of them said that they heard of BRCAC through a friend who volunteers for the agency or prior service work. 1

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Are you willing to act as a mentor or older sibling for abused teens? Further research found that 45.7 percent (n=58) were interested in volunteering with BRCAC but didnt know how to help and 20.5 (n=26) percent would love to help. Unfortunately, 33.9 percent (n=43) of participants said they would feel uncomfortable working with abused children. Figure 2

Would you be interested in learning about the Baton Rouge Children Advocacy Center and its mission to support abused children and teens? 2

Although the number of volunteers wavered, the majority of students surveyed (71.3 percent; n=92) were interested in learning more about BRCAC. The interest in learning more about BRCAC is a great opportunity for Envision One to reach out to this audience and garner their support. Figure 3

Communication Research Along with analyzing the awareness level of survey participants, Envision One wanted to learn how the surveyed individuals received news and materials from local organizations. Where do you receive information on a daily basis? When asked where they receive information from daily, 93 percent (n=121) ranked social media as number one news source, followed by traditional online news sources (77.5 percent) and Wikipedia (56.6 percent). Other forms of communication included television, radio, bulletin boards, school, newspapers and magazines. Figure 4

Which of the following social media websites do you use? And how often? Realizing that social media play an outstanding role in how people communicate today, Envision One wanted to understand what forms of social media were used and how often. Of the information gathered, 82 percent (n=105) of individuals claimed that they used Facebook on a daily basis. Instagram ranked second with 55.5 percent (n=71) daily usage followed by Twitter with 51.9 percent (n=67). Sites including YouTube and Pinterest were also used frequently throughout the week usually between one to two days. Myspace and Tumblr had the least number of users with many of the respondents not having an account to either site.

Figure 5

(include the highlighted portion in stewardship) Teen Survey Along with the BRCAC Communication Survey, Envision One created a Teen Survey to be distributed to teenagers in the Baton Rouge area. During the initial conference with the client, they had mentioned targeting teenagers. To target teenagers effectively, Envision One developed a survey specifically for the teenaged age group. The audience for the survey was teenagers aged 12 to 16 years located within BRCACs target areas. The overall goal of the survey was to identify how many teens know of BRCAC and how they identified child abuse. Another goal of the survey was to learn through what sources did teenager obtain information regarding news and local organizations. 4

Envision One planned on distributing the survey to high schools located predominantly within the area of BRCACs reach. Communicating with counselors, Envision One hoped to distribute the survey during homeroom classes or to students in health science classes. Although BRCAC withheld the distribution of the survey until the start of the next year, Envision One plans on including the Teen Survey as part of stewardship for BRCAC to use in the future.

Interpretation and Application

From the information gathered through the BRCAC Communication Survey, we found that the majority of students are not informed of BRCAC but are interested in learning more about the organization and possible opportunities for volunteer work. With this information, Envision One plans on hosting an event that targets audiences within the surveyed age range using resources found on LSUs campus (i.e. free speech alley and on campus convenience). Material from the survey will also be provided to BRCAC as a form of stewardship for future projects. Facts gathered from the survey will aid in informing audiences about our event by utilizing popular media outlets employed by students. These media outlets will allow us to target students to participate in our future event. The data collected will also be distributed to BRCAC as a means of effective marketing after the campaigns end. During the evaluation stage of the campaign we will reinstate the survey to evaluate our progress and success of the event.