Action List for Thursday, April 14, 2011

• Finalize your topic for the Drug Company Analysis Report as much as possible; bring your topic and two or three questions you hope to answer in your report to class.

Possible Research Questions

Here are the research questions that you all came up with in class last week.  Use these to develop your own ideas for the Drug Company Analysis Report.

• How does the drug company create knowledge (consumer perception) that confounds government regulation?
• What products have such strong advertising that it defines the product (e.g., Band Aids for bandages)?
• What ethnic groups are targeted (if any) in the advertising of the company/drug/product?
• Does your product/company/drug have a social media presence?
• How do magazines ads and TV commercials benefit consumers?
• What are the long-term effects on Accutane on teenagers?  Or, Rogaine on balding men and women?
• How do companies claim ownership of drugs or innovations in care?
• How do companies make an effort to put forth information for better health practices or innitiatives?
• What ages are targeted for certain products?
• How have legal actions change before and after conflicts?
• How is a company targeting children?  Mothers and fathers?  How safe are children's products for children?
• How are gender stereotypes reinforced by the advertising of the company's products?
• How does Pfizer target women of different cultures in their advertisements for Zoloft?
• How do advertisements "inform" the audience and what important information is left out?  What must be included in ads?  What is allowed to be left out?  For examples, ads for Lunesta that do not mention it is possible to become dependent on?
• What is the company's level of accountability for their products?
• How does the company target men and women?  Does this mean they discriminate and cause themselves legal issues?

Action List for Tuesday, April 12, 2011

• Get as close as you can to choosing your topic for your Drug Company Analysis Report.

Guidelines for Revisions

As you know, you are allowed to revise the Communication Strategies Proposal and the Letter to Your Congressional Representative.  All you need to do is revise your work and send me a clean copy (one without my comments).  Attach it to an email and send it.  When I grade revisions, I use the Compare Documents function of Word.  I pull up your revised version and then compare it to your old one.  Word shows me what exactly you did and did not change.  If you wish to see your grade rise, you should do more than just treat my comments like a checklist.  You should revise the entire assignment and make it better from start to finish.

I do not comment on revised essays but will email you back with your grade and a brief description of why you received it.  The grade on the revision replaces your original grade.  If, for some reason, the grade on the revision is lower than your original grade, you will earn the highest of the two grades.  You are only allowed to revise each essay once.  If you send your revision to me early and do not like the grade you receive, you will not be able to revise again.

Revisions of both essays are due by noon on Friday, April 29, 2011.  I will not accept late revisions for any reason.  We all need to move on to other projects, so this deadline is final.  You can revise and send each document to me separately or together as long as I get everything by the final deadline.

Action List for Thursday, April 7, 2011

• Read Writing in the Health Professions, Chp. 9 (pgs. 205-28).
• Remember that DWA #18 will take place during class.
• Start thinking of topics for your Drug Company Analysis Report.

Links for Class on Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Grant #1

Grant #2

Grant #3

Grant #4

Grant #5

Grant #6

Grant #7

Grant #8

Grant #9

Grant #10

Action List for Tuesday, April 5, 2011

• Read Writing in the Health Professions, Chp. 8 (pgs. 186-204).
• Remember that DWA #17 will be held during class.
• Begin thinking about possible topics for the Drug Company Analysis Report.