Public Policy Research Lab (PPRL)
I know I skip work a lot, but I really do like my job.I'm sitting here in an empty computer lab. I'm calling people all over the country to ask them questions about Louisiana. What do they think about our state? How do they think the government on all levels handled, and is handling, the recovery process? Where do they think Louisiana ranks in crude oil, gasoline, seafood or movie production?
It's pretty interesting to hear what people think. That is, if you can get someone to actually take the damn thing. From doing other surveys where we had to call in-state, I found people in Louisiana may refuse to take the survery, but they're much more polite about it. Maybe because they are more familiar with LSU. Calling outside the state, I get a lot more hang-ups and yelling. But it's okay. I'll never have to talk to them again. Screw 'em!
When we call for this survery we say "Hi, I'm Madeline, and I'm calling from Louisiana State University. We're studying public perceptions of the state of Louisiana in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita." and then I add my own little flair. I found it works best to just say "Do you have just a few minutes to answer some questions for us?" But it's not a few minutes. It's fifteen at the most ahahhaha. But they never want to quit in the middle of the survey. I got 'em hooked. It's so funny how chaning just two or three words will work better. Before, I used to say "we're studying public perceptions of the state of Louisiana in the wake of the hurricanes," and I didn't get a very good response. But if you stress "Katrina and Rita," I get a much better response.
Here are just a few observations about public perceptions of our state from the several surverys I've taken:
-No one can think of anything made in Louisiana.
-Only 1 or 2 people have heard of coastal wetlands loss. The other 20 or so I've talked to haven't heard of it, but they think it's a very important issue. How do you figure that?
-People think the federal government did a shitty job after the hurricane. They give better marks for Louisiana and New Orleans government.
-People don't think we make movies here. Most people rank Louisiana at 50 in movie production. HA! One guy ranked Louisiana at 50 in seafood production. Seriously...
-Only 1 person I talked to watched the Saints play this season.
-That same person is the only one who said she's likely to visit Louisiana in the next 2 years. That's because she's going to med school at Tulane.
-I asked one guy if he thought the money the federal government is spending on recovery efforts was being spent wisely. He said no. I have to ask why he thinks that, and he said they shouldn't spend any more money on New Orleans because of the risk factor. He said it was stupid to try and rebuild the city.
-No one said the state has mostly recovered from the hurricane. They all opted for the latter choice, which said there's still a lot of work to be done. So that's good. At least showing all the pictures of the fully recovered tourist sections on the news hasn't fooled anyone.
-Everyone said they paid a great deal of attention to news coverage after the hurricanes. Their interest kind of waned afterwards. When I ask how much attention do they pay to the recovery efforts, they say they pay some attention. Many of them told me that's because the media don't cover it anymore.
-Almost everyone I've interviewed is republican. (This is in every suvey I've done so far...which is a lot) I can only remember or 4 democrats, 2 independents. One liberal, a handful of moderates, and mostly conservatives.
It's weird asking people all over what they think about my state since I love Louisiana so much. I'm more reserved in talking to people than other surveyors because the rules are kind of fuzzy about how much you can conversate with interviewees. But I want to tell them everything! I want to be like "WRONG! Hurricanes DO effect gas prices!" when I ask if they do. (Most people said no, hurricanes do not effect gas prices.) I want to hit people over the head when I ask on a scale of 1 to 10, how great is Louisiana's music and food and they give us like a 4 or 5.
But, you can't blame them. If someone called me asking about Wisconsin or New Mexico, I really wouldn't know how to answer them because I'd have no idea. I'd be like "uh...cheese?" or "um....desert?"
SO, I just wanted to ramble about my job a little. It feels good going from working in the service industry for about 4 years on and off, to working somewhere that actually makes a difference for Louisiana. This survery we're doing now is for the state government. We're not sure exactly how they're going to use it, but we know they will at least use it to try and attract tourists and business. They want to improve our image.
Let me slip this little job adverstisement in here too:
If you go to LSU, and you want a little campus job with good flexible hours, think about applying here. They pay 6 instead of 5.15 an hour too. It's like "come in whenever you want, and leave whenever you want. Just as long as you're here, don't play on the internet TOO much. At least get one or two surveys an hour." Because seriously, I'm the only one working right now, a lot of people quit I think, and it's taking longer and longer to get through surveys. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll hook you up.
It's pretty interesting to hear what people think. That is, if you can get someone to actually take the damn thing. From doing other surveys where we had to call in-state, I found people in Louisiana may refuse to take the survery, but they're much more polite about it. Maybe because they are more familiar with LSU. Calling outside the state, I get a lot more hang-ups and yelling. But it's okay. I'll never have to talk to them again. Screw 'em!
When we call for this survery we say "Hi, I'm Madeline, and I'm calling from Louisiana State University. We're studying public perceptions of the state of Louisiana in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita." and then I add my own little flair. I found it works best to just say "Do you have just a few minutes to answer some questions for us?" But it's not a few minutes. It's fifteen at the most ahahhaha. But they never want to quit in the middle of the survey. I got 'em hooked. It's so funny how chaning just two or three words will work better. Before, I used to say "we're studying public perceptions of the state of Louisiana in the wake of the hurricanes," and I didn't get a very good response. But if you stress "Katrina and Rita," I get a much better response.
Here are just a few observations about public perceptions of our state from the several surverys I've taken:
-No one can think of anything made in Louisiana.
-Only 1 or 2 people have heard of coastal wetlands loss. The other 20 or so I've talked to haven't heard of it, but they think it's a very important issue. How do you figure that?
-People think the federal government did a shitty job after the hurricane. They give better marks for Louisiana and New Orleans government.
-People don't think we make movies here. Most people rank Louisiana at 50 in movie production. HA! One guy ranked Louisiana at 50 in seafood production. Seriously...
-Only 1 person I talked to watched the Saints play this season.
-That same person is the only one who said she's likely to visit Louisiana in the next 2 years. That's because she's going to med school at Tulane.
-I asked one guy if he thought the money the federal government is spending on recovery efforts was being spent wisely. He said no. I have to ask why he thinks that, and he said they shouldn't spend any more money on New Orleans because of the risk factor. He said it was stupid to try and rebuild the city.
-No one said the state has mostly recovered from the hurricane. They all opted for the latter choice, which said there's still a lot of work to be done. So that's good. At least showing all the pictures of the fully recovered tourist sections on the news hasn't fooled anyone.
-Everyone said they paid a great deal of attention to news coverage after the hurricanes. Their interest kind of waned afterwards. When I ask how much attention do they pay to the recovery efforts, they say they pay some attention. Many of them told me that's because the media don't cover it anymore.
-Almost everyone I've interviewed is republican. (This is in every suvey I've done so far...which is a lot) I can only remember or 4 democrats, 2 independents. One liberal, a handful of moderates, and mostly conservatives.
It's weird asking people all over what they think about my state since I love Louisiana so much. I'm more reserved in talking to people than other surveyors because the rules are kind of fuzzy about how much you can conversate with interviewees. But I want to tell them everything! I want to be like "WRONG! Hurricanes DO effect gas prices!" when I ask if they do. (Most people said no, hurricanes do not effect gas prices.) I want to hit people over the head when I ask on a scale of 1 to 10, how great is Louisiana's music and food and they give us like a 4 or 5.
But, you can't blame them. If someone called me asking about Wisconsin or New Mexico, I really wouldn't know how to answer them because I'd have no idea. I'd be like "uh...cheese?" or "um....desert?"
SO, I just wanted to ramble about my job a little. It feels good going from working in the service industry for about 4 years on and off, to working somewhere that actually makes a difference for Louisiana. This survery we're doing now is for the state government. We're not sure exactly how they're going to use it, but we know they will at least use it to try and attract tourists and business. They want to improve our image.
Let me slip this little job adverstisement in here too:
If you go to LSU, and you want a little campus job with good flexible hours, think about applying here. They pay 6 instead of 5.15 an hour too. It's like "come in whenever you want, and leave whenever you want. Just as long as you're here, don't play on the internet TOO much. At least get one or two surveys an hour." Because seriously, I'm the only one working right now, a lot of people quit I think, and it's taking longer and longer to get through surveys. Let me know if you're interested, and I'll hook you up.