1 / 13

Misrepresentation on the Princeton University Homepage

Misrepresentation on the Princeton University Homepage. PSY/ORF 322 Final Project Presentation 10 May 2004 Lizzy Louis ‘04 Cory Jerch ‘04 Advisor: Prof J. Cooper. Motivation: Double-Dippin’ Taufiq. Outline. Project Objective & Approach Background on Princeton’s Homepage

etana
Download Presentation

Misrepresentation on the Princeton University Homepage

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Misrepresentation on the Princeton University Homepage PSY/ORF 322 Final Project Presentation 10 May 2004 Lizzy Louis ‘04 Cory Jerch ‘04 Advisor: Prof J. Cooper

  2. Motivation: Double-Dippin’ Taufiq

  3. Outline • Project Objective & Approach • Background on Princeton’s Homepage • Misrepresentation • Problem • Source • Consequences • Possible Solutions • Conclusion & Questions

  4. Project Objective & Approach • Identify: • Misrepresentations: 8 months of homepage photos • Source: interview webmaster • Consequences: survey members of PU community • Suggest possible solutions Urban sociologist Prof. Doug Massey on the scene in front of Hamilton Jewelers

  5. Background on PU Homepage • Princeton’s window to the world • Started in 1994, unchanged since • Main photograph changes ~3 times weekly • Important that the webpage portrays an accurate representation of the Princeton University community

  6. Misrepresentation: Problem • Graduate & engineering students, athletes are underrepresented • 2% of photos involved athletics in 2003-2004 (70% pop) • 3% of photos involved engineering in 2003-2004 (18% pop) • Faculty, staff, and fine arts are overrepresented • Prof. Valerie Smith (AAS) • Prof. Paul Chaikin

  7. Misrepresentation: Problem • Breakdown of 78 photos in which department was specified: • 67% Non-technical: social science, humanities • 27% Technical: math, natural science • 6% Engineering

  8. Misrepresentation: Source • Office of Communications is in charge of PU homepage • Staffed by professionals with backgrounds in liberal arts, English, journalism, etc. • Staff is more likely to pick topics in their subject area for PU homepage • Promote President Tilghman • Squeaky Wheel: Groups are not proactive about advertising

  9. Misrepresentation: Consequences • Engineers are least impressed with PU homepage, they visit least frequently

  10. Misrepresentation: Consequences

  11. Misrepresentation: Consequences • Engineers not attracted to Princeton? • Athletes more likely to attend elsewhere? • Grad students bitter? Only photos featuring athletics (Sep ’03 – Apr ’04)

  12. Possible Solutions • Diversify Office of Communications • Establish a quota system for PU homepage pictures based off population distributions • Encourage groups to submit advertisements to PU homepage

  13. Conclusions & Questions • PU homepage under- and over-represents various groups on campus • May be due to webmaster preference or lack of group activism • Under-representation may alienate groups, over-representation portrays a skewed image to world • Don’t loose any sleep over this though! Another double dipper: Prof. Chaikin

More Related