The report analyzed the impact and promotion efforts of Purdue University's 2015 National Eating Disorders Awareness Week program. A survey of 45 students found low awareness, participation, and knowledge of NEDA, despite the planning committee consisting of professionals. Secondary research confirmed low social media promotion. The researcher concluded the problem was a lack of public relations efforts, not poor planning. They recommend universities include PR professionals on planning committees to improve promotion through offline and online strategies like social media campaigns.

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National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
Purdue University National Eating Disorders Awareness Week Impact Report
April 29
th
, 2015
Jessica Guo

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Research Needs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
Research Goals ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5
Research Hypothesis ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Research Strategies ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Research Results --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
Implications of the Results -------------------------------------------------------------- 13
Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14
Reference ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16
Appendix --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
List of figures and tables
NEDA Week Awareness Percentages ------------------------------------------ Chart 1
NEDA Week Participation Percentages ---------------------------------------- Chart 2
Awareness Percentages ----------------------------------------------------------- Chart 3

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Executive Summary
a. Purpose of report
The purpose of this report is to address two problems the
researcher found regarding this year’s NEDA eating disorders
awareness week on Purdue’s campus. One of the problems is the
low awareness and low participation of the program; the other one
is the low presence of the program on social media.
b. Overview of methods and results
This survey used a combination of primary research and secondary
research.
The researcher used three methods for Primary Research.
i. Firstly, the researcher used a survey specially designed for
the NEDA Eating Disorders Awareness Week on Purdue
campus and distributed the survey to 45 randomly selected
students. The researcher then collected and analyzed the
data.
ii. Secondly, the researcher conducted an interview with the
Clinical Services Coordinator of Purdue University
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Rebecca
Wong and the Nutrition Education Program Coordinator of
Purdue University Michelle Singleton to inquire information
about their involvements regarding the planning of the event.
The researcher also exchanged emails with one member of
the program Planning Committee, Associate Director of
Student Fitness & Wellness Office, Katherine Dufault, to ask
about the promotion efforts of the event.
As of secondary research, the researcher used two methods.
i. Firstly, the researcher studied the Eating Disorders On the
College Campus survey conducted by NEDA.
ii. Secondly, the researcher searched social media on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram, in an attempt to find out the social
media promotion of the event.
The results of the research showed although professionals from
different departments who concern about student wellness were
involved in planning the NEDA event, participation and awareness
of the NEDA National Eating Disorders Awareness Week are still
low among Purdue students.

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c. Overview of Conclusions
Regarding the first problem, data collected from 45 students
showed that only 17.8% of the students heard about the program;
only .4% of the students participated in the program; and only
24.4% of students know that NEDA has information on its website
to help eating disorders patients.
On the other hand, 60% of the students surveyed identified
themselves as “know someone who has eating disorders.”
As for the second problem, using secondary research, the
researcher found that on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the
promotion efforts of the event was low.
Combining those two issues, the researcher reached the
conclusion that although the program was properly designed, the
promotion efforts of the program was not effective. The researcher
suggested the Planning Committee for NEDA in 2015 to include
professionals with a public relations background to help with the
promotion of the event.
Research Needs
a. Issue/problem/opportunity
NEDA holds National Eating Disorders Awareness Week on
college campuses each year. Purdue University is one of the
participating universities. This year, the NEDA program was held
on February 26th
, 2015. However, the researcher found that two
issues exist regarding the program. One of the problems is the low
awareness and the low participation rate of the program; the other
one is the low presence of the program on social media.
b. Situation analysis
History: The NEDA Awareness Week did not have a high
participation rate in 2014, either. In 2014, Purdue hosted the event
at the France A. Cordova Recreational Sports Center. The event
featured a panel of women who recovered from eating disorders
who shared their testimonies. Sue Eiler, a staff therapist at the
Counseling and Psychological Services thought the event “would
have more people”.
Issue: This year, the NEDA program was held on February 26th
,
2015. However, not many students around the campus heard
about the event, nor did they participate in it.

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Assumptions:
The reason the NEDA program suffered from low participation rate
is due to the lack of public relations efforts.
Information Needs:
First of all, the researcher needs to find out the planning committee
of this year’s NEDA program. Second of all, the researcher needs to
measure the impact of the program. Third of all, the research needs
to identify the promotion efforts regarding the program.
Research Goals
Through this research, we seek to understand the planning process
and the impact of the NEDA program.
a. First of all, we need to find out the planning process of the
program.
i. The researcher needs to identify the Planning
Committee of the program.
b. Second of all, we need to find out the impact of the event,
including:
i. Students’ awareness of the event
ii. Students’ participation of the event
iii. Students’ awareness of NEDA
c. Third of all, we need to find out the promotion efforts of the
event, including:
Traditional promotion efforts
i. Flyers
ii. Showcase
iii. Posters
Social media promotion efforts
i. Facebook
ii. Twitter
iii. Instagram

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Research Hypotheses
a. Anticipated answers to questions
i. The Planning Committee does not consist of appropriate
professionals.
ii. The impact of the event was low.
1. Students’ awareness of the event was low.
2. Students’ participation of the event was low.
3. Students’ awareness of NEDA was low.
iii. The promotional efforts of the event were low.
1. Traditional promotional efforts were low.
2. Social media promotion efforts were low.
b. Reasoning for answers anticipated
i. Because the event has little impact on students around
the researcher, the researcher assumed the event was
not designed by professionals.
ii. Because the event has little impact on the researcher and
students around her, the researcher assumed the impact
of the event was low.
iii. Because the event has little impact on the researcher and
students around her, the researcher assumed the
promotion efforts of the event were low.
Research Strategies
a. Explanation of methodology
i. The reason the researcher chose to design a survey and
to collect data was to gather information specially
designed for the event.
ii. The reason the researcher chose to meet face-to-face
with Clinical Services Coordinator of Purdue University
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Rebecca

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Wong and exchange emails with the Nutrition Education
Program Coordinator of Purdue University Michelle
Singleton as well as the Associate Director of Student
Fitness & Wellness Office, Katherine Dufault, was to get
information regarding the planning process of the event. In
the Eating Disorders On the College Campus research
conducted by NEDA, it identified “On staff
counselor/psychologist/psychiatrist with a specialty in
eating disorders” and “On-staff nutritionist with eating
disorders specialty” to be among the two most important
services a college should offer. This is the reason the
researcher decided to consult these professionals about
the planning of the program. The reason the researcher
reached out to the co-chair of the Planning Committee of
the event, Associate Director of Student Fitness &
Wellness Office, Katherine Dufault, was to get another
perspective of the promotion efforts of the event to
increase the accuracy.
iii. The reason the researcher studied the Eating Disorders
On the College Campus research conducted by NEDA
was to gather information from the study already existed
to improve the accuracy of the study.
iv. The reason the researcher searched social media on
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram was an attempt to
examine the social media promotion of the event.
c. Operationalization of concepts
i. The researcher made 50% a breaking point for the
evaluation of the questionnaire. If the result is greater or
equals to 50%, the researcher will decide that result is
high. If the result is smaller than 50%, the researcher will
decide the result is low.
ii. In the interview and email exchanges, the researcher
accumulates information from professionals and organizes
the information into the report.
iii. In the study of the Eating Disorders On the College
Campus report, the researcher found out the report lacks
campus-specific information. Therefore, a research on
campus is needed.

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iv. In the scan of social media including Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram, the researcher made 50 posts on
Facebook and Twitter the breaking point for the evaluation
of the promotion efforts. If the result were greater or
equals to 50, the researcher would decide the result is
high. If the result were smaller than 50%, the researcher
would decide the result is low. In the scan of Instagram,
the researcher made 1 hashtag the breaking point. If the
result were great or equals to 1 hashtag the researcher
would decide the result is high. If the result were zero
hashtag, the researcher would decide the result is low.
Research Results
a. Primary Research Results
i. The researcher collected data from 45 students. The result
of the survey is displayed in charts below.
Chart 1. NEDA Week Awareness Percentage

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Chart 2. NEDA Week Participation Percentage
Chart 3. NEDA Awareness Percentage
24.4%
75.6%
95.6%
4.4%

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Chart 1 shows NEDA Awareness Week awareness week.
The percentage of people who is aware of the event is
18%, a lot lesser than the 50% breaking point the
researcher set.
Chart 2 show NEDA Awareness Week participation rate.
The percentage of people who participated in the event is
4.4%, a lot lesser than the 50% breaking point the
researcher set.
Chart3 shows NEDA Awareness percentage is 24.4%, a
lot lesser than the 50% breaking point the researcher set.
ii. After interviewing the Rebecca Wong and Michelle
Singleton, the researcher found out the event Planning
Committee of this year’s event.
Nutrition Education Program Coordinator of Purdue
University, Michelle Singleton, Co-Chair
Associate Director of Student Fitness & Wellness
Office, Katie Dufault, Co-Chair
Staff Therapist from Purdue University Counseling
and Psychological Services, Sue Eiler, Planning
Committee
Staff Therapist from Purdue University Counseling
and Psychological Services, Jen Walsh, Planning
Committee
Assistant Director of Fraternity, Sorority and
Cooperative Life for Risk Management Alicia
Gilbert, Planning Committee
iii. After exchanging emails with the Associate Director of
Student Fitness & Wellness Office, Katherine Dufault, the
researcher found out this year the Planning Committee
made the following efforts to promote the event.
Digital signage in the CoRec
Flyer on PurdueBoard

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Posters in building around campus
Posters given out to fraternities, sororities, and
cooperative houses
Tabling in various locations (PMU and STEW
during lunch hours, CoRec during later
afternoon/evening hours)
Display cases in PUSH and STEW
Notification to some Purdue faculty for
classes/majors that may have curriculum around
eating disorders
Nutrition Society helped make blue and green
awareness ribbons that we distributed at the
tables
CompliMints (mints with positive messages) were
also given out at tabling
Society of Women Engineers made a lifesize
Barbie for the tabling event to raise awareness
and draw attention to the table
Hashtag for SM awareness (#youcannotweigh)
Information on websites (CoRec and CAPS)
b. Secondary Research Results
i. After studying the Eating Disorders On the College
Campus research conducted by NEDA, the researcher
found out NEDA rated these two services among the most
important services a college should offer.
On-staff counselor/psychologist/psychiatrist with a
specialty in eating disorders.
On-staff nutritionist with eating disorders specialty.
ii. After scanning social media on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram, the researcher found out none of the social
media set met the standard the researcher set as good
social media promotion.

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1) Facebook
When searched on Facebook for Purdue National
Eating Disorders Association Week 2015 and the
hashtag #youcannotweigh, only two posts
showed up.

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2) Twitter
When searched on Twitter for
NEDAWEEKPURDUE, 0 post showed up.
3) Instagram
When searched on Twitter for
NEDAWEEKPURDUE, 0 post showed up.

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4) The surprise came from the professionals
that made up the Planning Committee.
The Planning Committee consists of five
professionals who are the best fit to design
the event.
Implications of Results
The results from the survey showed the awareness of the program and
the participation of the program and the awareness of NEDA was low.
The results showed that promotion efforts of the program were not low,
but not effective enough.
The results showed that the Planning Committee consists of
professionals from different departments of Purdue University.
In conclusion, the researcher recommends that NEDA take the
following steps to solve the two issues we mention at the beginning of
the report.
i. NEDA should suggest each participating university of the NEDA
Awareness Week to include a Public Relation professional in the
Planning Committee of the event.
ii. The Public Relations professional could be a Public Relations
instructor or Public Relations students. The professionals could
contribute in offline promotion or social media promotion.
a. In offline promotion, the pubic relations professionals
could support in flyering, decorating the showcase and
posting poster on our campus.
b. In online promotion, the pubic relations professionals
could support in social media management. The
professionals could be in charge of the social media
content creation, key opinion leader outreach, and social
media account updating. For example, the public relations
professionals could start an online campaign with
hashtags for the live size Barbie and etc.
iii. The public relations professionals could also suggest to their
instructors to take the NEDA week as a real project and

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corporate it into their public relations classes. With students’
help, NEDA week could get the attention it needs, and the social
media account could flourish.
Conclusion
Original situation analysis and problem statement
The reason the NEDA awareness week suffered from low
participation rate due to the lack of public relations efforts.
The problem of the low awareness of the event, the low
participation of the event and the low awareness of NEDA were
due to poorly designed event and a lack of public relations efforts.
Revised situation analysis
The problem of the low awareness of the event, the low
participation of the event and the low awareness of NEDA were
not due to poor event designe, but due to a lack of public
relations efforts.
Recommended strategy
The researcher recommend NEDA suggests every participating
university to include public relations professionals in their NEDA
awareness event.
Anticipated vs. actual results
We anticipated that the Planning Committee does not consist of
appropriate professional. The research suggests this anticipation
is wrong.
We anticipated that the impact of the event was low. The
research suggests this anticipation is right.
We anticipated the promotional efforts of the event were low. The
research suggests this anticipation is wrong.
Implications for longer-term view

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If NEDA could suggest every participating university to include
public relations professionals in their events, the NEDA event
could potentially have a much larger impact then it does right
now.
References
Alexa Kozyrski, (2015, February 26). National Eating Disorder Awareness
week recognized at the Co-Rec. The Exponent. Retrieved from
http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_f82d7234-e373-5f2c-9be6-
77d14178d532.html
Brianna Cook, (2014, February 26). A recovered eating disorder student
inspires audience. The Exponent. Retrieved from
http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_9307def5-01ae-5359-85ed-
f27cbaf70880.html
National Eating Disorders Association. (2013). Eating Disorders on the
College Campus A National Survey of Programs and Services.

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Appendix A
The research survey

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Appendix B
Raw Results