Case Study: Better Living Through Science / Challenges

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Developing a strategy for commentary on health & wellness marketing
I knew generally what sort of topics I wanted to address in this project, but because they encompassed so much material, it was important that I narrow down the subject matter.

With respect to the idea of "Lack" that commercial marketing disseminates, I considered various health or wellness issues that might make people feel inadequate. Since many of these issues cause external physiological effects that are generally considered to be "unattractive", there is a blurred line between physical health and beauty. I chose six health/wellness conditions to address.

I researched all manner of treatment options online, and broke them down into three main categories: Pharmaceuticals (treatments available only by prescription), Devices & Inventions, and Remedies & Elixirs (non-prescription treatments). As I conducted my research online, I found an example of each type of treatment for each individual condition.

By breaking down my vast subject matter into these categorical distinctions, it enabled me to address a variety of issues that were important within the scope of this project without needing to cover too broad of a base.


Developing the Javascript application
Since I had very little experience with Javascript, visiting professor Talan Memmott was kind enough to collaborate and spend time outside of class helping me create a small application that would generate a customized treatment advertisement based on a user's input. He gave me Javascript from one of his own projects, which I was able to tailor to my own project's goals. Many hours were spent finding that extra set of quotation marks that were preventing the output from displaying correctly, but I believe the final survey was successful, and I learned a great deal.