Research Question: Consider how the prominence of “McDonalds” and “Chick Fil-A” has changed over time and what this might suggest about their impact on American culture. You may alternatively compare other restaurants or stores.
Data Collection:
Perform separate searches for “McDonalds” and “Chick Fil-A.”
Record their frequency of mention by decade (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s):
McDonald’s Frequency
- 1990’s: 95
- 2000’s: 138
- 2010’s: 889
- 2020: N/A
Chick Fil-A’s Frequency
- 1990’s: 0
- 2000’s: 0
- 2010’s: 12
- 2020’s: 0
While Chick Fil-A seems to have had a minimal frequency over the last few years. McDonalds had a frequency of 1,122; showing that it has likely a significantly more influential brand.
Analysis:
Analyze the data to identify trends in the usage of “McDonalds” vs. “Chick Fil-A.”
Consider factors like changes in dining habits, brand expansion, or cultural shifts.
- McDonald’s not only had a 27 year lead on Chick Fil-A, but also has a significant advantage in American culture. Considering the fact that McDonald’s was created to be the staple fast-food restaurant, there was an understanding from the beginning that the goal of the company was to expand. Now, when talking to people who live outside of the country they are instantly familiar with the brand name. Chick Fil-A on the other hand, is a much lesser-known chain and put more aim towards quality of food rather than production rate. Because of this, there are only ~3,000 Chick Fil-A in the world compared to the now over 40,000 McDonald’s.
Report:
Write a concise paragraph (and post) that included.
Introduction of your research question.
Summary of your methodology and data collection process. In other words, how did you search.
Presentation of your findings with supporting data. Provide some specific numbers and/or visuals.
Discussion of the implications of your findings.
Conclusion reflecting on the cultural significance of these trends.
Intro: Our research aims to compare two notable local food chain restaurants in McDonald’s and Chick Fil-A. As our group are all locals of Cincinnati, we were all went in to our research assuming that there would not be a sizeable difference, as both brands are incredibly influential in our local community. Using COCA on English-Corpora.org, we searched both terms and compared the data. Using ChatGPT as well as some other general searches, we will compare the results of our data and decipher which brand was likely more influential.
Method Summary: Starting off, our group searched both Chick Fil-A and McDonald’s and immediately noticed a difference. The resources have limited data which only goes up until the 2010’s currently ending in 2019. We would use the frequency and some brief scanning of our results to prompt ChatGPT into giving us a general summary that one could probably infer. After finding a very large difference in frequencies, one note we had was that McDonald could be a common last name used in several reports. After reviewing the first few pages or results, our hypothesis was backed, however the brand of McDonald’s was still used far more than Chick Fil-A.
Presentation of Findings: Our findings, shown above this in a chart image, were that McDonalds was far more influential in a global scale in comparison to Chick Fil-A. After discussing with ChatGPT as well as amongst ourselves, we concluded that this was due to the difference in both brand culture and founding date, McDonald’s had the clear advantage in ultimate success.
Implications: Findings infer that McDonald’s has had much longer-lasting and consistent influence as the company has been aiming for rapid expansion since shortly after its creation. Chick Fil-A, originally founded in Georgia, has been spreading through America and has been known for the company’s values and religious background. Chick Fil-A has a strong brand identity, and focuses much more on quality of food than it does production rate. McDonald’s on the other hand, with now over 40,000 restaurants world wide is not just an American past-time, but a staple of American food. It is fast, convenient, and spreading everywhere, making it the perfect go-to for the typical ‘busy’ citizen who doesn’t have time nor money to spend on a nice sit-down restaurant during their lunch break. Because of this expansion and brand recognition, as McDonald’s spread to places like Europe, it gave off the message that this was what American food was like, and so people around the world all recognize the company.
Conclusion: Using some contextual analysis, data analysis, and conversation with ChatGPT and peers, it is clear that McDonald’s has had far more influence. Recognizing potential lapse in data such as the name McDonald being common amongst Americans, it is still clear that McDonald’s has historically and consistently spread faster than Chick Fil-A, and some light research and discussion with ChatGPT can teach us that that is largely due to the difference in brand cultures between McDonald’s desire to expand and be convenient , and Chick Fil-A’s strong image and value of quality food.
Presentation: Above Image