THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROCESS RESEARCH THE PUBLIC RELATIONS PROCESS

Objectives We will study why research is important in public relations and the techniques used to conduct this research in order to obtain valid results.

What Is Research? Research in public relations is a cyclical process through which practitioners: Monitor the environments of organizations and their publics. Identify and track events and trends that may influence public relationships. Measure the productivity of public relations efforts. Provide data to enhance the program’s efficiency and effectiveness. A diagram may help you visualize these four aids…

What Research Can Do for You Monitor Environment Identify & Track Events Measure Productivity Enhance Efficiency & Effectiveness

The Role of Research Research enables practitioners to: Provide information for issues management. Identify and define publics involved in specific problems. Pretest messages and media to ensure that programs will produce the best possible results. Evaluate the results of programs and campaigns. Design and execute follow-up activities.

Identifying and Defining Publics Practitioners define publics by several aspects. Age Gender Ethnicity Attitude Opinion Behavior * Marital-family status Political & religious affiliation Education Income level Work location Residence Media use * In relation to specific products, services, or organizations

Public Opinion in Public Relations Public relations deals with public opinion rather than mass opinion; with the opinion of defined, targeted populations. These publics have been categorized by John Dewey as groups that… face similar indeterminate situations recognize what is indeterminate in their situations organize to do something about the problem

Tips for Researching Your Publics Avoid the general public Define broad categories Narrow to definable components Set priorities Identify gatekeepers Examine Overlap Let’s consider an example…, who are the publics of AUN students?

Pre-testing Messages and Media Message and media pretests enable practitioners to: Identify those that generate the greatest responses. Adjust message content and/or media schedules to enhance results. Produce the best possible result with the lowest possible expenditure.

Questions to Begin Research What preliminary research is needed? What informal research will help? Which formal research techniques do you need? Survey Content analysis Experimental Other Zooming in on Preliminary research…

Preliminary Research We often begin by doing secondary research such as: Libraries Databases Internet Electronic Publications Government Documents and websites Professional Organizations

Libraries 1. Academic journals 2. Government documents 3. Directories and reference works 4. Professional and trade publications 5. Newspapers and periodicals

Databases Academic Universe [consisting primarily of periodicals] Dialog [a gateway to hundreds of databases – the industry’s largest] ERIC [a repository for academic research] EBSCO HOST

The Internet and World Wide Web Provide Access To … Search engines Online publishers Governmental agency databases Professional and business web sites Corporate web sites

Search Engines Several types of search engines are available to users of the World Wide Web. Click on any underlined engine: General Web-based indexes such as Yahoo. Industry-specific indexes such as ZDNet. Web-based meta-search engines, such as Jeeves.

Online Publishers Online publishers include … Electronic publications by traditional print media of all kinds (Forbes Magazine). E-zines (online magazines such as Internet.Com) and newsletters published electronically by a many organizations Caution: content reliability varies!

Governmental Agencies Information compiled by governmental agencies at all levels is accessible via the Internet. Included are databases from… Legislative bodies such as the… U.S. Congress state legislatures both county and municipal lawmaking bodies Regulatory agencies at all levels: Federal Food and Drug Administration local zoning boards

Professional And Business Organizations Many organizations maintain Web sites that may contain … Survey data dealing with their industries and/or members. Archives of their publications and other materials. Links to other sites or files containing information of value to practitioners. Now let’s look at content analysis …

Informal Research Techniques Analyzing file records or news clippings Interviewing key contacts (salespeople) or centers of influence Organizing committees or study panels Using focus groups or national polls Practicing ‘casual monitoring’ through phone calls, e-mail, letters

Using Recorded Information Here are some various types of organizational records. You could also include attendance records. How many other types of organizational records can you name?

Regulatory and Governmental Records: Every organization operates under Federal, state, county and municipal regulations Key Contacts and Centers of Influence: Elected officials, appointed officials of various organizations, clergymen, Imams, Special Committees in Public Relations: These identify issues before they become problems; suggest alternative courses of action and provide objective views of matters that are difficult for ‘insiders’ to evaluate

Focus Groups Are … Most commonly used in qualitative research. Usually composed of small numbers of individuals… who share one or more demographic characteristics

Use Open-ended Questions with Focus Groups Interviewed using open-ended questions to prompt interaction and gain insight into their attitudes, opinions and beliefs. Usually videotaped so that researchers can examine nonverbal as well as verbal expressions.

Casual Monitoring Public relations practitioners often monitor information that routinely comes to their attention, including: Print and electronic news reports, monitored for quantity and quality of coverage. Incoming mail, telephone calls, sales reports and other documents. Content of business and industry publications, trade association reports, and the like. What other information sources might you monitor?

Most Used Research Techniques Informal research techniques are most often used by practitioners. The six listed most often in one study: Literature searches and electronic retrieval Publicity tracking Telephone/mail surveys with simple cross-tabs Focus groups Communication audits Secondary analysis studies

Formal Research Techniques Survey Research--this is the formal tool used 90% of the time in public relations. Content Analysis--statistical sample of content Experimental--Used some with control groups. Each technique offers potentially different results that vary in reliability. Formal research may be conducted at…

Survey Research Most survey research is designed to… Identify and/or categorize members of one or more publics.

Content Analysis Content analysis is a process through which information can be converted into quantitative data. The process applies equally to: Printed materials of all kinds Transcripts of broadcast information Transcripts of focus group interviews How does it work?

Content Analysis: A Three-Step Process 1. Representative samples are drawn from sets of documents or other sources 2. Selected items are searched for key words and sorted by such factors as length, tone and position in the publication 3. Resulting data are analyzed over time or in comparison to other data sets, e.g., for competing organizations.

Experimental Research Experimental research encompasses… Laboratory experiments conducted in controlled environments to minimize external factors Field experiments, in which control is sacrificed to observe reactions to real environments.

Experimental Research Pretests Channels Experimental research in public relations usually deals with pre-testing communication channels and their content, as in brochures and newsletters.

Survey vs. Experimental Research Survey research in public relations examines the attitudes and opinions of audience members. Experimental research in public relations usually deals with pre-testing communication channels and their content, as in brochures and newsletters.

Populations and Samples Formal research almost always deals with samples drawn at random from specified publics. Random sampling is … Based in probability theory Used to ensure that results can be generalized to the larger population

Five Types of Sampling Simple random sampling allows each member of a population an equal chance to be selected Systematic sampling uses a list or directory to select a random sample Stratified random sampling, in which the population is divided into two groups and samples are drawn from each Cluster sampling, in which groups rather than individuals are selected at random Quota sampling, in which fixed numbers of individuals are drawn from sub-groups

Other Research Option… PR practitioners often outsource for their research needs. Marketing Research Services, Inc. is an example of a research contractor. Neilsen ABC NBS

In Summary… Public Relations Practitioners have many research techniques available to them to study their publics and find out the best way to communicate their messages.

TASKS Your client is an environmental organization and had requested you prepare a PR campaign for managing waste during the raining seasons. Who are your target audience? What informal research will you use? Where will you get preliminary data from? What formal research technique will be okay? List at least 10 questions you will ask