COM Taejin Jung, Ph.D. Week 4 : Historical and Secondary Research Methods

Environmental Scanning Environmental monitoring “Literature Review” Aimed at “systematically” searching out prior available database, newspaper, and organizational archives. Must have solid idea of “how you will analyze the information and data”

Gathering Sources of Data Where do I begin? - Difficult for novice PR practitioners - Not familiar with the people, sources, or strategies best employed. - Go to Library a. Document depositories b. Electronic library Where to stop? - It depends on your decision

Library Public library - A general depositories of books, encyclopedias, and periodicals - A variety of documents and databases Academic library - Typically associated with research - Research journals, databases, periodicals - Restricted access

Library Institutional library - Company library - Restricted access - Associated with newsletter firms Personal library -Specialized documentation - Focused interests of a particular owner

Sources of Information Primary source - Actual documents (studies, books, reports, and articles) as written by the researchers. Secondary source - A report or summary on the findings of the primary sources - Most textbooks - Disadvantage: A bias of the author Guidelines - Strive to obtain primary sources - Secondary sources (identify the parameters) → Primary data

Documents Books - In-depth analysis of a particular subject - Somewhat dated - Two types of books a. For the general public: textbooks b. For the advanced treatment of a particular subject: graduate-level text - Present historical perspective, analytical insights, and timely advice.

Documents (Periodicals) Document published on a particular circle Magazines - General consumption (e.g., Newsweek, People, Time) - Specific consumption (e.g., annual reports, company magazines) Annual report - Specialized type of magazine - PR practitioners help to write or use in their research Journals - Periodicals that are published on specific topics - Produced by a professional association (e.g., Journal of Communication; Public Relations Quarterly) Newsletters - Produced by special-interest or research groups - Test new ideas or present news of interest - e.g., pr reporter, Tactics, PR News, and O’Dwyer’s Newsletter Newspaper

Documents Databases - A set of documents made available for retrieval via computer - HUMRO, the earliest database - See Table 4.2 (p.60) Unpublished papers - In business: “white paper” or “position paper” - In academia: “convention paper” or “conference paper”

Search Strategies What are the questions, concepts, and areas under study? Are they…? - Informal sources - Institutional sources - Library sources - Search mix (e.g., interview, focus group, survey…) See Figure 4.1 (p.63)

Assessing the Document Content - Does it deal with what you need? Authority - Peer review - Difficult on the Internet Critical standards - Are the main issues or points clearly identified? - Are the assumptions and arguments acceptable? - Is the evidence clear, adequate, and supportive? - Is there a bias? - How well is the document written or edited?

Searching Engines Use Boolean operators - “and”, “or”, or “not” Major search engines - Goodle - Yahoo - Alta Vista Search engine results must be evaluated carefully Look for a webmaster whom you count on

Secondary research The analysis of findings already published - Be part of your environmental scanning or monitoring task Can be conducted on both “quantitative” and “qualitative” (e.g., Census data, Government data (CDC)) Shortcomings - Little information on how it was gathered and whether it is accurate - You may have part of data - Little information whether the data were “weighted” or “transformed”

Sources of Data Organizational research - Measures attitude and opinions held by employees and customers (e.g., CSI) - A communication Audit Intense method combining surveys, in-depth interviews, FGI, and diary - Data “Mining” using current formal and informal data Industry research - Looks entire industries - Data from “trade sources”, “governmental sources”, or “third party” (see p.67) Stakeholder research - Prospective employees/shareholder/government agencies/special-interest groups (see p. 67)

Data Analysis Secondary research uses statistical analyses and logical testing - Either “quantitative” or “qualitative” “Comparable” data for longitudinal research “Cross section” data for content analysis or case study methodology Meta-analyses - How quantitative research findings can be evaluated regarding the effectiveness of a particular variable

Case Activity: What Would You Do? Background Universal Manufacturing Corporation is located in a Midwestern city of 500,000 people. At 6000 employees, it is one of the largest employers in the county, and the company has been as its present location for the past 50 years. Despite this record, management believes that the company doesn’t have a strong identity and lacks visibility in the community. The director of public relations has been asked to prepare a new public relations plan for the coming fiscal year. She recommends that the company first conduct research to determine exactly what its image is in the community. If you were the public relations director, - what informal research methods would you use? - what more formal research methods could be used? - What kinds of information about the company’s image should be researched?