PR Research Quiz 1

Evaluation

(After) provides data to assess the success of a campaign based on the achievement of stated objectives.

Formative Research

(Before) provides data and perspective to guide campaign creation.

Process Research

(During) monitors the implementation of the campaign to assess internal and external outputs and signal when adjustments are needed.

Public Relations Defined

- public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. - the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends. - strives to help organizations develop and preserve the variety of stakeholder relationships that ensure long-term success, and typically has broader goals than those of advertising or marketing.

Arthur W. Page

- widely considered a founder of corporate public relations management - said, "public perception of an organization is determined 90% by what it does and 10% by what it says."

MBO manager focuses on six activities

1. Conceptualization: A leader must hold the big picture and be able to identify and organize the smaller elements to fit that larger picture. 2. Monitoring: Means research. The scientific manager will do much issue tracking to stay ahead of emerging trends and on top of potential crises. 3. Planning: The manager must be able to build the recipes that will guide the organization through the opportunities and challenges identified in the monitoring process. 4. Organization and coordination: The manager must make effective use of available resources. These include budget and personnel within the organization as well as opportunities for cooperative partnerships with other organizations that can help to achieve mutually beneficial results. 5. Administration: The manager must fulfill the promises made in the planning process. The manager will supervise the programs to activate and adjust communication programs. 6. Evaluation: The scientific manager remains accountable. Every communication activity must have a clear purpose and an anticipated result.

Four-step PR process

1. Defining the problem 2. Planning and programming 3. Taking action and communicating 4. Evaluating the program

Segmenting publics

1. Demographics 2. Psychographics 3. Sociographics 4. Behaviors 5. Communication behaviors

Three types of research in planning

1. Formative research 2. Program research 3. Summative (or evaluation) research

The benefits of research

1. Research can help the manager make sense of the increasing fragmentation of audiences in global, multimedia communication environments. 2. Research can help keep top-level management from losing touch with important stakeholders from which they may become insulated. 3. Research can help confirm whether complaints about an organization are widespread beliefs or represent the impressions of a vocal minority that holds little credibility with key stakeholders. 4. Research can guide strategy so that funds and efforts are spent wisely. 5. Research can help prevent unintended effects. 6. Research can provide facts on which objectives for accountability can be based.

Documents

3 basic types: •Books •Periodicals •Databases •Additionally white papers are a great research tool but access to them is limited

Assessing Documents

3 critical ways to establish a document's veracity •Content: Does it deal with what you need? •Authority: Who produced the document? •Peer Review: Has a critical eye been taken to it?

Problem statement

A problem occurs when the organization encounters something in its environment or in its relationship with key publics that threaten its ability to fulfill its mission. The manager needs to know the philosophy and purpose of the organization - its values and mission - to guide planning and to build mutually beneficial relationships. These statements help the communication manager identify publics and activities that are appropriate. Foundational document to guide a communication campaign. The problem statement summarizes the key elements of the issue or opportunity and how it relates to the organization's ability to fulfill its mission.

paraphrase

A restatement in your own words of an idea or item of information from the work of another person. You convey the original meaning but change the words and sentence structure. You must reference a paraphrase with the author's name and the year of publication. There are limits to the amount of work you can paraphrase. The aim is to integrate a sentence expressing the borrowed idea into a paragraph of your own writing. If you want to use more than one idea from another text, you need to ensure that you paraphrase and reference each idea separately. To paraphrase, you need to: change the structure of the sentence(s), and change words

Summarising

A short and concise representation of the main points, ideas, concepts, facts or statements of a text written in your own words. Unlike a paraphrase, which is generally of a similar length to the original text, a summary is much shorter. When either summarising or paraphrasing, you should not alter: the author's original idea(s) the degree of certainty with which the ideas are expressed.

Measurement

A study found that the more managers performed a specific type of research, the less they valued it, and the more they valued a particular research method, the less they employed it. Practitioners relied most on measures of volume of media pickups and tracking of media coverage, which they found the least beneficial. On the other hand, practitioners relied least on measures of changes in awareness, knowledge, attitudes, sales, and behavior, which they found the most valuable.

Lead-in

According to...

Research ethics

All researchers have an ethical responsibility Participants in research studies should know and understand their rights and responsibilities Ethical considerations are part of the research study design

The strategic planning pyramid

Bottom: Mission statement Second bottom: Goals Next Up: Objectives Second top: Strategies Top: Tactics

Research steps

First, research goal then research question then finally, subject items!! Research goals are big picture statements that lay out the major aspects of research you believe need to be conducted to create an effective campaign plan. Research questions narrow each goal (purpose) into specific questions that you need to have answered to accomplish that goal. Subject items are the questions you ask participants. Your analysis of the item answers should answer your research questions.

Advertising

Focuses on selling products to consumers through controlled placement of paid media messages - narrow and specific role

Campaign research cycle

Formative -> Process/implementation -> evaluation

Responsibility to participants

General conduct: Treat with respect and in a professional manner Protect their rights, including to refuse Don't try to influence their opinion or attitude Protect their privacy Proactively or upon request identify by name the research organization collecting the data Purpose of use: Obtain consent from respondent prior to utilizing their data in a manner materially different from which respondent has agreed Ensure that respondent information will not be used sales, solicitations, push polling or any other non-research purpose

Primary research: Preproduction Research

Goal = Getting to know your target publics in more depth (relevant knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors)

Primary research: Production Research

Goal = Testing target publics' reactions to the campaign materials (from basic comprehension to persuasion)

Secondary research

Goal = Understand issue, organization, publics (situation analysis)

anonymity

Guaranteed in a research project when neither the researchers nor the readers of the findings can identify a given response with given respondent.

Confidentiality

Guaranteed when the researcher can identify a given person's responses, but promises to not do so publicly

External factors

Important types of external information include publics who come in contact with the organization, information networks linking individuals inside and outside the organization, portrayals of the organization by individuals and the media, and information about political, social, economic and environmental issues that can affect the organization's ability to control an issue.

Internal factors

Important types of information include the organization's mission, its decision-making and operating structure, its evolution and history, and its culture.

Research plan

Includes an explanation of research needs; research goals; research objectives; hypotheses or hunches; research questions (strategies); expected use of the results to guide data collection and analysis, help propose research strategies and prompt a discussion of how to use the results.

Where can I Find Secondary research?

Internal: •Within organization-sales records, transaction records, annual reports, website social media feed and analytics •Accessible & cost effective External: •Published material •Third-party databases •Syndicated

Long quotations

Longer than four lines A whole paragraph Two or more paragraphs

Separate block quote

Longer than two to three sentences

Research transparency

Make factually correct statements to secure cooperation Honor all promises Ensure that respondents are informed at the outset if an interview or discussion is being audio or video recorded.

Marketing

Often uses PR techniques to sell products and services. This role is broader than advertising, but still focuses on consumers rather than on all the key publics of an organization.

Six key areas

Research can help strategic planning in six key areas: 1. Problem identification 2. Problem effects or implication 3. Strategic direction 4. Strategy testing 5. Tracking during implementation 6. Evaluation of results

The role of research

Research is systematic listening used in an attempt to reduce uncertainty. The goal of research is to gain maximum control of the things that be controlled and maximum understanding of the thing that cannot be controlled. Managers have the most control over the source and the least control over the receiver. With the use of paid advertising, the manager can control the source, the message, and the channel. Public relations messages, however, often must travel through gatekeepers, or people between the original source and the ultimate message recipient.

Research questions

Should be attached to a specific goal Typically, each research goal requires multiple research questions Narrow each goal into specific questions that you need to answer and accomplish that goal Are NOT the questions that you will ask your participants (those are called "items")

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are those who should care and be involved or those who can be affected by or who can affect you program.

"Where to begin?"

The answers are found in libraries: •Public •Academic •Specialized •Institutional •Personal

Edward L. Bernays

The founder of modern PR

Management by objectives

The most common planning tool used by communication managers. MBO is an effects-oriented process for developing goal-oriented campaign recipes. The MBO approach can provide the hard evidence and persuasive reasoning you will need to convince your key decision makers that the campaign ingredients you identify as essential really are essential. This approach gives the communication manager credibility, flexibility and control.

Mission Statement

The statement of philosophy and purpose for an organization. The mission statement should identify the products the organization produces, the services it provides, and the types of relationships it strives to calculate.

Scientific management approach

The two major components of the scientific management approach are planning and research.

Situation analysis

To develop a complete problem statement usually requires formative research to flesh out the details. These details are known as the situation analysis. A detailed explanation of the opportunities and challenges (sometimes called opportunities and threats) that exist within the organization and in its environment. Usually begins with the problem statement, followed by a discussion of the history of the problem and how it conflicts with the organization's mission. Makes it possible for the communication team to develop hypotheses, or hunches, about possible causes and solutions for your problem.

Vision statement

Whereas the mission statement sets out a strategic focus for accomplishing a long-term outcome, the vision conveys this long-term ideal. Organizations frequently develop a vision statement as a short abbreviation of the mission suitable for publication on websites, business cards and stationary.

segmentation

You want to know as much as possible about key stakeholders, often referred to as target publics. First you need to identify and prioritize them, which is called segmentation.

Synthesising

an important and complex skill required in academic writing that involves combining ideas from a range of sources in order to group and present common ideas or arguments. It is a necessary skill used in essays, literature reviews and other forms of academic writing. Unlike summarising and paraphrasing, which only uses one author's ideas at a time, synthesising combines ideas from more than one text or source. Synthesising allows you to: combine information and ideas from multiple sources to develop and strengthen your argument(s) demonstrate that you have read widely on the topic use and cite multiple sources.

dominant coalition

group of people with the greatest influence in determining how an organization operates and pursues its mission. Those members of an organization who have the authority to make decisions and set policy.

Research goals

statements of what you hope to achieve with your research. Examples: •Understand the situation/issue •Understand/and or narrow target publics •Define the scope of the problem/opportunity •Discover potential strategies •Explore potential tactics •Test campaign messages

plagarism

the direct copying of someone else's work without acknowledging (citing) the original author. In other words, you take credit for the ideas of another person. In academic writing, this is considered cheating. Avoid penalties by learning how to paraphrase correctly. You can't just change a few words Cite sources if it is not your own idea or words and the fact is not common knowledge.

Citing a source without quoting

use when summarizing a source paraphrasing a source mentioning the source briefly using an idea from the same source

Research with people

voluntary participation no harm to the participants people being researched should never be injured informed consent: subjects base their voluntary participation in research projects on a full understanding of the possible risks involved

Documents: Databases

•A set of documents made available via computer •More commonly used databases today are LEXIS/NEXUS & First Search •Gov't sources: Cencus.gov, FTC, FCC, FDA

Sources of Secondary Information: Primary Sources

•Actual documents: books, reports, articles •Lay the foundation: First source turned to when beginning research •Should attempt to obtain as many primary sources as possible •Often the documents are written by the researchers themselves

Advantages of Secondary Data

•Already collected-available •Technology makes collecting, sorting, and sharing secondary data easier •Useful in refining and defining the research problem/opportunity •Helps to improve understanding of the problem •Provides basis for comparison of new data collected

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

•An attempt to discover something. •Strategic research - The systematic investigation and study of materials and sources and gathering of information about issues and publics that affect organizations, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. •Scientific research - organized, objective, controlled, qualitative or quantitative empirical analysis of one or more variables.

Databases to Learn about

•Companies: •Marketline advantage(company profiles) •PrivCo(private companies) •ReferenceUSA(small, local) •Mergent Intellect(company profiles) •Consumers: •Mintel(consumer/brand) •Passport GMID(consumer lifestyles and market by country) •SimplyAnalytics(demographics and purchasing by U.S. location) •Simmons OneView(crosstabs against consumer survey data) •Business Source Complete(articles)

Disadvantages of Secondary Data

•Credibility can be ?? •Accuracy can be ?? •Relevancy to project at hand can be ?? •Secondary sources can contradict each other •May be outdated •Could be expensive

Summary

•First steps in research program is examined •Finds existing documents, sources, data •New problems mean going back to square one •Secondary research/historical/documentary research -are all qualitative •Helps establish benchmarks

Documents: Periodicals

•Published on a specific cycle; weekly, monthly, annually •Magazines: do not offer in-depth analysis, variety of topics •Journals: published on specific topics by professional associations •Newsletters: produced by special interest or research groups, present/test new ideas and news to members •Newspapers: 2 types are general and industry-specific

Research Methods we will learn (and do)

•Secondary research •Surveys •Content analysis* •Interviews •Focus groups

What is secondary research?

•Seeking information that has been collected and analyzed by others, usually for a different purpose than the researcher's current, specific informational need. Three key questions (as you begin) 1. What do we know about a given topic? 2. Where can we gather existing information? 3. How can we do it as quickly (cheaply) as possible? •Most effective when the secondary source is the industry standard •When the researcher is interested in the general information on a topic •When the researcher needs to find a known fact •As preliminary information for primary research

Documents: Books

•Set the baseline for which all other information is set against •Downside: the second a book is published it becomes outdated

Subject items

•These are the actual questions that you would ask a research participant (on a survey or in an interview) •Items should be tied to a research question* •Some items are relevant to more than one RQ

"When Do I end my search?"

•This depends of the specialization area of research: governmental, corporate, environmental, etc. •It is hard to decide where to stop today because of the extensive amount of resources

Gathering Data - "Where Do I begin?"

•Today the computer is vital tool for the beginning steps of answering questions much easier •Google should not always be the first source turned to because of SEO or Search Engine Optimization •Beware of Wikipedia and the possibility of incorrect information