UNIT 5: RESEARCH IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
CONTENT
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main content
3.1 What is Research
3.2 Types of Research: Informal research and formal research
3.3 Methods of Data collection
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-marked assignments
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Research is the systematic collection, and interpretation of information to increase
understanding.
The first step in public relations process is research. It is a fact-finding exercise that
enables a practitioner to assess public perceptions of an organisation. Research provides us the
tools to solve problems. It eliminates guess work trial and error and use of intuition in dealing
with an organisation and its publics. Research is very essential at the various stages of a public
relations programme.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Explain the procedure for carrying out public relations research.
Conduct a public relations research on any area of your choice.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Public Relations Research principles
What is Research?
We have earlier defined Public Relations as “the art and social science of analyzing trends,
predicting their consequences… which will serve the public interest. Public relations deals with
human begins. Human beings and the society in which they live are changing and dynamic. The
public relations practitioner must find ways to update his knowledge of man and his society.
Research is the systematic collection and interpretation of information to increase understanding.
It is therefore important to state that the first stage in the public relations process is research. For
example, a company must acquire enough accurate relevant data about its products, publics to
plan how to communicate effectively with all its constituent publics.
In spite of its importance, many publics relations practitioners tend to down play its significance
and insist on intuition and guesswork, believing that they are dealing with intangibles which are
not easily measurable. They think they already know as much as necessary on the issues and
problems at hand, and should not bother themselves further. Do you see how misplaced that view
can be in this scientific age? May be many people avoid research because they do not know what
use research could be.
At every step of the public relations process, research is required to formulate strategy, to test
messages, to influence opinion, get publicity and evaluate success or otherwise of our efforts.
Research can be done to preempt a problem or prevent crisis from developing. We need research
to track issues before they develop into a full blown problem. Public relations research is
conducted to do three basic things.
Describe a situation, process or phenomenon
Explain why something is happening, what are its causes and what effect it
will have.
Predict what will probably happen if we do or do not take action.
It is clear that the price of not doing research is enormous. Precious resources and finance is
expended without clear cut idea of the outcomes or expected results from
the endeavour. Research is the very essence of successful PR activity.
Research has a vital role to play in each stage of the public relations process.
At the planning stage, it is used to identify the problem, refine the problem, and
identify the relevant publics as well as the prevailing perceptions of the
organisation. Research should provide answers to such questions as: what exactly is
the problem and its source? When did the problem start, who is affected or involved
by the problem and how are they affected. Before the implementation of the
recommended action; research is used to identify the audience trusted media
channels that can be used to get them. The message must be pre-tested to determine
if they will be understood by the target public. At the implementation stage research
is sued to measure message distribution message exposure as well as audience
acceptance. At the evaluation stage research is used to measure audience awareness,
attitude and behaviour change, infact the impact the campaign has made on the
target publics.
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3.1.2 Public Relations Research Principles
Certain principles guide public relations research endeavours. The Institute of
Public Relations Research (1997) has provided us with some principle for
measuring public relations research effectiveness.
They include:
Clear programme objectives and desired outcomes tied directly to business goals
should be established.
Measuring of PR ‘outputs’ which are short term such as amount of press coverage
received or expressive of a particular message should be differentiated from
measuring ‘out comes’ such as changing awareness, attitudes and even behaviour
which are long term and have far reaching impact.
Measuring media contact should be a first step in the PR evaluation process. This is
because media content measures are limited as it cannot establish clearly whether a
target audience actually saw a message or responded to it.
No single technique we can evaluate PR effectiveness. Evaluation requires a
combination of techniques from media analysis, focus groups to poll surveys’.
Public relations effectiveness should not be compared with advertising
effectiveness. This is because while advertising placement and messages can be
controlled, public relations cannot.
The organisation should precisely identify its key messages, targets and desired
communication channels. This is because unless an organizations is clear about its
targets, its public relations measurements will not be reliable.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Why it is necessary to undertake research in public relations?
3.2 Types of Public Relations Research
Most public relations research can be classified under two broad types:
Applied research and theoretical research. Applied research is strategic or
evaluative and is used to solve practical problems. On the other hand, theoretical
research generates studies that aids understanding of the public relations process.
Let us examine the two types of research further to give you deeper understanding
of how the two interrelate.
Applied research in public relations as stated earlier, can be either strategic or
evaluative. They are designed to provide answers to specific practical problems.
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Strategic research is used in developing PR programme objectives, such as what we
intent to achieve, what we need to achieve it and how we can achieve it. It can be
used to develop message strategies which addresses the question of what is to be
said, how it is to be said, the emphasis to be adopted and how and when to reach the
audience with the message strategic research is also used to establish programme
benchmarks on what can be achieved by the programme that is measurable, the
goals of the programme. On the other hand, evaluative research is conducted
primarily to determine whether a public relations programme has achieved its goals
and objectives.
On the other hand, theoretical research is used to develop a body of knowledge
which helps the work of the public relations practitioners. It helps build theories in
such areas as why people communicate, formation of public opinion and how a
public is created. Knowledge of theoretical research is also important as it provides
a framework for persuasion and understanding why people do what they do. It can
also enable practitioners understand the persuasive limits of communication.
Generally, knowledge of theoretical research can help PR practitioners to
understand the basis of applied research findings as well as moderate the
expectations of management on the results of public relations programmer.
3.3 Methods of Data Collection
After the public relations problems that requires attention has been identified and
the specific target public clearly determined, the next important step is to select the
method of data collection. Two basic methods are used: informal and formal
methods.
3.3.1 Informal Methods
This is also referred to as exploratory method. This method is useful to detect and
explore problem, situations, pretest research and programme strategies, etc. Some
of the informal methods identified by Cutlip, Centre and Broom (1994) include:
Personal Contacts
It is a very reliable method of reaching sources of information and the respondents
is more likely to provide a candid opinion of a situation. The practitioner has the
opportunity of a one-to-one situation discover people’s disposition towards an issue
or policy of an organisation.
Key Informants
Knowledgeable opinion leaders influential and experts can be consulted. Such
influential could include authors, editors, reporters, ministers or commissioners,
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labour leaders professors, civic leaders, bakers, taxi drivers. They can be selected
based on their perceived knowledge of an issue and their ability to represent others.
Focus Groups and Community Forums
Focus groups and community forums are used to explore how people will react to
proposals and to gather information useful for developing questionnaires to be used
informal research methods. The use of focus groups and community forum can be
seen as an extension of the personal contact method. A typical example of
community forums is the town meeting. In the relaxed atmosphere of a focus group,
people are often more willing to express their feelings and discuss ideas. A focus
group can cost of about six to 12 carefully selected representatives from a target
public.
Advisory Committees and Boards
A standing committee or panel can help win understanding. Advisory committees
and boards provide information and guidance. They are useful particularly, for
long-running programmes and issues. if their advice is honestly considered, they
provide effective forums for increasing interaction, participation and in-depth
probing of issues.
Ombudsman
The ombudsman collects complaints and provide feedback mechanisms. The
existence of an ombudsman serves to reduce tensions that could otherwise result in
crisis and litigations if there were not handled, in many non-government
organizations the ombudsman has proved useful in providing feedback and ideas for
solving problems while they are still manageable.
Call-in-Telephone Lines
They are used by radio and television stations, during programmes to enable callers
who hold strong views or are affected by the problem being discussed. A
practitioner working for a specific organisation can use it to gather useful
information. Toll-free lines installed by organisations for use by customers are a
good examples
Mail Analysis
Letters serve as early warnings. They can serve as good information sources and is
another economical way of colleting information is periodic analysis of incoming
mails they reveal areas of criticisms or ill-will or problem relationships. They could
point to a clear direction in their disposition towards an organisation or client.
Field Reports
Many organizations have district agents, sales representatives who live in and travel
the territories they cover. If these agents are trained to listen and observe and given
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regular means of reporting their observations, they can serve as the “eyes and ears”
of an organizations. Their “intelligence” reports, so to say can be a useful source of
information to a public relations practitioner.
3.3.2 Formal Research Methods
Formal methods are designed to gather data from scientifically representative
samples. Formal methods help provide answer to questions about situations that
cannot simply be adequately answered using informal approaches. For formal
methods to yield useful results, the research questions and objectives should be
clearly determined before the research design is selected.
Formal research methods are used when objective, systematic and scientific data
gathering devices are crucial for decision making. They are preferred even though
they cost a lot of money and time. Formal research methods commonly used in
public relations include:
Surveys – Survey research is one of the most commonly used research methods in
public relations. This is because surveys gives first-hand information and it is
relatively inexpensive. Surveys are very useful method of generating information on
the opinions and attitudes of people and patterns of past behaviour. Surveys use two
major approaches questionnaires and in-person interview. Questionnaire can be
mailed or self-administered. Respondents are requested to fill in the responses.
Questionnaires may be structured (closed ended) or unstructured, (open-ended) to
allow the respondents offer more explanations on their views.
Interviews can be person-to-person or via telephone.
Communication audits
Communication audits are used to analyse the standing of a company with its target
publics like employees on community neighbours’ and to re-examine an
organisations performance as a corporate citizen it is also used to assess the reading
and understanding of an organisation’s communication vehicles such as news
releases, annual reports, etc. The findings of a communication audit is used provide
benchmarks against which future communication programmes can be applied and
measured. It is useful in telling the organisation where they sand in the perception
of its relevant publics, and whether its communication activities has fulfilled the
organisation goals.
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Content Analysis
Content, analysis is another method used to make an objective examination of what
is reported in the media. These contents include editorials, letters to the editor and
the issues the press are harping on. Press clippings and monitor reports are used as
the basis for content analysis. One drawback of content analysis however, is that it
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only indicates what has been printed or broadcast; it does not give indication as to
what is read or heard, nor does it measure whether or not the audiences learned or
believed the message content.
Secondary (Library) Research
Secondary research uses materials generated by others. These include library
references and sources, newspapers and magazine articles, internet data, public
records by government agencies like the Bureau of Statistics, the Census Office. In
the electronic age, some of these information can be sourced on the web.
Universities also maintain survey research centers which provide published
materials at a very minimum change and this is available to public relations
practitioners for research purposes.
PR Research
Writing in “International Public Relations Review”. James Anderson notes that ‘PR
can no longer rely on more instinct, intuition and learning through failure… A more
scientific approach is essential to gain top management trust and commitment. Cited
by Larry Agoseh – Public Relations Digest Vol 5.
Wilcox, Ault and Agee have listed six reasons why research will be necessary in
tomorrow's complex world.
1. The increasing fragmentation of audiences into groups that have specific
interests and concerns.
2. Increasing isolation of top management from personal contact with the
public.
3. Research will prevent organizations from wasting time, effort and money in
attacking perceived image problems that are not readily solved by extensive
public relations programmes.
4. Research will provide the fact on which a PR programme is based.
5. Surveys can generate publicity through the dissemination of the research
results
6. Research can establish a base line for determining the success of a
programme.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Research for public relations ensures that there is a good basis for professional jobs
in public relations, instead of relying solely on guesswork and hunches. Any effort
and money expended on research is a worthwhile one as it provides the basis for
sound public relation decisions.
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5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have examined the need for research in public relations. We saw the
role of research in all the aspects of the public relations process. We also noted that
the various methods of conducting research which consist of formal and informal
approaches and the type chosen for a study is dependent on the specific situation on
hand.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
List and discuss the informal methods of data collection used in public relations
research.
