Significance of Research in Public Relations

 

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your very busy schedule to read my blog(s). Sharing PR knowledge with you with finesse has become my passion now and I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Today I’m happy to present my 80th blog “Significance of Research in Public Relations”. 

"Research is creating new knowledge."- Neil Armstrong

"I believe in innovation and that the way you get innovation is you fund research and you learn the basic facts."- Bill Gates

Friends, Research is the key to any successful public relations, communications and/or marketing efforts, not only in the business world, but also in the non-profit and government sectors. Without research, those who administer public relations, public affairs, promotional, and related communications programs and activities for their organizations would be operating in the dark, without any guidance or clear sense of direction.

Public Relations Research, as the name implies, focuses on the entire public relations process and examines the communications relationships that exist among and between institutions and their key target audience groups. For the public relations or public affairs essential tool for fact and opinion gathering - a systematic effort aimed at discovering, confirming and/or understanding through objective appraisal the facts or opinions pertaining to a specified problem, situation, or opportunity.

Most public relations practitioners have come to recognize the following as real “needs” for conducting public relations research:

 

  1. To collect information that public relations professionals need to have and to know to do their jobs more effectively.

 

2.   To obtain benchmark data regarding the views of key target audience groups.

 

3. To plan, develop, or possibly refine a public relations, public affairs or marketing communications program or activity.

 

4.  To track or monitor programs, activities or events that are or can be important to the institution.

 

5.  To evaluate the overall effectiveness of a particular public relations program or activity, by measuring outputs and outcomes against a predetermined set of objectives.

 

6.   When facing a sudden and unexpected crisis, to put the issues involved into proper perspective through emergency monitoring or polling.

 

7. When circumstances allow, to provide appropriate support in publicizing or promoting a specific program, activity or event.

For truly effective public relations research, advance planning is necessary. Before you begin, clearly define your goals and objectives. Ask yourself what you want and need the research to do for you. Remember, finding out “why” things are the way they are or the reasons individuals feel and act the way they do are often much more important for public relations planning and evaluation than simply finding out “what” the facts are or “how” people feel.

A useful starting point when considering public relations research is to remember the classic one-sentence definition of the communications process first described by Harold D. Lasswell. He said, if you can figure out who says what, to whom, how, with what effect, you will have come a long way in understanding how communications work.

Here WHO refers to the sources, or disseminators, of information; WHAT to the messages that are being disseminated; WHOM to the targeted audiences or intended recipients of the messages; HOW to the channels of communications; and WITH WHAT EFFECT to the eventual output and outcome of the communications effort.

As part of the communications research effort, public relations practitioners are interested in a. measuring the credibility or believability of the information source, b. the relevance and overall importance of the messages being disseminated, c. finding out as much as they possibly can about the opinions, d. attitudes and behaviour patterns of those in the target audience groups i.e. they respond or do not respond to the various messages being disseminated and e. in pinpointing the best and most effective communications channels to use when disseminating messages.

There are only two types of public relations research

1. Primary, which involves doing an original study, and

2. Secondary, which involves examining data already available.

Primary research is usually either Qualitative or Quantitative in form.

Qualitative research usually refers to studies that are somewhat subjective, but nevertheless in-depth, using a probing, open-end, free response format.

Quantitative research usually refers to studies that are highly objective and projectable, using closed-end, forced-choice questionnaires. These studies tend to rely heavily on statistics and numerical measures.

Qualitative Research

When communications researchers consider doing qualitative studies, the data collection methodologies that usually pop quickly into mind are focus groups and depth interview studies.

Focus groups are an exploratory technique in which a group of somewhere between 8 and 12 individuals, under the guidance of a trained moderator are encouraged, as a group, to discuss freely any and all of their feelings, concerns, problems and frustrations relating to specific topics under discussion. Focus groups are ideal for brainstorming, idea-gathering and concept testing. Depth interview studies are those that rely on a probing, open-ended, largely unstructured interviewing format, and usually are carried out in person or by telephone. As part of the exercise, respondents are encouraged to talk freely and in great detail about given subjects.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative studies can be carried out using a broad array of different data collection techniques, including the following: via e-mail, fax, face-to-face interviewing, mall - shopping centre interviewing, omnibus polling - where data on a wide variety of subjects is collected during the same interview, panels, telephone and web-sites.  Conducting surveys via e-mail or through web-sites is growing in popularity because of the benefit that survey can be attractively designed with the support of audio, video, and graphic concepts and Survey responses are collected in databases, which eliminates the need for manual data entry.

For public relations research to provide support and assistance to the strategic planning and program development process, a mix of both qualitative and quantitative research is preferable. Usually, qualitative research (e.g. focus groups, depth interviews, etc.) ought to be carried out first, to obtain exploratory information, to be followed by some type of quantitative research (e.g. a telephone, mail, or internet survey, etc.) with representatives of key constituent groups, to obtain information that is both more descriptive and explanatory in nature.

The two together i.e. qualitative research followed by quantitative research will give us a good mix of in-depth information that will tell you not only HOW and WHAT people think, but also something about WHY they hold the views they do. This in-depth information can then be effectively utilized for strategic PR planning and program development purposes.

Research for Measurement and Evaluation 

For public relations research to provide support and assistance in the measurement and evaluation of communications and marketing effectiveness, although qualitative research can provide useful information, it is better to put far more emphasis on quantitative data collection, since it is important to obtain statistically reliable and valid numbers to clearly pinpoint and substantiate any changes that have taken place, as a result of the communications effort.

Interest in measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of an organization’s communications effectiveness has grown in importance in recent years. For any communications measurement and evaluation research to be credible, four major components of the process need to be taken into consideration which are:

1.Setting Specific Measurable Communications Goals and Objectives

No one can really measure the effectiveness of anything; unless they first figure out exactly what it is they are measuring that something against. So, to begin, the public relations practitioners ought to ask: What are the goals or objectives of our communications, marketing and development activities? What exactly did our program hope to accomplish through its communications component?

2. Measuring Communications Outputs

Outputs are usually the short-term, or immediate, results of a particular communications program or activity. More often than not, outputs represent what is readily apparent to the eye. Outputs measure how well an organization presents itself to others, the amount of attention or exposure that the organization receives.

In media or press relations efforts, outputs can be a. the total number of stories, articles, or placements that appear in the media, b. the total number of impressions i.e. the number of those who might have been exposed to the story as well as an assessment of the overall content of what has appeared.

Media content analysis is one of the principal methodologies used to measure media outputs. For other facets of communications, outputs can be white papers, speaking engagements, the number of times a spokesperson is quoted, specific messages communicated, or specific positioning on an important issue or any number of quantifiable items that are generated as a result of the effort.

Outputs also might be an assessment of a specific event, a direct mail campaign, the number of people who participated in a given activity, how an organization’s top executive handles himself or herself at a press conference, or the appearance and contents of a given brochure or booklet. In any event, both the quantity and quality of outputs can be measured and evaluated. Media can be evaluated for their content; an event, as to whether the right people were there; a booklet or brochure for its visual appeal and substance; and so on.

3.Measuring Communications Outtakes and Outcomes

As important as it might be to measure communications outputs, it is far more important to measure communications outtakes and outcomes. These measures whether target audience groups actually received the messages directed at them, paid attention to them, understood the messages, and retained the messages in any shape or form. They also measure whether the communications materials and messages which were disseminated have resulted in any opinion, attitude and/or behaviour changes on the part of those targeted audiences to whom the messages were directed.

It is usually much more difficult and, generally, more expensive, to measure communications outtakes and outcomes than it is to measure communications outputs. This is because more sophisticated data-gathering research tools and techniques are required. Research techniques often used to measure communications outtakes and outcomes include quantitative surveys (face-to-face, by telephone, by mail, by fax, via e-mail, via the Internet, in malls, etc.), qualitative depth attitude surveys of elite audience groups, pre-test / post-test studies (e.g. before-and-after polls), experimental and quasi-experimental research projects, and multi-variate studies that rely on advanced statistical applications such as correlation and regression analyses, Q-sorts i.e. systematic study of participant viewpoints, and factor and cluster analysis studies.

4. Measuring Institutional Outcomes

Whatever steps public relations practitioners take to measure the effectiveness of what they, themselves, do in connection with their communications and/or marketing programs and activities, it is imperative that they also take steps to seek to link their public relations accomplishments to the ultimate goals, objectives, and accomplishments of the institution as a whole.

What we are talking about here is seeking to relate communications outtakes and outcomes to such desired institutional outcomes as increasing market penetration, improving market share, meeting recruitment expectations, successfully completing a fund-raising campaign, and the like. It needs to be recognized that this is not easy to do. It requires a careful delineation of what the communications program seeks to accomplish in concert with what the institution as a whole seeks to accomplish. It also requires a good understanding about how and why the two processes are supposed to work together.

When one has a good understanding of the impacts that are desired, as well as a good understanding of how the process is supposed to work, many of the research tools and techniques can then be employed to reliably and validly measure the impacts that are desired.

To conclude;

Without research, public relations would not be a true management function. It would not be strategic or a part of executive strategic planning, but would regress to the days of simple press agentry, following hunches and instinct to create publicity.  

As a true management function, public relations uses research to identify issues and engage in problem solving, to prevent and manage crises, to make organizations responsive and responsible to their publics, to create better organizational policy, and to build and maintain long-term relationships with publics. A thorough knowledge of research methods and extensive analyses of data allow public relations practitioners a seat in the dominant coalition and a way to illustrate the value and worth of their activities. In this manner, research is the strategic foundation of modern public relations management.

Thank You for reading the blog.

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