Week 11

I think the key points to remember from this weeks readings were...

• Research is essential in PR. Issues arise when a practitioner is asked to prepare or evaluate a campaign or program. Information gathered during the initial phases of research provides input into the planning of a communication program. Research during the development and implementation stages of a strategy contributes to more effective outputs. Research at the en d of a communication program provides insight into the outcomes of the entire effort.
  
• In order to proceed with any research the practitioner must be aware of the range of methodologies available and the most appropriate use of these in public relations planning and development. Depending on the skills and resources available and the desired outcomes, researchers can utilise formal techniques to produce scientifically valid results or more informal techniques in order to simply increase their understanding of the situation. The researcher also has a choice between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, depending on the type of info required.
  
• Within methologies, there are many techniques available to the public relations researcher. Surveys are commonly used but they can be time consuming and resource-intensive. A wide range of other research techniques gives the public relations practitioner the ability to select options taking into consideration the time, money and skills available.
• Public relations research focuses on understanding the environment within which the organisation operates (Organisations may require info about their target publics, strengths/weaknesses of their competitors, or more about political issues that could affect their success). It is important to set clearly defined goals and objectives for the research.
  
• Input (research into the organisation, situation, publics and proposed message and strategies. Input research shows what problems or opportunities exist, what the perceptions and beliefs of the publics are.)
• Output (The actual elements of the program. Output research looks into the delivery of messages which can help to ‘fine-tune’ the campaign as it is in progress to be able to achieve greater success with the outcomes.)
• Outcomes (Outcome research indicates the level of success or failure of the strategy and shows how effective the planning and communication have been.)
• Research is undertaken either formally or informally. Formal research is broken into two categories, qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research is usually based on exploring new ideas or concepts which can stem from other research areas. Quantitative research uses information already sourced by practitioners or organisations which is then used as evidence to prove situations and ideas already known to both parties.
• According to Johnston and Zawawi (1994: 148) benchmarking is a “starting point to measure what the program will achieve”. It is an important concept because it is used to identify the situation before a program or campaign is implemented and is then used to measure consequent success or failure after its completion.
  

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that I learned that the style of research adopted by an organisation depends upon the system under which it operates, its environment and the requirements of the program being undertaken, including the objectives. Formal and informal research methods can be used to gather information, with the choice of methodology dependent on the levels of reliability needed, the information require and the project's budget. Both input and output research are necessary to plan, monitor and manage successful public relations activities. Measuring achievements through outcomes will help determine the effectiveness of a program at all three stages and provide input into future public relations programs.