JOURN 4256 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I PR News II Ethics a Professional PR organizations b Areas of ethical concerns VII Examples Outline of Current Lecture III Importance of research a Where to begin b How to use research c Research options IV Research process a Qualitative research b Focus groups c Evaluating research d Measuring e Media exposure f Audience awareness g Systematic review These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Current Lecture Importance of research First step in any PR effort Provides the info needed to Understand the audience Develop successful messages Where to begin What is the problem What information do I need How will the results be used What is the target audience In house or external researchers How do I want to use the findings What s the deadline What s the cost How to use research Formulate strategy Test messages Keep up with your target audience s Check on your competitors Measure success Research options Academic rigor vs casual informal Primary vs secondary Qualitative vs quantitative Survey of practitioners 75 of respondents described their research as casual and informal Examples of secondary research When public relations professionals analyze data collected by someone else Archival research Library and online databases The World Wide Web Examples of primary research When public relations professionals create instruments to collect data from a given audience Divided up into qualitative quantitative Research process 1 Start with a problem 2 Dig into secondary research to answer questions from the problem 3 Put together a SWOT and situation analysis 4 Look for holes in secondary research and fill with primary research 5 Use research to create strat comm plan Qualitative research Seeks in depth understanding of human behavior Answers questions through words not numbers Examples Content analysis Interviews Focus groups Copy testing Ethnographic techniques How to do a focus group Define the purpose of what you want Establish a timeline Identify your participants Create your questions Develop a script based on time Select the facilitator Choose the location Typically takes 1 2 hours Ideal size is about 6 10 people Make sure to think about logistics Name tags Audio video recorder Paper pencil flip chart if makes sense List of participants Second person to assist facilitator Food child care incentives After focus group Summarize your notes Analyze your findings Write your report Creating questions Carefully consider wording Avoid loaded questions Consider timing and context Avoid the politically correct answer Give a range of possible answers Try to avoid survey fatigue Ways to reach audience Direct mail Phone Interviews Web Email Evaluating research While your initial research may be done it doesn t stop there What you called research now changes to evaluation The next step BEFORE you begin your campaign is to figure out your evaluation An evaluation is The systematic assessment of a program and its results Allows you and your client to know if things are working as you planned Should have a plan BEFORE a program begins What s the point Tells you what s working and what s not Can improve things as you go along Keeps client up to date Shows the value of your work In the grant world it s required Evaluation myths It s useless Used to be the case when evaluation was done on the basis of achieving complete scientific accuracy reliability and validity Used to get data from which very carefully chosen conclusions were drawn Generalizations and recommendations were avoided Led to reports that led to obvious conclusions and no real use Now evaluation is about utility relevance and practicality Proves success or failure This assumes success is implementing perfection Not real life Real success is remaining open to continuing feedback and making adjustments accordingly Evaluation gives you this continuing feedback Unique complex and hard to do You don t have to completely understand the jargon like validity and reliability You just need to consider what information is needed to make decisions about the program campaign You must be willing to commit to understanding what is going on Many people do evaluation without knowing it it s informal Formal evaluation gives you the chance to make a difference for the client and bigger bang for the buck 20 80 rule It s said that 20 of effort yields 80 of all needed results It s better to do what might turn out to be an average effort at evaluation than to do no evaluation at all It s also CHEAPER evaluation consultants often cost a fortune and don t yield information that is practical or relevant Art vs science Another reason research and evaluation is important is to show your client the range of what you can do PR is often seen as an art but research and evaluation shows the scientific side of the profession Split message A B testing Companies test the message and key copy points in selected cities to learn how Media accept the message The public reacts The split message approach is common in direct mail campaigns Two or three different appeals may be prepared by an organization and sent to different audiences Objective to learn which is most effective Measuring It s about quantity not quality Counting the number of news clips photos blog posts etc Attendance can be a indication of people exposed to the message Audience attitudes can also be evaluated by analyzing behavior at the event Evaluation forms provide a more systematic method of evaluating what participants think Attendance can be an indication of people exposed to the message Audience attitudes facial expressions observational research Evaluation forms provide a more systematic method of evaluating what participants think Media exposure Reach of the media impressions clips Systematic tracking Return on investment ROI Advertising Value Equivalency AVE Going beyond the likes The most widely practiced form of evaluating public relations programs is the compilation clips Audience awareness Changes in awareness behavior or knowledge Statistical analysis of variance Typically need pre and post measurements Communication evaluation All communication activity of an organization should be assessed audited at least once a year Could include the following Analysis of all communication activity Informal interviews with rank and file