Comstrat 312 1nd EditionFinal Exam Study Guide Lectures: 18-24Lecture 18-241. Research: The basis for informed decision makinga. Allows decision making based on fact rather than hunch/rule of thumbb. Risk reductioni. Needed as costs and importance of decisions increaseii. Needed as certainty decreasesc. Precampaign: help us understand audiences, establish benchmarks and pland. Postcampaign: provides basis for evaluating campaign outcomes and communication success to others2. Types of researcha. Formali. Scientificii. Systematic/formal processiii. Produces objective result b. Informali. Unscientificii. Process not formal or systematiciii. Produces subjective resultsc. A continuum of techniques d. Key issuesi. Accuracy: error freeii. Reliability: same results on successive trials 3. Validitya. Internali. Are you measuring what you think you’re measuringb. Externali. Can you generalize your findings c. Inference4. Sampling and external validity (generalizability)a. Probability based (random) samplesi. Probably are representative of the populationb. Non probability based (nonrandom) samplesi. Probably are not representative of the population5. Research planning processa. Develop research questions/hypothesesi. Determine problem statementii. Narrow problem, define terms and conceptsb. Review past research and related research literature c. Design researchd. Gather datae. Analyze dataf. Organize findings and determine implications 6. Commonly used researcha. Informali. Clip filesii. Personal contactsiii. Advisory committees/idea juriesiv. Literature/database reviews 1. May be formal or informalv. Email, phone call analysis b. More formali. Focus groupsii. Depth interviewsc. Surveysi. Use nonprobability samples1. Members of a population don’t all have an equal chance of selection2. Lack systematic processes3. Suffer from high rates of nonresponse, or have other flaws 7. Maila. Advantagesi. Lower costsii. Scattered respondentsiii. Sensitive subjectsiv. Lists available v. No interviewer biasvi. Professionals, other busy people b. Disadvantagesi. Time (studies take longer to complete)ii. Response rates tend to be low (this is changing)iii. Control (who completes surveys?)iv. No questions flexibility/explanation (requires careful pretesting)v. Length (generally, survey should be short)vi. Inducements needed to increase participation 8. Telephonea. Advantagesi. Lower costsii. Time (studies take less time to complete)iii. Lists available to sample from (or random digit dialing)iv. Some question flexibility/explanation b. Disadvantagesi. Response rates now are lowii. Length (survey must be short)iii. Potential for confusioniv. Potential for biasv. As a practical matter, may be limited to persons with land-line phones 9. Personal Interviewsa. Advantagesi. Flexibleii. Response rate (questionable)iii. Lists availableiv. Can estimate some informationv. Rapport may help with data collection b. Disadvantagesi. Cost (can be very expensive)ii. Time (studies take longer to complete)iii. Strong potential for bias iv. Supervision intensive/labor intensivev. Some groups are hard to reach c. Mall intercepts (& other intercepts)i. Quick and easy to conductii. Nonprobability sampleiii. Poor data-collection environmentiv. Strong potential to misuse results 10. Interneta. Advantagesi. Cost (generally inexpensive)ii. Time (studies completed more quickly)iii. Some survey flexibility iv. Useful for reaching widely scattered respondentsv. No interviewer biasvi. Lists availablevii. Professionals, other busy people b. Disadvantagesi. Sample limitationsii. Low response rates (need to motivate response with inducements)iii. Length (survey must be short)iv. Control (who fills out survey11. Surveysa. Mixed mode (use of multiple interview formats)i. Advantages1. Allows researchers to compensate for weaknesses in methods2. Provides flexibility (survey mode, participant contact mode)3. Different modes may help improve response rates4. Can be relatively inexpensive ii. Disadvantages1.12. Research resultsa. Confirm key aspects of research methodsb. Examine data/results carefullyi. Pay special attention to surprising or contradictory resultsii. Don’t miss findings because you disagree (or because they reveal problems)iii. Don’t selectively interpret resultsc. Use results for guidance, they don’t solve problems on their own13. Public relations planning and problem solvinga. PR comes from journalism, has taken same approachi. Little planningii. Reactionary management (situations control peopleb. Offensive vs defensive actionsi. Typically, PR has waited for things to happen resulting in defensive actionsii. “Creating good will” is a weak offensive action, little goal orientationc. Deadline orientationi. Creates crisis situationsii. Inefficient use of time and resourcesd. Not much expected of PR from an organizational standpoint14. Planning advantages and difficultiesa. Advantagesi. Helps to better define problemsii. Provides a basis for scheduling time and resourcesiii. Budget often competitively determines1. Planning allows budgeting based on objectives iv. Builds credibility 1. Most disciplines understood in quantifiable terms2. Practitioners can quantify PR with planningv. Enhances cooperation1. Within the PR departments, everyone has the same goal2. Those outside the PR departments see PR contributing to organization goalsb. Difficultiesi. Requires initial investment of timeii. It is sometimes necessary to react/adjust to unanticipated eventsiii. PR can be difficult to plan and manage (and quantify)c. Management by objectivesi. System of management in which the activities performed are determined by the desired resultsii. Goal orientationiii. Maximization of time and resources15. Simplified planning processa. Using MBOi. Determine mission statement1. Broad, futuristic statement under which many activities can occur2. Long term in orientation3. Typically determines at an organizational level4. Used to give general direction to an organizationii. Determine goals1. You must accomplish these to reach your mission2. To get started ask: “How am I going to reach/contribute to my mission?”3. Typically occur at the divisional leveliii. Determine your objectives1. Follow from goals2. Relatively short term and very specific3. You must accomplish these to reach your goals4. To get started ask: “How am I going to reach my goals”5. Typically occur at the divisional or departmental leveliv. Determine tasks1.