Week 11 Blog - Research and Evaluation

Research and evaluation…..after doing much research this week I’ve evaluated that PR students are happy to be finally finishing their public relations blogs. Chapter 6 highlights the increasing importance of research in public relations. The text argues that management is concerned with accountability. Organisational budgets invested in public relations activities must be justified, monitored and accounted for, often with the prospect of achieving funding for future products depending on the cost effectiveness of the previous campaign. The text sited Seitel who adds weight to this argument, he stated “management requires more facts and statistics from PR professionals to show that their efforts contribute not only to overall organisational effectiveness but also to the bottom line.” I found this interesting in that it provides an understanding of how practitioners can achieve and persuade management to allow them to pursue campaigns.

In saying this, the text argues that research should be undertaken at all stages of public relations – in that it makes practitioners accountable for the decisions they make. Research in public relations is used to identify the requirements for a communication program to assist in establishing that program, to check progress and to evaluate the effectiveness as such the text argues that research needs to be ongoing and throughout this research three components are essential. These being inputs, outputs and outcomes. Inputs are those that provide information into the initial planning phases of the communication process. Outputs are the research that is undertaken during the development and implementation stages of a strategy. And outcomes are the research that is conducted at the end of a communication process.

While these are noted in the text as being the stages of research that should be undertaken in a PR campaign the text states that public relations practitioners must be aware of the range of methodologies, available and the ones that will be most appropriate in the planning and development. The text noted that methodologies may be quantitative or qualitative, formal or informal. And the chosen method of research is only limited by the imagination of the practitioner – a concept stretched across the field as the same has been stated for tactics, event management, campaigns etc. While the text covers a long list of the various research methods available to practitioners, including surveys, mail, the internet, focus groups and testimonials, I did not find any of them unfamiliar or uncommon today and therefore there was no need to cover them in this blog, rather just mention they do exist.

The final aspect of this chapter that I found interesting was regarding the ethical considerations that must be considered in research and evaluation in public relations. The text states that “the practitioner must be conscious of coercion, dishonesty, hurtful manner and manipulation of data to meet any other ends than the stated objectives or hypothesis”. For this reason I find it important to note the standards/guidelines that the text provides for practitioners. The text states that the practitioner must:
Give full disclosure of the research procedure
Make sure results are accurately reported and distributed freely and widely
Keep respondent information confidential
Do not promise clients or sponsors what cannot be delivered
Do not harm

This concludes the blogging component of introduction to public relations course. In saying this it has all come together neatly, what I take from this is that the practitioners ability to maximise their success, achieve goals, is only limited by their imagination. The tactics they choose, the research methods they may take depend on the practitioner – there is no set of guidelines that will guarantee a practitioner success, they can only be wise as to the decisions they make and be aware of the options and opportunities available to them.