Chapter 5:
Research
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Overview
* The importance of research
* Research techniques
* Scientific sampling
*questionnaire construction
*ways of researching Respondents
The Importance of Research
Research is the basic groundwork of any public
relation programs .
it involves the gathering and interpretation of
information , as research is used in every phase
of a communication program.
Define Research
Research is the systematic collection and
interpretation of information to increase
understanding.
The Importance of Research
Many questions should be asked
before formulating a research design:
* what’s the problem ?
* what kind of information is needed ?
* how will the results of research be
used ?
* What specific public or (publics )
should be researched ?
Continued…..
* should the organization do the research in
house or hire an outside consultants ?
* How will the Research data be analyzed ,
reported or applied ?
* How soon will the results be needed
* How much will the research cost ?
_Of course those questions will help the P.R
person determine the extent and the
nature of research needed .
Using Research
_ Research is a multi tool that’s involved every
phase of a communication program .
_ P.R departments spend about 3 to 5 percent of
their budget on research .
P.R professionals use research in the
following ways :
*To achieve credibility with management :
Executives want facts not guesses &
hunches .
*To define audiences & segment public
Detailed information about the lifestyles ,
characteristics and consumption pattern
of audiences helps to ensure that
message reach the proper audience .
Continued…
* To formulate strategy : Much money can
be spent pursuing the wrong strategies
* To test message : Research is often used
to determine what particular message
most Salient with the target audience .
* To help management keep in touch :
Research helps bridge the Gap by
periodically surveying key publics about
problems and concerns .
Continued…
* To prevent Crises : Research can uncover trouble
spots and public concerns before they became pageone news
* To monitor the competition : Often helps an
organization shape it's marketing and
communication strategies to counter a competitor's
strengths and capitalize on it’s weakness .
*To sway public opinion : facts and figure complied
from a variety of primary and secondary sources can
change public opinion .
Continued…
*To generate Publicity : Polls and
surveys can generate publicity for an
organization .
* To Measure Success : the bottom line
of any P.R program is whether the
time and money spent accomplished
the stated objectives .
And we go to on the job insight
the following points :
Public relation should contain the
following information :
* The sponsor of the study .
* The name of the research company
conducting the study
*A description of the study objectives .
*A description of the sample , including
the size of the sample and the
population .
On the Gob Insights
* The Dates of data collection .
* The exact wording of the questions
asked .
* Any information that researcher
believes is relevant to help the public
make a fair assessment of the results
Research Techniques
*Content analysis
*Analysis of
organizational
materials
*Library research
*Online resources
*Interviewing
*Focus groups
*Copy testing
Research techniques
_We have secondary researches which uses
information from library sources and
increasingly from online and internet
sources .
_ and primary research involves gathering
information through Interviews or
Sampling procedures .
And we have two kinds of research
Quantitative and qualitative research . and
you can see the differences between each
category in Table 5.1 Page 132 .
Organizational Materials
* Library and online Database
methods:
Reference books , academic journals
are found in every library , these
materials are on CD-ROM too .
_Many databases are available online
that contains abstracts or full text
articles .
Public relations departments and
firms use online databases in
numbers of ways
* To research facts to support a project .
* To keep up –to-date with news about
clients and their competitors
* To track an organization's media
campaigns
* To locate a special quote for a speech or
report
* Tracking the press and business reaction
to an organization's action .
Continued….
* To locate an expert who can provide
a possible strategy .
* To keep top management apprised of
current business issues
* To learn the demographics and
attitudes of target publics
Online Data Base
_ On line databases are always available the
following are some of online databases used in
P.R :
* Burrell's Broadcast Database : which contains the
full text of radio and T.V programs within 24
hours .
* Dow Jones News/Retrieval : this massive business
library coverage of business news and economic
indicators , industry & market data.
* Lexis/ Nexis : this database include 8 million
articles from all the newspaper , magazines and
news services such as Washington Post .
* The internet and World Wide
Web
*The internet is a powerful research
tool for public relation practitioner
any organization post reams of data
on the internet usually in the form of
homepages
- online search engines are essential
for finding information on the
internet and the world wide web .
* Content Analysis
_Content analysis is the systematic
and objectives counting or
categorizing of content . In P.R
content often is selected from media
coverage of a topic or organization .
* Interviews
We have Two kinds of interviews , first
Intercept interview as it’s a short
interview with people in shopping mall or
sth. Like that,
Because people are Literally intercepted in
public places and asked their opinions .
And the 2nd one the Purposive Interview, as
this is more in Depth because the
interviewees are carefully selected based
on their expertise or leadership In the
community
* Focus Group
The focus group techniques is widely
used in advertising , marketing and
public relation to help identify
attitudes and motivation of
important publics . and another
purpose for focus group is to
formulate message themes and
communication strategies before
launching a full campaign .
Focus Group (Cont.)
_ Focus group by definition is an
informal research procedure that
develop qualitative information
rather than hard data
_ Focus Group also are very useful in
identifying the range of attitudes and
opinions among the participants .
* Copy Testing
_Some organization Fail to
communicate because they produce
and distribute materials that the
target audience can't understand , in
many cases the material is written
above the educational level of the
audience so we have to be more
accurate in this topic .
* Other Research Techniques
_Several New techniques deserve at least
brief mention , so let's mention the
website as it's become one of the most
important public relation tools for
information and for establishing exchange
with publics .
_ Websites can be reviewed and refined
through usability research , which often
involves a think loud techniques for
testing web pages and Web functionality .
Scientific Sampling
 Random
sampling procedures
 Appropriate
 Acceptable
sample size
margin of error
Sampling
* The sampling method used constrains the
extent to which the findings can be
analyzed in detail and Generalized to a
larger Population . When possible ,
probability Samples Generate the best
results, particularly when doing
quantitative Research .
Random Sampling
_ Effective Polls and surveys Require a
random Sample . In Statistics , this means
that everyone in the targeted audience (as
defined by Researcher ) has an equal or
known chance of being selected for the
survey . This is also called a probability
sample .
_ In contrast , a non probability survey isn’t
random at all
Continued…
_ The most Precise Random sample is one
generated from lists that have the name of
every person in the target audience .
_ Another method to ensure representation is to
draw a random sample that matches the
Characteristics of the audience and this is called
Quota sampling
_ Quota sampling can be drawn on any number of
Demographics factors such as age, Religion, race
, income depending on the purpose of the
survey .
Sample size
_ In any probability study , Sample size is always a
big question . National Polls Firms Usually
sample 1,000 to 1,500 people and get a highly
accurate Idea of what the U.S adult population
is thinking .
_ In public Relations , the primary purpose of poll
data is to get indications of attitudes and
opinions , not to predict elections .
_Note :
As the sample size become larger the margin of
error will be decreased and Vice Versa
Questionnaire Construction
Semantics 
Biased Wording 
Timing and context 
Political Correctness 
Answer categories 
Questionnaire Construction
* The design of a questionnaire , wording
and the order of the question is probably
at least as important as correct sampling .
Timing & context also affect Responses
The problem of Semantics
_ Wording the questions on a questionnaire is a
time consuming process, and it’s unusual for a
questionnaire to go through multiple Drafts to
achieve maximum Clarity .
_ Research shows that people often think
something is a good idea, but don’t think it
would work , another related problem is how
respondents might interpret the world Limit and
Curtail .
Avoid Biased Wording
_ Questionnaire should avoid questions that
use highly charged words to Elicit a
particular response .
_ In a survey , such statements and
questions are an indication that Advocacy
research is being conducted, that’s the
questionnaire skewed to promote a
product or a service .
Timing & Context
_Responses to survey questions are
influenced by events and this should be
taken into consideration when reviewing
the result of a survey
_ Large organizations such as Microsoft
counterbalance the effects of one-time
events by conducting Quarterly surveys ,
this technique called Benchmarking .
Political Correctness
_ Another Problem with Questionnaire design involves
questions that tend to Elicit the (correct) response,
this is also called Courtesy Bias .
_ Respondents often choose answers that won’t offend
the interviewer and that reflect mainstream thinking .
_ Surveys of P.R practitioners about the value of
research also show a degree of Courtesy Bias in
choosing the politically correct answer .
_Researchers try to avoid politically correct answers by
making questionnaires confidential and by promising
anonymity to the people who are surveyed, Bec.
Employees perceive the P.R department to be part of
management .
Answer Categories
_ Answer Categories also can skew a questionnaire
, it’s important that answer choices are provided
that a cover a range of opinions .
_ In general “ Yes or No “ questions aren’t very
good for examining respondents , perceptions
and attitudes, the answer of “yes Or No “
provides a little feedback on the strength and
weakness of a respondent’s opinion
Related to the subject ..
_ Another way of designing a numeric scale is to
pinpoint a respondent’s beliefs or attitudes is to
use 5-point scale , such like this :
_Question :
How would you evaluate the company’s efforts to
keep you informed about job benefits ? Please
circle one of the following numbers
1 being a low rating and 5 being a high rating
The Answer
1 2 3 4 5
The advantage of Numeric scales is that the
mean and the median can be calculated
Questionnaire Guidelines
The following are some general Guidelines for the
construction of questionnaires :
•
•
•
•
•
Determine the type of information that’s needed
State the objective in writing
Decide which group will receive the
questionnaire
Decide on the size of the sample
Used Closed- end ( Multiple choice) answers as
often as possible
Related…
Used categories when asking questions about
the age , education , age & income
 Avoid Ambiguous words and phrases that may
confuse the respondents
 Remember to consider the context and
placement of questions
* Designing a questionnaire and analyzing the
results can be time – consuming , but Microsoft
program is available that can make the task
much Easier

Advantage
_ The software help the P.R personnel
create questionnaire by providing ready –
made questions that can be tailored to fit
any situation , in addition the program
also help conduct data analysis to Identify
target publics .
Reaching Respondents
Survey respondents may be reached by
E-mail , telephone , the web , personal
iterviews or through Piggyback (Omnibus)
survey
Ways of Researching Respondents
Mail Questionnaire
Advantages:
Better control
 Large areas can be covered economically
 Inexpensive
 Large numbers of people can be included

Disadvantages:

Low response rate
Ways of Researching Respondents
Telephone Surveys
Advantages:
Immediate response/nonresponse
 More personal
 Less intrusive
 80 to 90 percent response rate

Disadvantages:

Access to phone numbers
Ways of Researching Respondents
Personal Interviews
Advantages:

Can generate a wealth of information
Disadvantages:

Can be costly and time consuming
Ways of Researching Respondents
Piggyback Survey (Omnibus Survey)
Advantages:
Cost effective
 Expertise of the survey organizations

Disadvantages:
Limited to only one or two questions – a snapshot of
public opinion
 Subject matter must be relevant to a general public

Ways of Researching Respondents
Web and Email Surveys
Advantages:
Immediate reply
 Low cost

Disadvantages:
Low response rate
 Impersonal

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