JMS 581 (Spring 2014)
PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH METHODS
Instructor:
Hongmei Shen, Ph.D., APR
Class Meeting Place & Time: PSFA 374
Lecture 15:00 – 15:50 Mondays/Wednesdays, Activity 16:00-17:40 Mondays
Office:
PSFA 340 (619-594-5120)
E-mail:
hshen@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: 13:30 – 15:00 (Mondays) and by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course introduces you to qualitative and quantitative methods used in
research to plan, track, evaluate public relations and communication practices.
PREREQUISITES: Open to undergraduate public relations majors and minors only (Major Code:
05992). Must have completed JMS 310W and JMS 480 (including the strategic planning component)
with a C grade (2.0) or better. Concurrent enrollment in prerequisite courses is not allowed. Proof of
completion of prerequisite required during the first week of class through a copy of student transcripts.
Classified graduate students specializing in public relations are admitted by permission of the instructor.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
• to develop conceptual and practical research skills in planning, monitoring, and evaluating public
relations programs
• to master the conceptual and practical skills required to manage a public relations research project
• to integrate qualitative and quantitative research and report it to public relations clients in an
understandable form
• to perform survey data analysis
CLIENT-BASED RESEARCH PROJECT: In addition to class lectures, discussions, and readings,
you will work with 3-5 other students as a research consulting group to conduct a research project for a
client. In the activities portion of this course, you will learn how to use the Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS) software package to analyze quantitative research data. A working knowledge of
SPSS is essential for completion of the final report.
TEXT:
Glen M. Broom and David M. Dozier, Using Research in Public Relations: Applications to
Program Management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990).
Other reading materials are to be posted on Blackboard.
GRADING:
SPSS Lab Activities
In-Class Activities
Exam 1
Exam 2
Final Report Presentation
Points
80
20
100
100
50
% of Final Grade
16%
4%
20%
20%
10%
1
Final Project Report (10% peer eval.)
Total:
GRADING SCALE
A
93-100%
A90-92%
B+
88-89%
B
83-87%
B80-82%
C+
78-79%
150
500
30%
100%
C
CD+
D
DF
73-77%
70-72%
68-69%
63-67%
60-62%
LESS THAN 60%
Note: All assignments are due at the exact time and on the dates specified in the syllabus. Late
assignments receive an automatic zero.
 Lab Activities: There will be 10 lab activities, including 8 SPSS and 2 in-class research activities.
ALL ACTIVITIES MUST BE COMPLETED DURING THE ASSIGNED WEEK IN CLASS AND
CANNOT BE MADE UP.
 Exams: Please note the exam dates and times and plan to be there without exception. No make-up
exams will be planned for this course. Exams will be based upon all course materials, including
lectures, articles, and audio/visual materials that have been covered up to the time of the test.
 Final Project Report & Presentation: In addition to the final project report, students will discuss
their project findings with the class in a 15-minute presentation. All team members must be present
for the presentation. Your consulting group will report results collectively for a common grade.
Team Management: Students will elect a team leader, propose a team name, and develop your own
team contract. Your team contract should include the following components: 1) Team name, 2)
Names, phone numbers, and email addresses of each member, 3) An overview of what team
members expect to gain from the project, 4) Regular group meeting times outside of class, absence
policy, and provisions for enforcement of absence policy, 5) An explanation for how the group will
divide the work, 6) An explicit and concrete explanation of how group members who fail to meet the
standards set forth above will be dealt with by his/her fellow group members.
Peer Evaluation: Peer evaluations will count 10% of the total final project grade. Please see the
Peer Evaluation Form addendum (Posted on Blackboard) for specifics. The final team peer
evaluation will be conducted in class, face to face. Each team will provide ONE final evaluation
form.
CLASS POLICIES
General:
 Classes should not be recorded unless special arrangements are made with the instructor’s
approval.
 Cell phones should NOT be used in class, unless approved by instructor. Laptops can
only be used for note-taking purposes. Students engaging in activities not related to
note-taking, such as texting, IM, Facebooking, Twittering, and emailing, will be denied
further use of laptops. IN ADDITION, five points will be deducted from your course
grade for cell phones and laptop uses that disrupt lecture or lab activities.
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 Professional behavior is expected in the classroom. Students should not engage in
distractive behaviors, such as sleeping, reading newspapers, moving about the classroom,
obstructing class with irrelevant questions, and disregarding class activities.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students are expected to behave honorably in an academic environment. Academic dishonesty,
including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism, will not be
tolerated. Confirmation of such incidents can result in suspension or expulsion from the
University. Students who are uncertain as to what constitutes academic dishonesty should consult
the University’s Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities (www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr) or check
with the instructor. Specific definitions for terms pertaining to academic dishonesty, as well as
procedures for handling such cases, are defined in the SDSU Senate Policy file, available from
the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities. You are responsible for reading,
understanding, and abiding by this policy.
Basically, plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of another person’s idea or
product as one’s own. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by following carefully
accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately
record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and papers should
acknowledge these sources. The penalties for plagiarism include a zero or a grade of “F” on the
work in question, a grade of “F” in the course, suspension, or expulsion.
POLICY ON INCOMPLETES
The grade of “incomplete” is given only to a student whose work in a course has been
qualitatively satisfactory when, because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student’s
control, he/she has been unable to complete some small portion of course work. In no case will
an incomplete (I) be recorded for students who have not completed major course assignments.
DOCUMENTED DISABILITIES
Students who need accommodation of their disabilities should contact me privately by the second
class period to discuss specific accommodations for which they have received authorization. If
you have a disability, but have not yet contacted Student Disability Services, please do so before
coming to see me during my office hours or by appointment. Student Disability Services is
located in Suite 3101 of the Calpulli Center on Hardy Ave. (near Cox Arena), and their phone
number is 619-594-6473. More information is available at http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/sds/.
Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that I cannot provide accommodations
based upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter from Student Disability
Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
AMENDMENTS AND ADDENDA
The instructor reserves the right to amend the course syllabus at any time during the semester;
students will be informed of the changes either in class or via email. For example, topics listed in
the syllabus may be covered on different days to accommodate guest speakers, natural disasters,
or class needs. Students who choose to remain enrolled in this course after the regular schedule
adjustment period indicate by their continued enrollment that they have read and understood the
syllabus for this course, and that they accept and agree to abide by its procedures and policies.
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Semester Schedule
Week 1 (Jan. 22): Introduction to Course
Week 2 (1-27 & 1-29): Understanding Your Client’s Information Needs
Text:
Lab Activity:
Chapter 1, "The Role of Research in Public Relations"
Chapter 7, "Making the Observations”
Lab Act #1: set up data file
Week 3 (2-3 & 2-5): Conducting Depth Interviews and Reporting Findings
FIRST CLIENT MEETING ON WEDENSDAY: You’ll be provided an overview of the
client organization, its key publics, and the larger issues/problems/opportunities that drive the class
research project.
Text:
SPSS:
Lab Activity:
Chapter 2, "Using Research to Plan Programs"
"Data Modification"
Lab Act #2: Use data modification procedures to dichotomize a categorical variable,
collapse a wide-ranging metric variable, and reflect the directionality of a metric
variable.
Week 4 (2-10 & 2-12): Sampling in Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Text:
Chapter 6, "Sampling the Populations"
SPSS:
"Check and Improving the Reliability of Indices"
In-Class Activity 1: Interview
Lab Activity: Lab Act #3: Compute index from multiple variables. Determine reliability of scales.
Univariate statistics for indices.
Week 5 (2-17 & 2-19): Monitoring and Evaluating Public Relations Programs
Text:
Chapter 3, "Using Research to Monitor Programs"
Chapter 4, “Using Research to Evaluate Programs”
Appendix K, “How to Interpret Contingency Tables”
SPSS:
“Testing Differences in Percentages (CROSSTABS)”
Lab Activity: Lab Act #4: Testing differences in percentages. Interpreting contingency tables.
Making inferences with the Chi-Square statistic.
Week 6 (2-24 & 2-26): Constructing a Questionnaire for Your Client
SECOND CLIENT MEETING ON WEDNESDAY: You’ll be provided detailed information needs for
construction of the questionnaire. Key demographics to be included in the questionnaire will be specified.
Text:
Appendix D, “How to Construct Questionnaires”
In-Class Activity 2: Questionnaire: What to ask?
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Week 7 (3-3): The Logic of Experimental Designs
No lecture on Wednesday; Instructor attending International Public Relations Research
Conference in Miami to present a paper.
Text:
Chapter 5, "Designing the Research" [Experimental Design]
Lab Activity: Lab Act #5: Construct a simple questionnaire using Survey Monkey.
Week 8 (3-10 & 3-12): Measurement
Text:
Chapter 8, "Taking the Measurements"
Chapter 10, "Describing the Findings"
Appendix B: “How to Select and Monitor Outside Research Consultants”
SPSS:
“Testing Correlation Coefficients (CORRELATIONS)”
Lab Activity:
Lab Act #6: Testing relationships/making inferences using correlation coefficients.
Week 9 (3-17 & 3-19): Exam 1 Review and Examination in Class
EXAM 1 REVIEW in lecture on Monday. EXAM 1 is in class on Wednesday.
Lab Activity:
Lab Act #7: Practice Exam 1.
QUANTITATIVE SURVEY IN FIELD STARTING WEEK 9: Data will be collected over a two-week period.
Week 10 (3-24 & 3-26): Hypothesis Testing
Text:
Chapter 11, “Testing Relationships"
Lab Activity: Lab Act #8: Hypothesis Writing
SPRING BREAK March 31-April 4. ENJOY!
Week 11 (4-7 & 4-9): Analyzing Survey Research Data Using SPSS
Text:
Chapter 11, “Testing Relationships"
Lab Activity: Discuss problems in data collection.
Week 12 (4-14 & 4-16): Testing for Causation and Change in Public Relations Research
Text:
Chapter 12, "Testing for Causation and Change"
Lab Activity: Start work on Final Project Report.
Week 13 (4-21 & 4-23): Reporting Research With Impact
Text:
Chapter 13, "Interpreting and reporting Findings"
Lab Activity: Work on Final Research Report.
Week 14 (4-28 & 4-30): Using Research to Change Organizations
Text:
Chapter 14, "Using the Findings for Organizational Change"
TURN IN FINAL RESEARCH REPORT BY 10 P.M. ON FRIDAY. The Final Report for this course
consists of a PowerPoint presentation submitted to Blackboard. Prepare for oral presentation of your PowerPoint
on Wednesday.
Week 15 (5-5 & 5-7): Review for Exam 2, Final Project Presentations & Exam 2
Exam 2 Review and final project presentations on Monday. Exam 2 on Wednesday.
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