Even if you don’t notice it, you research something almost everyday. Whether it’s a recipe or a news article, you are using the tool of researching. Research is important in many jobs, including those jobs related to public relations. Public relations relies greatly on research because it allows public relations professionals to conduct a quality plan using the knowledge they learned from the prior research. It is always important to research as much as you can before making any big decisions in my opinion because there is less room for error. The more knowledge you have on the matter, the better your outcome will be.
According to Steven Symes, research is very important when conducting a strategic public relations plan. When research is conducted properly, it can eliminate bias and it gives proper feedback on how the public views a company. If public relations professionals relied solely on their own biased opinions, they have no way of really knowing what needs to be improved. When a public relations plan has been put into play, additional research provides feedback on the actual public relations plan. Steven mentioned “Thorough research on groups the organization interacts with also supplies a list of media forms the different groups engage in, letting the organization know the most effective methods of delivering its message.” Research is important because it can show how effective the plan was on meeting the goals and objectives.
In the book review of The Importance of Research to Public Relations, Brigitta Brunner points out the key parts of the book that was written by Don Stacks. Stacks mentions that without a research plan, these public relations professionals can not adequately track, monitor, measure or evaluate their public relations program. One of the main key things Brunner pointed out was “Think of research (and data) as part of a continuous feedback/feedforward function: research planning and accurate data lead to valid assessments and analyses of public opinion, program effectiveness, and in the end may help to predict behavioral outcomes.” Research is a very necessary technical role needed for public relations plans to succeed.
There are two types of research that are beneficial to public relations according to Coriolan PĂUNESCU, those being applied research and theoretical research. Applied research is used to identify and evaluate the attitudes and opinions of the targeted audience which can determine how efficient the plan was. Theoretical research is the support of the applied research and can identify new directions of the investigation. There are five areas where research can be used, those being monitoring the environment in where the organization develops, general periodic checking of the activity, the community checking, the social checking and evaluative correcting.
I am taking COM 275 at Grand Valley State this semester which is Foundations of Communication Research and I really enjoy it because it is showing me how important research really is. I have learned that even when you think you know everything about a topic, research reassures you that there is always more to learn.
Brunner, B. R. (2003). The importance of research to public relations. Review of Communication, 3(4), 419–423. doi: 10.1080/1535859032000106327
PĂUNESCU, C. (2006). Research in public relations. Acta Universitatis Danubius: Oeconomica, 2(1), 123-127.
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