Primer of Public Relations Research, Second Edition

by Stacks, Don W.

• ISBN13: 9781593855956
• ISBN10: 1593855958
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-07-13
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This practical, comprehensive work is widely regarded as the standard course text and practitioner reference on public relations research.

Author Biography

Don W. Stacks, PhD, is Professor of Public Relations and Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Creative Support in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. He served as program director from 1995 to 2009. He has written more than 150 scholarly articles and papers and has authored or coauthored seven books on communication topics. Dr. Stacks’s most recent awards include the Public Relations Society of America’s Outstanding Educator, the Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize, and the Eastern Communication Association’s Distinguished Research Fellow and Distinguished Teaching Fellow. He was recently elected to the first class of the Institute for Public Relations’ Research Fellows and was selected as a Senior Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research. Dr. Stacks has been an active communication consultant for over 30 years. His areas of expertise include organizational systems assessment, sociological/psychological organizational analysis, media relations, internal organizational communications, and leadership, as well as serving as a trained listening specialist.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. v
Preface to the First Edition	p. ix
An Introduction to Research in Public Relations	p. 1
Understanding Research: An Introduction with Public Relations Implications	p. 5
Why Conduct Public Relations Research?	p. 6
What is Research?	p. 8
Use of Research in Public Relations	p. 15
Best Practices in Public Relations	p. 16
Summary	p. 17
Management of Research in Public Relations	p. 20
What is Public Relations?	p. 21
Programmatic Research in Public Relations	p. 26
Public Relations Best Practices and Influence on ROE/ROI	p. 36
Summary	p. 40
Measuring Outcomes	p. 44
Understanding Measurement	p. 45
Measurement Scales	p. 51
An Example in Practice	p. 62
Summary	p. 66
Descriptive Statistical Reasoning and Computer Analysis	p. 68
Review of Measurement Levels and ôVariablesö	p. 69
Using Computer Packages	p. 71
Entering Data into the Computer	p. 72
Describing Quantitative Data	p. 76
Inferential Statistics	p. 97
Summary	p. 100
Ethical Concerns in Public Relations Research	p. 102
Public Relations Ethics	p. 104
Ethics and the Conduct of Research	p. 106
Who Owns the Research and the Data?	p. 112
Summary	p. 112
Research Methodology	p. 115
Qualitative Research Methodology: Content Analysis	p. 119
Defining the Method	p. 119
Advantages and Limitations	p. 120
Conducting a Content Analysis	p. 120
Computerized Content Analysis	p. 130
Concerns About Computerized Coding of Content	p. 134
Summary	p. 135
Qualitative Research Methodology: Historical and Secondary Research Methods	p. 139
Gathering Sources of Data	p. 140
Secondary Research	p. 151
Summary	p. 154
Qualitative Research Methodology: Case Studies	p. 157
The Case Study Defined	p. 157
The (Historical) Case Study in Public Relations	p. 159
The Grounded or Business Case Study	p. 162
Answering Research Questions	p. 163
Conducting the Case Study	p. 165
Summary	p. 169
Qualitative Research Methodology: Methods of Observing People	p. 172
In-Depth Interviews	p. 173
Focus Croups	p. 179
Participant-Observation	p. 190
Summary	p. 193
Quantitative Research Methodology: Sampling Messages and People	p. 196
Sampling	p. 197
Errors Encountered in Sampling	p. 198
Sampling Types	p. 200
Sample Size and Probability Sampling	p. 207
Sampling Strategies	p. 214
A Concern Regarding Randomness	p. 218
Summary	p. 219
Quantitative Research Methodology: Survey and Poll Methods	p. 223
Polls Versus Surveys	p. 225
Design Considerations	p. 226
A Note About ôInformed Consentö	p. 235
Questionnaire Construction	p. 236
Reporting Survey Results	p. 241
New Technologies	p. 242
Summary	p. 243
Quantitative Research Methodology: Experimental Method	p. 248
What is an Experiment?	p. 249
Testing Relationships	p. 251
Establishing Causation	p. 254
Establishing Control	p. 255
Experimental Designs	p. 257
Types of Experimental Design	p. 258
Experimental Methodology and Public Relations	p. 261
Summary	p. 262
Quantitative Statistics: Advanced Inferential Statistical Reasoning and Computer Analysis	p. 265
Making Quantitative Inferences and Testing Relationships	p. 266
Inferential Tests	p. 272
Advanced Statistical Testing	p. 289
Summary	p. 290
Obtaining and Reporting Public Relations Research	p. 293
Writing and Evaluating the Request for Research Proposal	p. 295
Addressing What You Need	p. 296
Identifying Potential Researchers and Firms	p. 299
The RFP	p. 300
Evaluating RFPs	p. 304
Summary	p. 307
Writing and Presenting the Final Research Report	p. 309
Writing the Research Report	p. 309
The Oral Presentation	p. 315
Summary	p. 319
Appendix: Dictionary of Public Relations Measurement and Research	p. 323
Index	p. 351
About the Author	p. 367
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