Deck 1: Perspective on Public Relations Research, Truth and the Researchers Attitude

Question 1

The problems with AVEs provide a valuable exercise in critical thinking: why or why not would an AVE score for editorial matter be equivalent to the same amount of advertising?

Answer 1

AVEs provide a broad directional approach to measuring impact of PR efforts. But equating the number of column inches or area taken up by a news release for example, can hardly show the impact that the release had. The differences between advertising copy and news-release copy are many. Advertising is often viewed by readers as suspect and not as honest as the content found in news columns, which are supposed to be written by journalists. Further, the decline in print readership in recent years has produced a serious decline in the "pickups" of news releases in print, so that there are fewer options to measure as AVEs.

Question 2

What elements in the overall communications environment are making it possible to do pointed, quick and detailed research that was not possible until recently?

Answer 2

Three critical elements have made research in PR more easily, inexpensively and quickly done. The amount of data that has become readily available with the digitization of media, social media and other inputs has increased dramatically. Tools for creating valid surveys have become more inexpensive and easier to use. Tools such as Survey Monkey make surveys quick and easy to mount. Finally, the power of computers to handle data has increased even as prices of technology have gone down.

Question 3

How can research be used to help support and define a PR campaign?
When should research begin in the plan for a campaign?

Answer 3

Research is valuable in virtually all phases of a PR campaign, from the initial planning to the development of a desired audience profile, to finding potential audiences or even similar research projects to assessing the impact of the campaign. The most effective campaigns start with research into the need for the campaign and continue through execution.

Question 4

What are the positive and negative aspects of the Barcelona Principles?

Question 5

Do you think there are possible conflicts with a media company providing the measurements for songs and artists?
Why?
Explain.

Question 6

In the case of wedding rice, what kinds of questions might a PR person have asked or sought answers if advising the legislator who proposed the law banning rice at weddings?

Question 7

Look up urban legends on the Internet and suggest ways of examining two of them to suggest if they have some basis in truth or are just folklore.

Question 8

When hearing a claim that sounds too good to be true or stretches credibility, what should your first step be?