PRL31S Mid-term Exam Guide PDF

# PRL31S Mid-term Exam Guide ## Strategic & Tactical Planning **Strategic** - Goal-oriented + aligns with the organization's broader objectives - **Day-to-day actions can lead to tactical plans** **Tactical** - Focus on efforts/programs - **Role of PR Research**: - Monitor & track trends and...

# PRL31S Mid-term Exam Guide ## Strategic & Tactical Planning **Strategic** - Goal-oriented + aligns with the organization's broader objectives - **Day-to-day actions can lead to tactical plans** **Tactical** - Focus on efforts/programs - **Role of PR Research**: - Monitor & track trends and developments - Examine current and future PR positions - Assess & measure PR messages & campaigns to ensure that planned actions are occurring as expected, & when to implement correction strategies - Monitor, track, measure, assess & evaluate PR actions - Increase credibility ## The 4-Step PR Process 1. **Problem Identification** - **Primary vs. Secondary Research** - **Secondary Research**: Collection of existing data & information (providing a perspective) - **Advantages** - Inexpensive, instant access, trusted sources, multiple & large studies - **Disadvantages** - Data may not align with client's needs, lack of depth on topic, limited knowledge on method & data collection process, irrelevant data - **Problem & Opportunity Statements** - **Problem Statement**: For an existing process/service that you want to improve - **Opportunity Statement**: For when you want to create a new process/service - **Must Address**: Who, what, where, when, how, and why (6 elements) - **Measurable** - Connection to mission statement - Written in present tense - Actionable - "What is happening now?" in specific & measurable terms. 2. **Actions & Communication** - **Situational Analysis**: Background review of what is currently known; analyze the organization's internal & external factors to understand organizational capabilities, customers, & business environments. - **5 Cs Analysis**: Company, Competitors, Collaborators, Customers, Culture - **Internal**: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Targeting (Positioning) - **External**: Sociological, Economic, Technological, Legal, Environmental, Cultural (MACRO); Competitors, Stakeholders, Market Structure, Trends (MICRO) - **SWOT Analysis**: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats 3. **Planning & Programming** - **Key Publics**: People that share a relation with the organization, may impact or evaluate the organization's reputation - **Customers** (primary/secondary) - Users of the organization's services - **Producers** - Individuals or organizations that provide input for the organization - **Enablers** - Individuals, groups, or organizations providing authority & control; ensure the organization can exist (e.g., vendors, employees, volunteers, media) - **Limiters** - Audiences that exist when the organization has consequences on people outside the organization (who can stop or slow you down?) (e.g., activist groups, environmentalists, competitors) - **Research Objectives & Research Methodology** - **Research Objectives** - Gather feedback & implement improvements **BEFORE** product/program evaluation. - **Research Methodology** - How you will conduct the research - **Primary Research**: New/first-hand collection of new information & data - **Formative Research**: Research that occurs **BEFORE** a program is designed & implemented or **WHILE** a program is being conducted. - **Summative Research**: Evaluation of a product with representative users: measure usability of complete product; measure insights & effectiveness 4. **Program Evaluation** - **Research Objectives**: Finding out the **UNKNOWN** (What you don't know) - **Action Verbs**: Must state why primary research is being carried out, specific! - **SMART Objectives**: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound - **Research Methodology & Methods** - **Methodology**: Study of the "WHY" behind the method used to guide the research. - **Method**: Tools (the "HOW") that research will be conducted. - **Qualitative Methods**: Open-ended responses, description-focused, subjective, interpretive; uses "words" - Focus Groups, In-depth Interviews, Heuristic Evaluation, Social Listening - **Quantitative Methods**: Limited responses, established guidelines, no direct contact, objective/precise; uses "numbers" - Survey, Census, Experiment, Social Listening ## Considerations When Evaluating Research Methodology Quality - **Reliability**: Consistent results (e.g., bathroom scale giving the same number time & time again). - **Internal Validity**: Determining whether your conclusion about the causal relationship is accurately drawn correctly. - **External Validity**: Whether findings from a study are generalizable to the population (surveys are good for this!). ## Types of Research Studies - **Complete Enumeration vs. Sample Research**: Looking at everyone within a population. - **Complete Enumeration Research**: Measure every feature of interest (e.g., US Census). - **Result**: Highly accurate description of the population. - **Population**: Scope of research subject(s). - **Features**: Features of interest. - **Disadvantages**: Only viable to small populations, cost-expensive, high-volume. - **Sample Study**: Small portion of the population is used for the study (e.g., Focus Groups) - **More cost-effective and efficient**. - **Less accurate** compared to enumeration studies. - **Sampling Frame**: List of everyone within the population that can be sampled (must contain a description of the target population & how to reach them). - **Sample Unit**: Each INDIVIDUAL member selected from the sampling frame - **Sample Size**: Number of sampled individuals - **Larger the better**, because a smaller sample increases generalizability (inferences). - **Only for quantitative methods**, qualitative doesn't matter. - **Sampling Methods**: - **Probability Sampling**: Randomization; every member of the target population has their own chance of being selected. - **Random Sampling**: Flip a coin, draw a name, every 5th person - **Systematic Random Sampling**: Example: 300,000 total population, want a sample size of 1,000. 300,000/1,000 = 300, so choose every 300th person. - **Stratified Sampling**: Total population is divided into homogenous groups (strata) based on the characteristics being studied (e.g., income, age, etc.). - **Cluster Sampling**: Sampling blocks/clusters of the population (more general than stratified sampling). - Use when you can't find a specific sampling frame or when there are not enough people that meet the criteria to represent the target population. - **Non-probability Sampling**: NO RANDOMIZATION!! - **Convenience Sampling**: Selecting participants because they are available (most common and unsophisticated). - **Quota Sampling**: Like stratified sampling, BUT without the randomization (dealing with only one dimension). - **Dimensional Sampling**: Refined quota sampling (considers multiple dimensions or characteristics simultaneously to ensure each combination of those characteristics are represented in the samples) - proportional representation of dimensions. - Example: Sample size = 300: 300 women, 300 men, 300 non-binary people, 300 other - Non-proportional: Each group has a different quota (e.g., 150 women, 75 men, 75 non-binary people). - **Purposive Sampling**: Sampling SPECIFICALLY with those that contain the characteristics that serve the purpose of the study. - Example: Male students who have never used pet therapy sessions - **Snowball Sampling**: Sampling participants based on referrals/recommendations. ## Ethical Guidelines for PR Researchers - Treat participants honestly & fairly - Participants must understand what they are volunteering for. - Participation is **voluntary.** - Maintain participant confidentiality and anonymity. - Follow through with promised compensation. - Strive to make the research experience an educational one for the participant. ## Qualitative Methods - Number of participants: 8-12 individuals - **Focus Group**: Group interviewing (discussion technique) - Gain in-depth knowledge by gauging the new public's feedback. - **Online Focus Groups**: Increasingly popular (no time/geographic restrictions, real-time comments, more dura, higher recruitment rates, relative anonymity). - **Advantages**: Lots of data in a short time, good for pilot studies & exploration of new topics, can be conducted quickly, authentic participant perceptions. - **Group synergy creates meaningful conversations & meaningful data.** ## Quantitative Methods - **Survey Research**: Collects information from a larger sample (results can be generalized if the sample is representative). - **Advantages**: Good for observing behavior that is hard, efficient for collecting large amounts of data, not constrained by geography, strong reliability because of standardized questionnaires, cost-effective - **Limitations**: Ignores complexity of biases (conflicting news - the "WHY"), inflexible (can't be modified in the middle), social desirability bias (respondents don't want to appear shallow, uneducated, materialistic, etc), self-reports aren't accurate when reporting about themselves, weak validity but strong reliability ## Designing a Questionnaire: 4 Levels of Measurement 1. **Nominal**: Classify people/subjects into categories (e.g., sex/gender, race, income) without any order. - "Choose one" or "Check all that apply" - **Exhaustive**: Need to provide every possible option for the answer. - **Mutually Exclusive**: Answer is placed in only one category. - Example: What are the colors of a traffic light? (Red, Yellow, Green) - These can't occur at the same time - Example: What's the weather today? (Sunny, Rainy, Snowy) 2. **Ordinal**: Reports the order/rank of responses. - Example: Rank in order of preference. 3. **Interval**: Intervals (the differences between numbers are relevant). - "On a scale of 1-10," "Strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." - **O is not a true value**: (Example: An IQ score of 0 does not mean an absence of intelligence). - **Order & spacing of options matter.** 4. **Ratio**: Same as interval data BUT "O" exists non-arbitrarily (ALWAYS NUMERICAL). - (Example: An IQ score of 0 means 0 intelligence). - **When in doubt, assume the higher level as a "crucial" interval.** ### Conditions for a Causal Relationship 1. IV must occur before DV 2. Any changes in IV, DV must change in some way 3. All other factors, except IV, should be ruled out.