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UNIT 5
EXTRA PRACTICE
I. Read and decide whether each statement is True or False
1. Research plays an essential part in public relations for many different
reasons.
2. Without research, it is easier to set communication objectives, identify
publics or develop messages.
3. Evaluation can help PR practitioners prove the value of public relations
efforts to clients.
4. Research findings do not have any business benefits.
5. Practitioners without a degree in higher education are still well equipped in
the complex world of research.
6. According to Lindenmann (1990) about 70% of the PR professionals in the
survey thought that most research on the subject was informal rather than
scientific.
7. Writing new releases in the same style for the last 10 years is an example of
PR practice based on informal research.
8. Informal research follows distinct steps and uses appropriate research
design.
Research plays a crucial role for many different reasons in public relations.
First, it is an integral part of the public relations planning process. Without
research it is difficult to set communication objectives, identify publics or develop
messages. Second, research is also undertaken to evaluate public relations efforts.
Evaluation has been one of the biggest and most talked about issues over many
years for the entire public relations industry. Evaluation helps practitioners
understand and improve programme effectiveness through systematic measurement
and proves the value of public relations efforts to clients, management or other
disciplines, such as marketing or integrated communications. Research and
evaluation can also reveal a lot about the current state of public relations practice
as well as contribute to the development of the public relations theoretical
knowledge base. Research findings have business benefits too and can facilitate
attempts to show how public relations can improve the bottom line. NHÓM 1
Context of research in public relations
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Academic research aims to generate theories and models, to describe and

analyse trends in public relations. Academic journals, such as the Journal of Public
Relations Research or Public Relations Review, are concerned with theory building
and are among the major outlets of academic research. Another important
contribution comes from students in the form of undergraduate and postgraduate
dissertations and theses as part of a degree. The ability to understand and carry out
systematic research highlights the importance of education. Practitioners with a
degree in higher education are better equipped in the complex world of research as
opposed to those who use only ‘seat-of-the-pants’ methods. NHÓM 2
Research can have different purposes and origins. The primary purpose of
research is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of public
relations, even if such research does not deal with the real problems of practice
(‘basic research’). But the purpose of research is also to answer questions that
come out of practice or are imposed by a client (‘applied research’). Nevertheless,
if we use the term ‘research’ – either basic or applied – we always mean
‘scientific’ research, not ‘informal, ‘quick and dirty’ or ‘everyday-life research’ –
as it is often understood by practitioners. For example, Lindenmann (1990) reports
results of a survey among public relations professionals in which about 70% of the
respondents thought that most research on the subject was informal rather than
scientific (Cutlip et al. 2000; Gregory 2000). In contrast to scientific research,
informal research is based on subjective intuition or on the ‘authority’ of
knowledge or ‘tenacity’, which refers to sticking to a practice because it has
always been like that (Kerlinger 1986). It is subjective if information is gathered in
an unsystematic way by talking to a couple of people, looking at guidelines or just
based on feelings. NHÓM 3
Other examples of public relations practice based on informal research are: NHÓM
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 a practice might be considered as best practice because the senior manager
of a well-known consultancy declares it to be the latest trend in public
relations (based on ‘authority’)
 an advisory committee, panel or board recommends it (based on ‘authority’)
 an organisation writes news releases in the same style they have used for the
last 10 years (‘tenacity’ – ‘it is the right way because we have always done it
like that’).
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Scientific research is systematic and objective: it follows distinct steps and uses
appropriate research design. In doing public relations research we have to
guide research by:
 defining the research problem (what to research)
 choosing a general research approach (qualitative or quantitative)
 deciding on research strategy (primary or secondary research)
 selecting the research method (survey, content analysis, focus group, etc.)
 deciding on the research instruments (questions in a questionnaire or
categories in a content analysis)
 analysing the data (e.g. Wimmer and Dominick 2003)
II. Matching the words or phrases with their correct definitions
1. research approach A. an expectation or a prediction that will be tested by
research
2. research method B. a tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data
related to your subject
3. quantitative C. the question around which you center your research
4. qualitative D. the strategies, processes or techniques utilized in the
collection of data or evidence for analysis in order to
uncover new information or create better understanding
of a topic
5. research proposal E. related to information that can be shown in numbers
and amounts
6. research question F. the summary of the questions you want to answer
through your research
7. research G. related to the quality of an experience or situation
hypothesis rather than to facts that can be measured
8. research H. a plan and procedure that consists of the steps of
instrument broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection,
analysis, and interpretation

III. Circle the correct answer to each question

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Using research to define public relations problems

Research findings such as problem definitions or (1. identify / identifying /
identification) publics are key inputs for programme planning. For example, an
organisation might have a bad image in the media and turn to a public relations (2.
consultancy / consult / consultant) to address this problem. The consultancy is
very likely to use research to find the reasons for the image problem, before
developing a (3. strategist / strategy / strategic) to address it. This process can be
defined as problem definition and situation (4. analyze / analytical / analysis) and
should address the following research questions.
 What are the internal and external environmental factors that (5. affect /
effect / effective) the organisation?
 Who are the publics?
 What do they know? What do they think about
 key issues?
 How are public–organisation relationships characterised?
 What media do publics rely on or prefer for information?
Using research to assess public relations plans and proposals
Before implementing a plan, its various elements can be tested through a variety of
(6. measure / measurements / measures): expert assessment; using checklists as
criteria; testing messages in focus group (7. discussions / discussing / discussed);
or in a survey among key publics. Initial identification of publics, messages,
strategies or (8. tacticians / tactic / tactics) included in the plan might be subject
to assessment. The assessment might result in changes in the programme
IV. Fill in each blank with one correct word

implemented objectives impact operation

practitioner improving circumstances activity

Using research during programme implementation

Process research aims at …………(1) programme performance and takes place
while the programme is in …………(2) (in process). It is also referred to as
monitoring or formative evaluation. It enables the public relations …………(3) to
modify campaign elements, such as messages (too complicated, misunderstood,
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irrelevant), channels (inappropriate choice for delivering a particular message) or

the chosen strategies and tactics. Research during implementation enables the
practitioner to make corrections according to …………(4) and issues that were not
foreseen during the planning process, especially in the case of complex and long-
term programmes. It can also document how the programme is being …………(5),
including the practitioner’s own …………(6), resources allocated or timing of the
programme.
Using research for programme impact
Finally, research is done to measure programme …………(7) or effectiveness with
respect to goals and …………(8).
V. Translate the following text into Vietnamese
1.

2. Informal research is collected on an ongoing basis by most public relations

managers, from sources both inside and outside of their organizations. Informal
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research usually gathers information and opinions through conversations. Informal

research methods are usually nonnumerical and are not generalizable to a larger
population, but they yield a great deal of useful information.
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3. Quantitative research has the major strength of allowing you to understand who
your publics are, where they get their information, how many believe certain
viewpoints, and which communications create the strongest resonance with their
beliefs.
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4. Qualitative research allows the researcher to ask the participants to explain their
rationale for decision making, belief systems, values, thought processes, and so on.
It allows researchers to explore complicated topics to understand the meaning
behind them and the meanings that participants ascribe to certain concepts.
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5. Public relations managers often use qualitative research to support quantitative
findings. Qualitative research can be designed to understand the views of specific
publics and to have them elaborate on beliefs or values that stood out in
quantitative analyses.
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6. Both quantitative and qualitative research have complementary and unique

strengths. These two research methodologies should be used in conjunction
whenever possible in public relations management so that both publics and issues
can be fully understood. Using both of these research methods together is called
mixed method research, and scholars generally agree that mixing methods yields
the most reliable research results. It is best to combine as many methods as is
feasible to understand important issues. Combining multiple focus groups from
various cities with interviews of important leaders and a quantitative survey of
publics is an example of mixed method research because it includes both
quantitative and qualitative methodology. Using two or more methods of study is
sometimes called triangulation, meaning using multiple research methods to
triangulate upon the underlying truth of how publics view an issue.
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VI. Translate the following sentences into English
1. Từ vai trò là đối tượng tiếp nhận thụ động, công chúng đã tiến lên vai trò chủ
động trực tiếp tham gia vào tiến trình truyền thông. Họ có quyền nhất định trong
việc chọn lựa những thông tin hấp dẫn, lôi cuốn.
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2. Để truyền thông luôn đạt hiệu quả cao, nghĩa là lôi kéo, hấp dẫn, thuyết phục
được công chúng thì người thực hiện luôn luôn phải nghiên cứu, tìm hiểu đối
tượng một cách sâu sắc, một cách thường xuyên và nghiêm túc.
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3. Thông thường nghiên cứu công chúng theo 2 hướng đó là nghiên cứu trước và
sau khi công chúng tiếp nhận nguồn tin.
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4. Ý nghĩa thực tiễn của việc nghiên cứu công chúng rất lớn. Nó vừa mang tính lý
luận khoa học, vừa mang tính thực tiễn cao. Nếu các cơ quan truyền thông bỏ qua
không đầu tư cho công tác này thì hậu quả của nó là rất lớn.
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5. Những người làm công tác truyền thông phải có phương án, phương pháp tiến
hành sao cho truyền thông thật sự có hiệu quả và phải có sự đầu tư thích đáng đối
với việc nghiên cứu công chúng để thu được những kết quả nghiên cứu đáng tin
cậy và có ích cho hoạt động của tổ chức.
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