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STEF SE\*E:f iEFlNEh$GPUEL$CRELATIONS ffr'PFTUH bS45The old "f ly ing by the seat of the pants" approach to solving publ ic re-lat ions problems is over.

-Edward l. Robinson

l\fter studying ciriptei'f 0, you should be able to

Dn Edward Robinson wrote the obituar"y or the "seat-of-the-pants"approach to doing publ ic re lat ions in 1959.He saw the publ ic re lat ionspractitioner as "an applied social and behavioral scientist" using "re-search to help in the problem solving process." He may have been a bitpremature in his assessment, however, when he wrote this in the firstpublic relations research book Intuitive, individualistic approaches toproblem solving often stil l guide the practice in many settings, eventhough, as Robinson wrote, research is "the most powerfut tool availableto the applied practitioner.'

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The open systems approach discussed n chapter 7 combines ra-t ional problem solving and proact ive strategic planning.From its or iginsas the art of react ing to ours ide threats, publ ic re lac ionshas evolved toan appl ied science.No longer do hunches,gut feel ings,and personal ex-per iences,alone or in combinat ion, serve as an adequate basis or publ icrelations programs. And rarely do top managers or cl ients accept a

ffi::::::: :::::::,:1:i"" or simp'easse*io'rrshat a Prosranl

l'1f.i{f.C : }f i: \'!TPROa !iFcin i ts rnost ad.anccd o:m. puhi ic relat io;rs s a ssient i f ical l r rana_ccdart ofan orsaniz-airo; r 'sroblem-solvin q nCchanseprocesses.ract i t ioners f t i r i :" ' r" '' tvpeof publ ic re lat ionsuse heor l ' and the b est alai lable el idence in a four-stepprobiem-sol r ng prc)cess:

4.

i . Dc' f inins he prohlem (or opportuni tv) .Tbis f i ist step nvolvesproLr ing ndmonitorins knou'ledse. opinions, att i tudes. and behi 'r ' icrs of l ltose con-cerned rr i th and af iectedb1 the acts ancipi .r l ic iesi f ar, otgatr iza.t io n.nessence.his s an organizat io n'sntel l isence unct ion. t provides he foun-dat ion for a l l the other s teps n the problem-sol l insprocess 1'de'rermin-inc "\ \hat 's happening ou ?"Plannins and proeramrning. nformation gathered n the firs t step is usedto make decisions bout program publics.objectives, ction and communi-cation stratecies. actics,and goals.This inlolves factoring the findingsfrom the f irst step nto the policiesand programsof the orcanization.Thissecondstep n the processanswers.Based on what lve ha'i ,e earned aboutthe si tuat ion. 'hatshouldu'echangeor do,and say?"Taking act ion and communicat ing . he third step involves mplementinethe procram of act ic ,n nd communicat iondesignedo achieve he speci f icobjectives for each of the publics to accomplish he progran eoal. Thequest ions n thisstepare." \ \ho shoulddo and saf i t . and uhen. uhere.andhou ?"Eialuat inc tbe program.' lh e f inai stcp in the proccss nlol lcs assessrnsthe preparat ion.mplementat ion. nd resul tsof the prorram. Adjustmentsarr 'n ladc uir j l r the program is being intp lernented. ased on evaluat ionfeedb'ackon hou' i t is or is not uork ine. Progranrsare cont inued orstoppcdaf ter earnin! . Horv are \\ 'edoing.or hou' d id u'e do?"

Each step s as nrportantas he others.but the processbeginsu'i th gather-ing intel l igence o diagnose he problem. nformationand understanding e-veloped n the f i rst stepmol ivateand guidesubsequent teps n the process.npract ice. f course. iagnosis.lannine.mplementat ion. nd evaluat ion annotbe so neatlv conrpartn.lcntal ized,ecause he process s continuousand cy"cl i-

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FIGURE IO.I

cal aI lC s zr i rp l ic- t ii i a ch'niu; t ic . i i ing. I r igure () .1 i iusl l ; i tcs l lc cc)n ' . inLrt ,u: .( ' \ er lappin-q.nd clcl icalnarurcof puhl ic rclat ions roir lem olr nc,IJnr l an ni l en. . .11'11"r nlhl i r re lzt ions staf f rnanaOed a nrOhlem SitUat jOnr r r !\ , ' r r l ,( r ,r - r .. t .u..r r rsolnc \cars aco i l lusl rates i) . fOur-sleppi(rCr 'Ss bc conrpanr decidecl Oclose one of i ts salesdivisionsas part of a rcorganizat iono increaseeff i -cjencr ' . ' lh is reant1i121 [)0ent l t ]ovccs ' . 'ould ate 1omove or f inclneu jobs.the conrnrt ln i l r ' r lhrre the di l i . i r r r . 'as 6catedgc,t i ldst t f ferecOnOmicosscustonrers f t l ie 'salesdivisjon \\ 'ould tre c(r i rcernaclhout !et t i l ) ! equa)Jrgood serviceunder the ne\\ 's i iuf . and inveslors rould be curio l rsaboui themeaninsof the move.i - i i i i i r :L 1?. - r i ,, . i is ( i urr l : l r i r i i : l i i i r l i l , t ts i i t t i t t r l i i rJ5! i i ic l r su t i r . i i 'L i i -

n. t t rv i ccr i l ld he ernlaired an, ' l r rqr i f ied in te rms of thosc conccrned. The nexi' - ' | . |g .- | r l | !v rr/ ! \ |sTen \ 'as 1o nian lhe : rn loun, -emenl . Timinc. "r ls inrrr . rr t ; ,n1. he ne$' : had to- l * " ' t 'be broken sqi f t i r . before urnorsstarteci .e leased imultaneousl \o al i thoseaffected. nd communicatedn such a \ i 'a l as o explainsat isfactor i ivhe ne-cessi tv nd \\ ' isdom f the chanse.\ later ia ls includeda procedure nremorandurn o ruide thc staf f .a l re-qqn!: t inn

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\ \ ' i l ( r r l . i rsei l r l a coordinater l : -o l i -anr f nreet ings.et ters. nd media cover-alc. Fjnalh. evaluat jon ocusedon the department 'sor iciDal asse-ssnlentfthe prt-rb lent i tuai ion. he techniquesused.and the rcact ions of those af-feciecl . ' i lh an ei 'e o improvinl procedur"es.le lessonsearnecl \ 'ereput 1oeood usea feu,r 'ears ater r i 'hen he companv loseda plaut in anoiher oca-t io l ' r .demonstrat inqhou svslcnrar ic esearchand elaluat ion improles thepr- i rct ice \er l i lnc.

Li i ) i lUi- t : l r . ' t i r r r 1: i l l l 1,1.- ' ,1,,1r,1;, , ,L, i ' . :Lr :r l r . , i r r r l i t r r r ,r , , . , . i i : , . ,1,, 1,. , ,pencd.The niocess nclucies rnr snral ler teps ' i th in eachof thc i 'ournrajc,rsteps -prcscnled n thc nrociel . ' l -nesei l l be out l i r red n gleater deiai l n t i r i ,sl r l r : l i l l . l lar] . i i l l r : . ' r ' l r l inl i -rq J; , t l t is r-hrp191 u'e r ' - ' i l l conC'fnf l - : t1e on the re-search nd fact- f indin-sethods ecessarlclrbe,cinninshe straler ic lan-nincprocess.

ROLEoF RESEA\RCHN STRATEGIC LI\NNI NG\ {oni tor ing the socialenvironn'}ents not onh' the f i rst step n the process:t isthe most di f f icul t one.One is lernindedof the fable of rhe elephantand rhcsir bi ind men of indostan:Each encounters nlv a singlepart of the berast nddescr ibes he elephantbasedon that i imi ted i i r fornat ion. For exanpie. thtone u'ho grabs he trunk concludes.The Elephant s verr ' l ike a snakel ' 'Theone u'ho feels he knee savs. 'T ' rsclear enough he Elephant is very l ike atreel' ' This processcontinues.u'ith each experiencingonlv a portion of theelephant. n the end.eachu'aspart lv r ight andmost l r ' \ ' rong about the natureof the beast but argued 'loud and long" basedon his respectiveencounterri ' i th the elephant.r \ ' i thout researching problem situation.practit iorers runthe risk of acting ike the sir blind men from Indostan.

Survevs f pract i t ioners out inel ] 'shou hat research raining ops the l istof needed professionalcontinuine educalion.Surve)'salso shou' that pracii-t ioners often sal that thev do nci t do more research ecause hel ' lack lundsand have oo l i t t le t ime.A b,et ter xplanat ion f tvhy so i t t le research s usedin publ ic relat ions. ou ever. s a combinat ion f (1. ;not understanci ingo\ \ todo and use esearch nd (2) manv enlplovers'and l ients' r ieu's hat researchis not necessan' .\ :h i le in col lese. eu'pract i t ioners tudied esearchmethoCstrr ant icipated hat research 'ould be part of their professional lork. Oncethev Lrecan rofessional r acl ice. hev fel t l i t t le pressure rom emploi 'ersandcl ier i ts. . r 'ho f ten did not demand or fund researr-h.As ne corporale rubi i . -rclat ions erecu'r ive csponciedn a Ketchum Pubi ic Relat ions surver ' . l l lcproblenr is not uith research nethodologr'. ut u'ith the inabil it l '----or erhapslaziness---of R professionals 'ho prefer to ff1'bv the seatsof their pants."i

For Years. xecut ives nd pract i t ionersal ike bought Ihe popular nlr ththat pubiic relations deals u'ith intangibles hat cannot be measured. \ritheach passint daf it becomes ncreasingli, ' i ff icult to sell that position to re-sul ts-or jentedmanaqement nranv ui th N{BA degrees)accustomed o mak-ing decisionsbasedon evidenceand object iveanal l 's is. pract i t ioner n anonprof i t organizat ion ttr ibutes the decl ineof PR . to the lack of non-

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i tor inc, nd substant ive valuar ion i results.That 's hl PR is seenbl t CE.O'sas fluff. ' " '\ \ ' ithout research.practit ioners are limited to a,ssertinghat thev knou'the situat ionand can recommenda solut ion. \ ' i th research nd analvsis.hevcan presentanCadvocaleprop.rosaisupportedbr ei' idenccanci hcolr.. n tir iscontext. research s the svstematicgathering of informa:ion to describe andunderstand ituat ions nd to checkout assurnpt iolrsbout puhl icsand pubi icrelat ionsconsequences.t is the scierr t i f ic l ternat ive (r t inacit \ . author i t \ .and intui t ion. ts main purpose s to reduceuncer lajntv n decis ionnrakint .Even t i . roughi cannotar lsv,er l l the quest ions r s\ \a\ .al l decis ions.r)e1hod-i rel q' , 'q ip11-, i i : '16. t- r , - .1- ' i, l l r . ' f : r , ' r r , l - ,1i . - r i r r - , f . ' f i1,^r ;" ' . l ' l : r r r l ' ; -al l . l i r i lc

FESE+RcComputers and management nformation specialists ave greatlv increasedorsanizat jons' bi i i t ies o tarher.proccss.ransfer . nd interpret nformat ion.The increase n lr{BA-prepared. infomration-consciousmiddle and uppermanasers ntensif ies he pressureon publ ic relat ions or accountabi i i t r ' .nshort. a researchorientation is necessarl' for hose practicingpublic relationsin the information age.An earh' researcher 'ho helped build the automotiveindustry'. . F, Kettering.once described h;s attitude 1o\\ 'ard esearch n the ,ewords:

Researchs a high-hatword that scares iot of peopie.t neednot. t is rathersimple. ssentialll, ,t is nothingbut a stateof mind-a friendl_r'.,elcomin-qtti-tude ou'ard hange. oingout to look for chanee.nstead f u'ait ing or it tocome.Research . . is an effort o do things etterandnoi be caught sleep tthe switch. treresearch tateof mind can appiy o an)'thing.PersonalaffairsorillH'i:i#*}:T:'."j*i}}}:Hriirry;?#,'m'Research s no longer a specializedactivitt ' deiegated to "chi-square

ty'pes" ucked a$'ay n the borvelsof a n organization.As Rossi and Freemanput it, "It is also a polit ical and managementactivity.an input into the com-plex mosaic rom u,hichpolici'decisionsand aliocationsemerse for the plan-ning. design. mplementation,and continuationof protranrs."6

Modern managersare a fact-minded o| the)' $'ant flgures. n mant' orga-nizations, hese executives end to be isolated rom probiems b): cadre-s fspecialistsand subordinates. *hen the public relations aspect of organiza-t ional proL. lems ust be broughthome 1o hent . he research-basedpproachis ntost effective.As other parts of organizations uch as marketing. f inance.and personnelhave adapteda research-based pproach.so must public rela-tions. In fact. research indings suggesta strong linkage betr.r 'een oing re-search and earning one of the few seatsat the management strategl' able.Studies of pract i t ionersshow that part ic ipat ion n manasement ncreasesrvhenpractit ionersdo research.?

Chapter 0 StepOne:DefiningPubl icRelations roblems 343

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LISTENING AS SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHEffect i re puhl ic re la i ionssiarts \ ' i th l is leninr u 'h ich requirr 'so irrnnessar)dsvsi tnrat ice fo i t ." joo often.u 'hat purport-so be contntunicat ions simolr op-posinr ideaspassine achother in di f ferentone-\ \ 'av hannsls.or erample. na nranagemenl-\ 'ersl ls- laborarra in ing si tuat ion i th eachsidemerel l u 'an1-ins to scrore o i l l ts,not l isteninp o the other 'svieus..As \ ' i lbur Schramrn x-pla ined. 'Feedbacks a powerfu l tool . \ .hen t doesnot er ist or is delavedor-feeble t i rerr he si tuat ionensenders oubt and concern n the communi-6r ' ln1 ' end fpncr," : i , , : ' i : l r i l : r - i ; . r , - : , i r , . ' . . i , - i i i , l i l r ; t r . iu,ci ier . ' .1i :o ust l l !his u 'ords. 'Feedoaci: e l l -s he communicatorhoq his message s hetnq re-ct ' ivr 'J." '

L isteninc s no1an e.asvask.Chennrl< ronr hc u,arrJl o ir t r-rh, . 'p l : l ; ' t t 'i l i-)1tr-i)c lumuus n Scattlcnrustbe createdandkept open.Faiiure o iistenof-tr-n leads to purpose)ess'conmunications" on issues hat do not exist topublics hat are no1 here.Unless ou knou the orientation. redisposition. ndlanquase of vour auCience-learned throueh enrpathetic istening-\'ou arenot l ikell to communicateeffectir,elr'. esearchs simplr'one nrethod of struc-tunng svstematicisteningnto the communicat ion rocess.SeeExhib i t 0.1.)

in-able l istenerof io ther t ime.Abraham Lincoln.kneu the importanceof l istening.T\r ' ice leek.Lincoln set asidea t ime for conversat ions i th or-dinan' folk: houserl' ives.armers.n)erchallts. nd pensionscekers.He listenedpat ient iv o \\ .hal hel had to sa) ' , o matter hou' humble their ci rcumstance-(or hou' trivial their business. miiitary aide onceprotested to the presidentthat he u'asq'ast ing aluable ime on theseunimportantpeople.L incoin re-buked him. saf ing. " I te l l you. i r{a jor. . . that I cal l these recept ionsm\public opinion bath . the effect, as a u'hole s renolatins and invis.orat-' ing."rO odai' the \A/hiteHouse has sophisticated nd elaborate methods formonitoring constituentopinion: dail.vanall 'ses f media and mail content.so-phisticated elephonevoice nrail tabulationsof calls. swell as regular pollingof public opinion.

Prudencedictates he svst ematic istenins o an organizat ion 's ubl icsthrough scientific esearch. 'et manv orqanizations ail to util ize this publicrelations tool fullr: In some. two-$'a)' communication s seen as organizedback ta lk and a potent ia l hreat. ather than an essent ia lool of modern man-asement.N{ore ikel l ' .svstematicistenine o obtain re l iable eedt-.acks l im-i ted because t takes effort and ski l l .The amountof in formation nput.hou-eler. determines he extent to which an orsanizat ionoperatesas an openrather han a closed ystenrn deal ineg' i th pioblems.

DEFINING PUBLIC RELATIONS PROBLEMSIn closed ) 'stems.f course.roblems real lowedo def inehemselves.f tenascrises. he publicrelations ffort thennecessaril-veverts nto ''fire fight-inq" ather han f ireprevent ion."xamplesncJudepending i l i ions f dol-lars o counterproposaismadeby dissident tockholders:a_ying illionsof

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ALTERBARLOW ON RESEARCH S LISTENING

At the end of a meeringwith the CEO of alarge corporation sorne years ago, he askedme,"Son. ell me, ust what kind of 'racket'areyou ini"

I repiied,"Well, f you wii l let nre ask a fewquestions, think I can demonstrate what Ido, but I warn you, he questionsmight causeyou !o throw me out of this office.""Go ahead,"he said."Well, how much of your businessdaywould you say is spent in communicationof56rng5gr!-having a conversation like this,at -tending meelingsand conferences,eading e-ports,call ingon the phone,and all the resr?"

He thought for a moment and replied,"You have precry much described how Ispendal l of my t ime. l 'm either communicat-ing in some wa1 preparing or i t, or seriouslythinkingabour it ."

Thac warmed me up a bit, because feltsafe o proceed. Well, you have ust told methat your time, valued ar about $800,000 nsalary ast yeai is spent in the process f com-munication.Nor,, tell me, in this communicat-ing,do you do al l the talkingl"

He smiled right away," Of course not l""Would you say that you spend, say,40Percentof your communicatinS ime in listen-ing,or aking in information n some wayl""That would probably be about r ight. Iknow I talk a loL but I do l isten ool'

"Suppose had asked he top f ifcy execu-t ive: in yorrr comPany he same qucscion, oyou think I would havegoctenagreementona'. easi4! PeicerrL{ 'Again,he repl ied immediately,l damnedwell hope you would.""l ' lCyi, ' ,r hLve i:h!isl-ro;l sirrr,^ihl1re!

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dol iars oi adrert is ins ime and space o apolot ize or pastact ionsand to an-n()unce orrect ivenreasures:nd suffer ingcost l -r 'construcl ioneial 'sbecauseircl ivL'c i l iz. 'n !rouf 's resoned ro It ' ral act ion to siop proposed. 'et uner-L)lain:t t .l forccts.Such si tuat ionshave lons histor ies, nd sometimesneither side recal lsu'hat caused the Lrlori p. Headine off such blorrups is part of the task.Jrrs earl ier a conrplaint s cauqht, he easjer i is ro hanCle.Continuous act-f tndinguncoversmanl probiemsu"hi le hev are st i l l smal l enoush to permitcLrri-c,clive.ii()n anci coinnrunica'"ic rn'rcfoiebecomir.iqmajor pubiic issuirs.t - i .^ ( . .r . i r r - i r r , i1;\ , i t l . iq l r .r . ; i ' . r ,r1ci11,. .- trnol-ShCfOi-Chr.r ' heCOmeu' ideSpreadrnd r : .rr l o{ t}rr l l r rh l :c 'c nercenl ions. rr i rh. o iqaniz- i r t i r ' r r .""" t * 'Problem d' : f inrt ionbegin-r ' i t i r sorneonenrakinr a ralue judtment that.sonleihins s ei ther \ \ ' rons. ould soon be. or could be better. mpl ic i t is thenc)t i (J l l i i r i olganrzat ic i rr :r ic l ts l ) ior i . ic t i r . , ; i i " , i ; ' f rr , r i , . i i . , r . r . i -r-Lr i . . . -ments.Goai states erveas he basis or deciding f and q'hena real or poten-t ial p;-oblemexists.Once a judcment is nrade. ouslgp. he process econresan,. tbject i re. vstematic esearch ask desioned o describe n detai l the ci i -nrensior:s f th e nrohlsm. hr factorscoutr ihut i rrs.o or al leviai jpo he nroh-lcnl rrnd he nuhl ics nvolved n or affectedbt the si tuat ion. n short . esearchis used o determine \\?rat 'shappeningnow?' 'Problem StatementA usefulproblem statement umn:arizes 'hatuas Iearnedabout he prohlemsituat ion; i ) I t is ur i i ten in the prc-sentense.describing he current s i tua-tion. (2) it describes he situation in specificand measnrable erms.detail inemost of o r al i of the follou'ins:\\ 'hat is the sourceof concern?\\ 'here is this a problem?\\'hen is it a problem?1\'ho s involved or affected?Horv are thev involved or affected?l'f 'h-v s this a concern o the organizationand its publics?(3) A problenr statementdoes not impi) ' solut ion or place blame. f i t did.programstratesies 'ouldbe predeterminedand imited.much jke the cutt le-f ish's imited opt ions or responding10 ts environnrent. he classic ramplcof a problern statemenl hat i ras an impl ied solut ion s the overused, \ \ ' i rat"r'ehave here is a communicationproblem." Communication s part of the so-lut ion.not the probleml

lJre real problenrcould L'e hat onl i 5 percentof nervgraduatesoin thcalumni association uring the first t 'ear follou'ine graduation,compared u'ith21 percent of al l graduates, esultin-s n lost contactand reduced support forthe unii 'ersity.Or in the caseof a fund-raisingeffort for a neu'\'outh center.the problem could be stated as. the building fund is $200,000 hort of theamount needed to compiete and equip the nerv qvmnasiumby the plannedJune i opening. f you had '"r 'orkedor one of the major oil companiesseveral

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vearsago. ,ou miqht have been concerned bout the "divest i tureproblem":.4 l- . lu ia i i t r ( .17p: ' rccnt c,1-- . \n-rc ' r ic . i r , .s! ' i r - r u ' i th pr i tJ .c ,salrp l ' t t , ,o1 ncach of thc nrajoroi l compair iesnto four s. la13le nl comp.-t incopcrat intcompanies.husencouragine onte n Consresso vote in fa lor of d ivest i tur-elegis lat ion.Not ice that eachof theseproblemstalemntsontains oncrc-te easures

of the proh)em si luat ionLrased n object i r .eesearch rnd ocume ral ion. o-t ice a iso hat solut ions re not intp l ied.meaninq hat no part icularstratesr s5u-i !L l lL . ' l l , Ut l) r ' i t . ' , 1 , . . . ' . , : . r i t SiCi. : . , . , r i : . j j r , ' . , , .J \ 'L ' , ( . \ . L r. -r , t i ! . r1. , . . . . , :-^ ' L -^- ' . r 'L tu l i i rn. hut i t is noi stated aq n..rrtnf the nr ' , rh l3m.Finr l l t .l ld- \ L jr I 'd l t Ul t t i ; 5(t lULl( '11. t )Ut l l . lS I iLr! Stdt !u o- \ l , ( , r l Ur Lrr ! l , i \ , ( ,1not ice that t i le three exampjesdescribe he currenl s i tuat io i r-" \ \ 'hat 's hap-i - )r : l i i l : l i t l r" ' " i l i ) ' : l l t i t t ) : ! r .Situat ion AnalysisA problem statement epresents concise escript ion f the si tuat ion.of ienu'r i t ten n a sentence r short paragraph. n contrast. s i tuat ion anal ls is sthe unabridged oi lect ionof a l l that is knou'n about he si tuat ion. ts h is tor) .forces operating on it. and those inlolved or affected nternallr. and exter-nalh ' .A s i tuat ionanalvs is ontainsal l the backsround nformat ionneeded oexprand pon and to i l lustrate n detai l he meaninqof a problem statement.In the processof analvzing he situarion.one is able to clearlv and speciflcallldefine and refine the problem slatement.1i 'picall1: he definjt ion processbe-eins u'ith a tentati l 'eproblem statement. ollou'edby inlestisation of the situ-ation.u'hich leads o refining the problem definit ion.and so on. The s ituationanall'sis esults n u'hat sornepractit ionerscall their "fact Lrcok."often in theform of information assembledn three-ringbindersor fi les.The sectionon intental actors deaisu'ith orsanizationalpolicies.proce-dures.and actions elated to the problem situation.Rather than direct all theattention to the publics and other external actors. situationanaivsisbeginsu'ith a thorough and searching evieu' of perceptionsand actions of kev ac-tors in the organization, tructuresand processes f organizationalunits rele-lant to the problem and the histor,r' f the orranization's nvoilement.

The internal situation analysisaiso ncludesa "communication audit"-asvstematic ocumentat ion f an organizati on's ommunications or the pur-poseof understanding o$' t communicates ' i th ts publ ics.One pract i t ionedescribes he communicationaudit as ollou's:

A complete nalvs isf anorganizat ion 'sommunicat ions- internalnC'oi xter-naldesignedo "takea picture" f communicat ioneeds.ol ic ics.I )ract ices.rdcapabi l i t ics.nd o uncover ecessar) 'datao al lo* ' topnlanatenrento nrake n-formed. conomical ecisionsbout utureobiectivesf thc- rsanization'som-municat ion. l lConsistentu ' i th the open s) 's temsmodel. pract i t ionersdo an audit to

learn in detail ho\r'.u'hat. and to u'hom they communicate. n audit prot' idesdecis ionmakersa c learpicture of u 'hat s current lvdone and a basis or de-c id ineu'hatchanges eed o be made'

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Another essent ial art of the inrernalport ion of a si tuat ionanalvsiss ac()nstanl lv pdatedorganizat ional r lmanac.his f i le not on lv set-\ 'ess an es-sen'Lial i ranizat ionalbackgiound rc ' ference ' ,hen rork in! crnsir3gi f ic' ; ( lb-lems but aisoprol ides deasand information for speeches.arnphlets.prcialicport ( . erh ih i ts .and media requests.,1ost rganizat ions o not haie l ih ; -ar i -i ins oi histor ians. o publ ic rc iat ions departn ients ften handle qucr ies hi l icannol be ansq'ered 1'others.Journal is tsexpect and necd cluicl i ans\ \ 'ers .I tc l rdr accus5c)cr)n)Plcteind arcurl le inio;ntaLi

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Hou do peopleuse nfoimarion? nfoinrat ion s rarelv rn end in i tsei f .be-causrpr:opl : use nfolr .n:r t ionn rlar i r di f ferentu; i t 's .Receivers ee nfor-mation as useful f ther think that i t ie latcs tr i a sptcci f ic ct io i l . r r l jc . () ip lan ther consider nrportant.Rareh are thev helpedsimpir because hertccc-vcd ginr-r t l in or i i - ia i ion.\ \ 'hat predicts nformationuse? Denrorr lphics or crthci cross-si lL iat ionalcharacier ist ics f len do not predict horr people use information.Rather"uheie receivsrs re n the ciecis ion-makirrsr ioces,\ c l : rant 1o 2rprobl.m.t r , i i t r r , . , , . r : . ' i i r i : ; : ; . . , ] . , . j ' , :1,- . : . l : . : . .1. l : : t - ' i t , : ' i ' r l . - ' r , ' l r r ither ui i l us. thi informai ion. n other \ \ords. 'ou must knou iror ' ,d i i ler^ent nci i i i iuais see hems:l les nvol led in or af iectedhr the si t rr i l t io lr . :3l t re importance i fs i iuat i t ' rn-spr ic i f jsnt ie ls iandir tg . lstakl i iu l i le is s 'a iscrer ident in Vanleulen's theor\ of m,,-ssa-qend media select ion: (1; the user

scl : l ts nr-draand n'tessaresor hi . or hcr c)\ \ 'nat ionr l-appearinranCperson-al l r relelant purposes:l ) the user u ' i l l at tachhis or her o\ \ ,npersonalmean-in 'JS oa sclr 'ctecl css: iSe:-1) he user 's r-1. ] i1\ ' ioref ieclsant ic i f ,a led utnreconrmunicat ion at isfact ion su'el l as a hi s lor\-of pr ior motivat ion. ntent ion-al i t r .arrd einfolceme t."r '

] (csc- lr l i l , j l l u l i ; s i l r i ,c l t r r l ic-r ' su{o;c J) l tnni l r : [ ; ( r : ] : r ;n si : ' i ,1, ' :1, ,sc( isthe accuracl of assutrpl io:rs L 'outuho thel are. \ 'ha1 hev knou..horv thevfeel at 'out the si tuat ion. o* ' they are involvedor affected. 'hat nformationthel see as important. hou' thel use it. and even ho* thev set information.\\ ' i th that information in hand-and onli ' then--{an program planners u'riteobjectives or eachpublic and develop stratesies o achieve henr.

Slstematicdef ini t ionand studv of the stakehoiderss neededalso o de-termine an order of prioritr '. Rarelv does a practit ioner har,e the staff ormonev to mount programsdirected to all stakeholders. riorit ies must be as-sisnedbasecion u'hich of them are most central to the particular problem athand. not in response o internal or external pressuresnot related to theproblem si luat ion.increased nderstanding f the stakeholders elpsdetermine heir infor-

mation needsand uses:message ontent.Researchins heir communicat ionFalternsand r ' .Tediareferences elps pract i t ioners elect he most effect i leand efhcientmediastrates\ or del iver ins hosemessases.

Onh afrer rhe siruat ionhas been conrplcteiranr lvzed can pracl i t i t rnersset real ist ic rogramgoals. acking completeand accurate nformation.prac-tirioners can be guiltv of overpronrisesand uncierdeliverr'.\ ' i ihout a ccnl-p ieteunderstrndine f the prohlem si tuat ion.Iract i t i t 'ncrs run t lrc r isk of du-leloping programs hat do not address he major cause of the probier.n. oamount of publ ic re at ionscommunicat ion an changebad performance rl togood perfornance or social l l r responsible ct ion nto responsible ehai ior.Neither can it compensateor lack of integr i tv or persuadepubl ics that anunfair or sel f-serving ol ic i ' s fair and unsel l tsh.Overenthusiast ic el l ingofthe function often results rom incornpletecomprehensionof the problent sit-uat ion and leads o the appearance f prosram ai lure.Researc| ing he si{uat ioneives pract i t ionersand their empiovers and

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clients he t imelr ' .complete.and accurate nformation thei ' need to under-stanC he prot lenr and to s.rrveas a basis or decisionmaking. E\hib i t 10.1I is ts r .rp ic: c'r 'grcd r a s i tual io iranal-r 's is .) l icseaic lrs s inrp lr au al tcmI) i toreduceuncerta int \ ' . ) rasonL'erecut iveput i t . " to help real lv seeu'hat 's hereto be seen."I)e. ta i ied nalvses f the i r r te inaland external actors n the prol . lemsitu-ation proridc lract i l ionersrr ' i th he informatio n hel 'need to assess rganiza-

lnternal FactorsScatements f the organizat ion'smission,charrer, ylaws, isror-y,nd struccureLisr, biographies, nd photos of key off i-cers, board rnembers,manasers. nd so{oruhDescr ipt ions ' nd histor ies of programs.pi 'oducts, ervices, nd so for-thStat ist ics bout resources, udger suff ing,sales, rof i ts,stockholders, nd so fonhPolicystatementsand procedures elatedto the problem situacionPosiiion statements (quotations) by keyexecucives egarding he problem siiuationDescript ion of how the organizat ion ur-rent ly handies he problem siruat ionDescript ionsand l is 's of rhe organizarion!internals-.akeholdersLisrs of organizational media (cwo-way)for communicat ingwiih internalgroupsExternal FactorsClippings from newspaper, magazine,trade publicat ion, nd newslerter cover-^- ^ ^( -l ^ ^---^ ; ,^ , ;^^ rnd rho nrnhlpm5< ur lr rc vr E4rr :4di rur Isirua: ionReporc, t ranscripc, and tapes of radio,television, nd cablecoverageContent analyses f media coverageandInternet sourcesLists of media, jour-nalis.s, ol irmnists,talk-show hosts, freelance wri lers, and

producerswho report news and eaturesabout the organizarion nd issues elatedto the problenr l tuar ion

5. Lists of ancl background nformation onindividuals nd groups who share he or-grniz i . l ion'son:er 'ns.nteres: r , nd pos' .r ions on the problem situ_ariorincluCingtheir contrsl led nternaland externalme-diaourlets)

6. Lisa of and background nformarion onindividuals nd groups who oppose rheorganizat ion'sconcerns, interests, andposit ionson the pi-oblemsituarion (in-cluding heir control led internaland ex-ternal mediaoullets)7. Results of surveys and public opinionpolls reiared to the organizarionand theproblemsituat ion

8. Schedules f specialevenrs, bservances.and othe! ' mporant dares elared o theorganizat ion nd the problemsiruar ion

9, Listsof governmentagencies,egislarors,and other off ic ialswirh regulatory andlegislativepower affecting the organiza-t ion and he problem siruar ion10. Copies of re levant regular ions,egis la-t ion, pendingbi l ls , eferenda. cvernmentpublicat ions,nd hearing eporrs

I | . Copies of published researchon ropicsrelared o rhe problem siruarion

12. Lisu of important reference books,records,and directories,as well as rheirlocat ions n the oreanizat ion

t .

2.3.a

fr\ . ' . tJ is" i r t* ! { i i ' ' 5 i ' t UAt ' i , . . , iq r i t . t l . t {- \ Sif

350 Part l l Management rocess

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i tonai st rcngths Sland ucal:nc--sses\ \ ' )anC trr dcnt i f r i l lg crppor lunit icsO)zrnd hreats T) in the externalenvironment. r rpract icc.pra. t i i i ( )ncrs efer othis approach o summariz ine he sir r - iat ion nalvsis s "S\ \ 'Ol-" crr TO\\ 'S"analrs is.Several t rater ic mpi icat ions oeical l r ' lcru rom this analvt ic rame-u oi f : :SO str ir tegics ui ld on organizal ional t ren-cthso tai :e adlantaQeof op-poi ' tunit i rs n t le er: teinal nvi: 'onmeni.S' l st raier icsalso bui ld on clrqanizat ional t renclhs o ctrunler hreais nthe exle nlr i enl i ronment.\ \ 'O sirategres t tempt o minimize organizat ional u'eaknesseso take acl-\ . . , rr . , l t - . . - , i i ' ; t ; i , i | r l i l t i ; i i r i l i ' r lCr,.\ \ 'T strai :gics at teinpt ro nr inin-r ize oth organizat ionalueaknesses ndLlt \ i r ( ' i l11. nt i . l l i i rcats. l '

-1 ,

. Another ana lvt ic echnique or sumntar iz ine he f indinesof a situat ionanalvsis ,s foice-f ie ldanalvsis." efore resealchins he situat ion. iact i i i r )n-ers and otherson the nranagemcnteanrbrainstorm he negat ive orcescon-t i ihut ine 1o or causing he probienr.as rvel l as the posit ive orccs al ieviat insoi scj l l iue he problcrn.}c rcsei, rc i t n the nt . ' r 'nal i rd e-r ternalorcesh; lpsdetermine he extent o u'hicheachcontr ibutes c's i l ivelv r necat iv elv o lheprobiem situat ion. ust as u' i th S\ \ 'OT anah's is,he resultsof a fo; 'ce- f ie ldirnaivsis ead to straregic iecisioirs ie5ignedo nriir ii l ize or neulrahze he im-pact of nesat ; \ 'e oiccs and to n' iaxinizeor enhance he contr ibut ions romposit i re for les. '

RESEARCH ROCESSThe c entral roles of research n modern public relations,aCdressedurther inchapter 13.are demonstrated ere.Somet imespract i l ionersdo the researchthemseh,es.Other times practit ioners hire research speciaiistsor researchfirms to design he research. ather he information. or analvze he data. n ei-ther appioach.practit ionersmust kno*' the researchprocessand ccr,cepts.Simph' put . \ 'ou cannotsat isfactor i lv xplain o someoneelsesomethinp oudo not understand ourseif. nn H. Barkeleu. seniorvicepresidentand generalmanaser of Fleishman-Hi l lard'sr{ i r 'neapol is f6ce.savs. \ 'ou cannot piac-l ice publ ic relat ions odar ' -successful lv r ef fect ivelr ' -u ' i thoui research." : -

Scient ists avedei 'e loped general lvaccepted pproach o research. heproCcrssregins$ith a clcar statementof the problem uncier nvest icat ion.Solne choosc o phrasc h: protr lem n the forrn of a ouest ion.Othcrs posehvpothet icai re at ionshipshetr i 'eu'n bservablephenomena for test ing andtheirn ' bui ld ing. fhe next step s to develop he researcbdesien. he plan fornraking ire ot 'servat ionselated o the research roblem. s a survevneeded?An exper iment?Or rvi l l he observat ions e taken from publ ishedcensus e-ports? lhis is foilou'ed bv the specificmethods for gathering,anah'zing. ndinterpret inedata. lE

Cfiaoter 0 SteoOne:Definirrs ublicRelations roblems 351

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\ \ 'hcrcrs luo s-qg". . -hl i -o iects a: 'escldt lm lhc same in the spr; i ; r . 's r ihou thev are mplemented. her share a contmon eoal of increasincour un-d:rstandincof si t r . rat ionsnd si rcie l r ' . }e approachanCnreihodschc,ssnor apart jcularp;ojeci ui11 cpenci ,n ihe frol ' r lunrh' ; ingadt l i -esscd.he ski l isani ll reference-c)f h3 resear ' -her.he avai lable esources. nd the conslrain ls m-posedbl olhersol asa resul tof the si tuat ion.

INT.ORMAL OR "EXPLORATORY' ' T' lETHODSln formal n l3Ihods t i l l dominatepubl ic reiat ions ese rci revcn tnouch hrghlrdeveloi ret l r rcia l ci :ncc m.thc'Cs rrc aiai lable ' . nIo;-malnr' th i ) . ls rrn biuseful . ou'e ler. f nract i i ioners ecognize heir u 'eaknessesnd purposes.hei : l . i . lLt l l l l r ) i l t t t i -Si t i r l ' l i . - \r i Ul l l . ; / \ l$J, ILI ' lLSLIl . . l , j \L l r , : :- l r :- , . : , l | , . , l r . ' i \samples reselected.Thessue s the extent o q'hich he resul ts rom sampiesrepresen'rn|bod\ o iher than the fe$ fron $'hom nfornrat ion |as sathered.For exarrple. he resul tsma] represe t onl \ the opinionsof a r ocal minor i t rra lhei than he major i t t ' .I f v ieued asgoodmethods or detcct i t tg nd er1, lor inq roblem si tuat ionsand for prctcst ins esearchand proeram strategies.hen informal rnethodssai ' \ ' ( ''a lu i lb le urposes.i t i r r rcsrr l ts rc us.:clrs hr: basis rr ; proe arr ip l l l i r -n ing and evaluat ionas r f the f indingsu'ere representat ive f target publ ; ls.then thesenrethocis re misused. Explcl ra l rrn" 'best represents he piohinlnature of informal methods.

The follorl inq seciionsclescritre ome of the informa] methods used inpubl ic relat ions.PersonalContactsIn 1893Lord Br ice said. The best u 'av in u,hich he tendenciesat gork inany community can be best discovered and estimated s bi' moi' ing freelvabout amons all sorts and conditions of men." Polit icianshave been doingthis for a long t ime.Ski l l in sizingup people 'sau'areness.pinions.anJ at t i -tudes has ong been and alu'avs*'i l l be a prime qualif ication of pubiic rela-tionsprofessionals.

For example. hen manaqenlent equestedan enrplovse onrmuni lat ioncampaicnatainst druq ahuse.a corporate pracl i t ioner.posinr as a F\: : t icr ' l t .checked nto a drug reatmentcenterand spent hreedavsacquir ing i rsthandknouledge about drugs. heir use,and their potent ia lef fectson en-,plovc-es.Oihers haveu'orked n sheelchairs o gain perspect ive n u'hat t is i ike to eofor coffeebreaks. se he bathroom.or completeot l ler tasks n faci l i t iesnotdesignedor easvaccess.fradeshon's. ommunit t 'and professional reet ings.or other occasionshat at tract stakeholders rovide opportuni t ies or pract i -t ioners o l istencareful l rand gain understanding.

Feedback rom periodicpersonalvisi tscan be encouraged. xlended. ndamplified in manv ri 'avs.For example. u'hen the late Los Angeles Ir'{a1'orThomasBradlel' f irst took office.he openedhis door to local citizensone da)'a month.Thel 'u 'eregivena chance o talk to the ma) 'orabout poor se$'er a-

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cil i t ies. ncreases n school vandalism.or whateverwas on their n'r inds. henlavor of Utica. Neq York. \ 'ent a step further.To encouragepreople o dropin and air their complaints. e rook hrs door of f i ts h ingesand pul up a s icnolcr i t s cou;h l ixr : i , ;ad. - I }c 'Jcr i i 'n 'sLjv in : Rol tn. ' 'Thc prc 's ic lenl f Del taAii l ines maintainsan open-doorpolio' for emplovees.A more struclureduse of personalcontacts s exemplif iedb1' he annuals lurr . i t r r l l . ' r i rcc i intshcid crch rcal L ' r pulr i ic l i onncd coip()rat ior ts.or ex-ample.manasers n one companv t ' is i redshareholdersn their honresafterbu: ; iness ours.Each -\ 'earmanagemenl pe.r 'sonnein var ior . tsocat ionsplr-sonal l l ta iked u' i th shareholders borr t he companr"shusiness.n anothera-Ll( ' ressr\"eppiOacho gett ing eedoacl , . s ia ia.r rg i r$ 'ar i ip)alLnrcnl sgu atravel t ra i ler as a nobi le informat ioncenter o col lectc i t izens' r ' ieuson pro-posed highu'al proiects.The trailer proi ' ided an atmosphere or candid one-() i r-() l l ! ( i l :cU: i : iu: i , i , l i l i i : . i , rr 'a\ p: .1's.) i , , i : l l i i , i i i . . . , r ' j r-( , ] - ,1. \ ' , ] j ! ) i t i . tcl l : : -tant to speak n putl ic meetingsan opportunit l to air their vieu's.Key InformantsPract i t ionerscommonlv talk u' i th kev informants. var iat ion on personalcontacts.This apprciach nlolves selecting and inien' iewing knoqledgeableleadersand experts. he intervieu' t1'picall1'akes he form of an open-endedciiscir:,siorrrr r lhich s,.: lc,-:tc:dr' ;dividualsare en.i)Llrased o talk zrbout tl ieproblem cr issue n their o\\ 'n terms.Because n-Cepth nterviewsu'ith kef in-formants take so long 1ocomplete anC require such careful content anah'sis.the technique s l imited to a reiativeiy srnallnurnberof respondents.

Manr,practit ioners regularl l . ' onsult influential people such as authors.editors.reporiers.ministers, abor leaders,professors. ivic leaders.bankers.and special nterestgroup leaders.Some have consultedbartenders and taxidiivers. The basis or seiectingkef informants is their perceived knouledge ofan issue and their abil i t l ' to repiesent others' r ' ieu,s. he major l imitation. ofcourse, s that becausehey were selectedpurposeiybecause hey are seen ohar,especiaikncu' ledseand leadership oles.bi' definit ion hel' do not reflectcurrent vieu's of fol ios'ers. n-depth intervieu's l ' i th key informants oftenvield earlt 'u'arningsignals n important issues.Focus Groups and Communlty ForumsI t is onlr a short step f rom personalcontacts nd kev inforrnants t r askinsqroups for ideas and feedback.The range of groups runs from open to\\ 'nmeetines.such as those used by' the Clinton Administration. to the highll 's t ruct l r redand r ideotaped ocusgroup.a technique ommonlt 'used n bothpuhl ic rc lat ions anC consurrernrarket ing esearch. n ef fect i i 'emoderatoru'ho is an able inlervieu'erand facii i tator of the group process s key to thesuccess f this approach.

I 'ractit ioners use focus groups and communitv forums to explore howpeople u' i l l react o proposaisand to gather nformationuseful or developingquestionnaires o be used n more formal researchmethods Unexpected in-siqhts are sained from the sometimesspirited dialogue among participants.

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Researchers i r l l such nformal ion "serendipirousindings." rutunant ic iparedreact ionsmav be the best reason or u sinc hese nformal researchmethods.I t is Lretter o learn such hincsbefore coinc o the f ieldui th a ful l -blou'nsur-ve\ 'or piogram iesl .For exarnple. he United Sorbean Boarcl (L-Si i ) glglglcr i rc i i i iu iLiujvariat ion of the comnrunitr forum u'hen r held a seriesof toun hal l mee1,in-ss oi sovbean proclucers. n inf luent ial proCucer r.r 'as sl led to invi teIreicnbors o hear presentat ionsand 1o con.rmeni rn iou ihe organiz:al i r ' i tu 'as spendine producers' funds contr ihuted throuch a mandatorl checkol ' f(rn sot 'beansaies.Prc' . iucers osled a total of 37-in1,3. '1;nlsn lS statcs. l ()-

. , . , , ." , l . 'Ll l i : . ' . , i t t l f - . I ' l : : ' l ' r" i " 1- ' ; i '1 ' ; r ' - r1 r '1 nrn4t ;11rq ' j11r ' r '6 1q, $i r1t i -iar l r ' . he Chicago \ 'el fare Counci l staqeda "l is ien-in" for comnrunir.r ead-. ' . rs c l ect guidance and reacl ions fc i t g.11-,gs3q1lannin-e Gor crnntentatencieshave lonstused hi-q rplorator l strateg\ o sol ic i t nformation andpat ' t ic ipat ion. ' lhc Qlr ' : i 5ci i i ' - - . l r tu.{ i r t \ LOII--s t Lni i rr : r i5. i l i r - r j i r Lrr-vironmental Protect ionAgencl resularh conductpubl ic meetinssand hear-in.c 1o o:t infoim11rtgn nd 13aci ions o ln: iol ls n;oiecr pnd nr,- . . , . . . . .On anU 13aCt1()nS [(r \_. . ._- t . .J_- . *. ._ l .OlfAm pIO_posais.One of the lesson-searned rorrr h eir experiencess that communitr 'inpui nrus'r u soueht carl ' , aniJof l (-n ( ' i ;csp arencics cslonsi tc tc ci i izcninterests.

Focus groups represenl a more str i lcturedepproach.Tvpical j r ' . ocusgroups nclude six rcr 2 carcrfulh's clccir :dcjrrcscl lal iversror:r l , l i ! i - t J) i r1^,-l ic. fhev are asked to discuss spL'ci5cssueor l lo-qram proposal n deprh.Sessions re videotapedand the recordines arefu i i l analvzed o catch Lhesmallest detail in participants' comnents. For"example, ne organizatitlncon-ducted focus-group research o learn u'hat midcile school teachers \\'ant incurriculum nateriais provided bv outsidesources.One authorit)' sals the ma-jor streneths of focus groups is the open. spontaneous, nd detailed discus-sions hev qenerate,elen among people u'ho did noi knou' each other beforethe sessionbegan.leThe-v an be planned,conducted. nd anall 'zed n a mat-ter of da1's, roviding insights and understanding hat can be factored intoprogram pianning.

Even u.hen members of a group are caiefuli l selected. s u' i th infcrma-tion gained from persc'inal orltacts. he resuliscannot be used fo niake jnfer-ences o a larger populat ionor publ ic.BecausEhe cioup is smal l .select ion susual lvnot trul t ' randc)n.and the eroup-discussionontext ntroducc-s n art i -f i i i ; i l sett inc. he recnl ls are not rcniei :nt i i t i \e- in a scient i f icsenst-t , f a-f '' ' *" "ni lh l i ; or rhe nrrhl ics f .^- , , , .1. i^r . ,r ,> -^.r i^ i1rp15 \\ere sslecled.As $ j th clher r t vlr linformal methods. ocus groups are tvpicall l ' smailsroups of unknori'n repic-sentat iveness.

lUcderatorsalso canhat 'ean effecton rihal and hou'the group ci iscu:sc:Thosevieu' ing he sessionrl teru'hat s said hroush heir ou'n subject i \e i i l -ceFt ionsand interpretat jons.t is s impl l not appropriaie o sucsest hat f ind-ings from this approachcan be used n placeof data -eatheredrom scient i f i -cal lv selected amples. he major funct ionsare o ident i fv and explore ssuesfor further studv in formal survevs and to prelest prosram stralegiesbeforefull-bloq'n fieid testinc.

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Advisory Committees and BoardsA standinscommittee. :rnci .or board can sometimes e mctreuselul han asinl le sroup session. art icular l l for Iong-runningprorrams and is-sues.nsome nstances ucha group can serveas a cont inuous cedhack nechanismfoi cl i i : : i i r rL.Ic 'ssiblccl . i i ln!ei .i t pui t i ic c i i> i t r io lrrn issLic. r t t 1re( l te th, ;ruould shori up in irol isand survevs.here is a pr ice.houeler. for usincadl i -sor l commil teesand boaids.Their advicemust be given earnestconsidera-1ion.or thisnrethcrd i i l bacl : f i re. ienrbers uicki l 'sunse i i rcn iher arc beingused foi cosmeticpurposescrrbeing shorvcasedo demc,nstrate oncern orcomniunitv npLri . ppoinr such a cornn. i i l tec i board onl l uhrn thc rnzr iormrl i i la l iOir j . to sOl ic i t inp1,1 ; i .6 q' t , i l in ir r ! r , ' ' i : ' .1, ' l1r- h' i . i ' l ' ' ' , i h ' - r r r i ' ' , ' , t , , t1( l ? ic i ( ) t l l t . in i) t l i .

Nonprof i t orcanizat jons se this i rpproach c 1af the proiessional rrbi icrelai ionscommuni lr ' or hoth expi 'r t ise nd ser\ ces. imost everr chapter-ofi l r r i ' i i i i . . l " ' . 1 : f 1l t i : r l \ r Li i t i i . . i :c,r t i rc, : i t r r i t . i - - i r i i r i i Srais. at iu s i in i lz i t i , i !ar iza-t ions hasa publ ic relat ionsadvi-corr ommii lee.Commirteesei-r ' ices one ua_rpub)ic rcl i l ior ts pract i t ioners ulf i l l thcir publ ic scn r le obi i -c i ' l ionas profus-sionais.

Other or-qanizai ions.or-prof i t an, i nonprof i t a l ike.usi advjsor l ccrmmit-lees and boards. or examp)e. 'our c i t r 's chi ldren'shospital . hamberof com-merce.and p,-r l ice epartmentprobabl l ' use this methoC of rather ing infor-mation. Thc' nsLrr. i rncendr-rstrv realed acl , , ' isor-r 'onrn: i t i r r ' - . ,i ; :d complai i r ibureaus to faci l j tate poi ic i 'holder fr 'edback n response o the consumermovenrenl.An account ing irm set up a publ ic revieu. 'board o pror ide anoutsideperspect i \eol l oF,erat ions. boardof educat ionset uf a l - l -nrcmbercommunitv adi'isorvcommittee to give the board a better senseof cornmu-nitv attitudes and needs.The Nerr')brk Stock Exchanse created an advisolt 'committee of 15 senior corporate officers o facil itate communicalion uiththe corporations isted on the exchanse. he American Frozen Food Instituteformed an advisorvboard cn frozen goodsmade up of food editors and homecconomics nstruct rs.

Advisorv committeesand boardsprovide valuable nformation and guid-ance.but thev cannot substitute for formal approaches o determinins thedistr ibut jonof opinionsand rcact ionsamong arrct pu'r l ics. he'.-pror ideef-fect i re forums for increasinc ntcract icn. art ic inrt icr i i . nd i r i -depihproL' ineof issires.n othcr r lords. her are erplorat

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T\\ 'okinds of ontbudsmcnarc used.One. rue 1o he roots oi the or icinal .in 'est i .at-s and str lves robicnrs.Jre seconci . ho ar bestparr iespl t -rb ' iems.of ten is there to proiect the bureaucracv nd to creaie the i i lusion of a re-sponsl \e organlzat ion. he former has ndependentauthor i r ! ro take act ionsn 66rmplaints:he lat te i faci l i tates ommunicat ion nd seeksauthor i iv romoLi ictSrr ni1, Icnrcnir i ' i i :c l i r . : '- fhe ombudsman's ole and scope of i ts author i t r van uidel t . DouChemicnl Conrnanr once estahl ished n "omhulsrrcrm3n"to heln nrornote-""1 * ' ( \ ' r r ! ' r 'ihe adiancenrentof \ \ rclnrenn lhe cor. i tpanr. 1 IJtonx Comniuni t r Cc-r l lcge'the ombudsman.appointed bl the president.acts as a condui t for studentcorrrpla ints rLrtas no authoi- i1\ ' tcr akc fu l l -scalc r t lest iqar ions..Alhc l in j -r . . ; ' . . j1r 'of r ' l r :4sl . : r . in.ol r- ,on thr othe:- and. hc ombudsr_rtal te.s the loh: ls"rcp()r t in,q1o nc'hoi j r .and esponstbleo e!er|one. l ' f re L, .S arr . [ -anr ihOnibudsnran rot tant. siar led n l8t l9. savs he role is one of cut i int -Qo\ ' ! . rn-ntc'ntal ed tape and act ingas ia isonbetueen nterested art iesand the \a i ' rt j l i lecs. - l l ic oir ' tL lU,,rSr i t t t i r i t r icst t ! : i r ics (r ig i l i i i r .a l l r ) i l .L i ; , , r iLr , i : i i tS l l t i ' - r 11,.- l : : :ieconme ndat io i rs or remedialact ion Io improve the quai i t r of administra-t ion and redrcrssndividualqr ie lances." large eri York hospi ta lemplo-vs.?1t o rnant hospi ta ls.a pal i int reprrsentat ivc"o sc r\c asan i rJr . rcate f pa-l ients "to help them and t i re i r famit ies ind sar jsfactorr olut ions o prob-iems."ARCO hasan crmbudsmano mediaieproblrms dealers annoteet resolr ,ed hrough usualchannels:in a sense.'m the court of last resc'rr t .o rhisof f i ie r l rnrrcs to resol lc nearl l a l l c i isputc.s. '

In eachof thesesett inss.he ombudsnan prol ides an ef fecr ivemeans orfaci l i tat inegreatermana!elnent a\ \ 'areness f publ ic react ionsanclvieu's. fsincerell used and competentiv staffeci. he ombudsmanposirion can be animportant means of obtainins orsanizational eeciback. su,ell as for helpinrpeople get soiut ions or their problems and ansu'ers o their quesr ions. utbecause his method rel ieson people u.hoseekout the opportuni f l ' o maketheir feelingsand complaintsknou'n-a self-selectedample-it also s an ex-plorator]', nformal approach to sathering nformation.Although il can hclpidentif i ' and tlerccrproblents. nformation sathered br, an oml.rudsmanmar'noi accuratelvdescribe he frequenc'r' r distributionof problemsor concernsanrong he larger group.particularlt ' hoseof lessassertivemen]bers.Call- lnTelephone LinesIb l l - f ree .S00 umbersare coinrnonl l used o obtain nstant eedbackand tononi tor the concernsand interestsof var iouspubl ics. ohnson& Johnscr:t racked elephonecal lsdur ing the consumerpanicassociatedr i rh r i reserendeaths causecl v cvanide- laced xtra-StrengthT\ ' lenol capsules. imi lar iv.Procter& Gamlr le(P&G) nroni toredmore than 1t)0.000al lson i ts S00nunr-ber u 'hena rumor u'ascirculat inc.hal P&G promotedSatanism.The al lsnolonlv gave ihe conrpanies pporfuni t ies o respond o concernedconsunrersbut alsoprovicied onstant lvupdated nformat ionon publ ic concerns nd react ions.

Companiesalsorecosnize he publ ic relat ions alue of givineconsunlersand custonrers ccesso the corporat ionand of ansrver ing uest ions i rect l i :

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Br ciorngso.consumerand cuslc-r ;nerot i inesp:-ovide ontpanies eedb;rckon their prc,ducts. ervicu. aci l i r ies. nd ur.1pl( ) \ , je. .or exampl: . GcncralElectr ic 'scuslonrer-sen' ice.Ansrverenter setsmore than 6. t ) ( )Llal is a der,\ \ ' i r l r ' lpool 'e i i i ro lr t ic ,n. nt( ) i tg l- r r ' f i rs l l i i tc 1c)( i ( i : .i ) l icr l idc a CLI\LOi j t . rcal ] - in service n response o grouins customerdissat isfact ion.ound thatabout 70 percent of i ts "Cool Line" servicecal is \ 'ere rom customers \ 'ho\ \ rnicd info:nral i r rn ) i l r . l l r ' i rs.Sc, i lc

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l im relat ionships.ut ther do not ref iecta crr)ss ect ionof publ ic opini0n r,rer cn the vieu'sof a parr icular ubi ic.Preside t - lohnF.Kennedl ' borroued a leaf f ron Frankl in D. Roosevelt 'sbcrok n keeping n louch u' i th const i tue rs.Kennedl,c i i recte that everr -S() thiet t t - ' r omin,q , - ) i re \ ' i r i te I lous, : 'ber ;or ir :hi o h inr P. ' r ioci icni l i l : ;ampl35ir : ipeci broth hese oadersbr idce the moat surroundinc he \ \ 'h i te House.

Other chief exccut i les n o r tanizat ionsof al l k inds use dai lv or ueeklr re-p() i tson the nt ; r i l o rea

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i toners ap into the rapidlv erpandingchannels l f nlc lacl ivc comn. iunicat ionand to i l . t ter \ ne n the i ' i r tual conversat ion.Field Reports\ ' i ; rnl c-rrcai- . i ,zat ionsave ci isr i ic tagenls. ie)ci epresenlat jves.i recrui lersuho l i le jn and ratel t i re err i tor jesser led.These genls houldb: t rained1ol istenand observe nd be qivenan easr ' .egularmeansof report int their ob-serval ions.n thissar th:r 'can set- \ ,e s he evesand earsof an organizarron.StuJrusof t ' r rcanizal ionalniel l igenceand communical ionci:nrr 'nsL;-ate.hrruclCr ' . h ir t such represent : r r ivesend to si lc l he l i l r and tcr report $hatihet ih ink r i i i l setu'el l r r i th their bosses. h is is part icular l) ' rue j i f ie ld staf fi . i i t ) \ i l i ) l i i l i r r ' r i i r '1r .r ; i5 i i t i j l , : ,1:S l i l t r t t r ! - ; t . j ! - . juj r , l ! , , , , : , , r . , , , , . , , ; : . . , , i -p. 'oplcu'ho holci o\ \ 'e l-r \ ;er heir futures n the orcanizat ton.lo;

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HECKLTST ORSTARTTNG RESEARCH ROJECT

6.

5.

5.

How wil l rhe resultsobtained ronr the re-searchbe used? his may seem ike an ob-vious question, ut i t is often easy, articu-t^-f . , :^ . ,*^ ^( ^-"- i -lai ly In clme oi ci lsrs. lo JumP li l lo aresearchproject vri thout a plan or usingthe resuiu.\^/ ! : t is rhl snrci i r DODIr!r t ionni '1.! lc)beir igstudied. nd hc'w slrouid f re sarttp lebe choseni ln some studies, eterminin6rhe popuiacion n question can constirureore c, i i i rs rrr i , ; d i i i i lLr l ' , ; : , ; c i : . \ r ; / i - r r .sample selection can mininl ize projeiccosts and maximize lhe accuracyof re-su ts.What rype of research echnioue s mostappropriate n rhis instanceiDo not auto'maiical lyassume hat a survey s best.Per-hapsa. ocusgroup or secondary esearchwil l yield becter resuhslf a survey s to be used,what sort of f ieldmelhodology wil l be most eff lcient? hereare chreeprimary choiceshere:mail, ele-phone,and n-per-sonnterviews.The rac-ti t ioner should be famil iar wilh the prosand cons of each.Are closed-endedquest ions, 2en-endedquesclons, r a combination of the rwo

re-nmmcn. ied) -[ -ha rcqnOnsC to t l-re f r :5tqueslionabovewil l havea majcr effectonthe rypesof questionsused.Wnar is t i re experience level of t i-re re-search firm being considered,and whatare the backgrounCs f i ts personnel l t isesoocial ly mpor-tan! o inquire into tf,efrr i l s e>lperience itn rire Pari icuiai. ) 'Pcof researchbeing conremplated.Do notbe afraid o ask or references.I i : , . . rn' i l l i : : i l : ; i i L-,r,, r l !1 ' , : iCa:raii"r: r i .suks reporuedl This ' is very. impcrtantlMany practi t ioners have assumed thatrhey were purchasingcomplete reDorls.enly io be handed stacks of compu:er* . . - - -- -L, . C-^r ^-^ i , , - .urr) dJ lr rc r r / rdi Pruuul l .How soon wi l l che resul ' .sbe provideC?The lux ury of proper planning. hen avai i -a i : ic.car p:evLnl a rr iea|ci , p, o;el i { : . r :r lbccorning i : unnecesser i l ; ' os: ly rrrdrr-taking.How much wil i i t cost i Professional e-search s expensive. r is wise to obiainwrictenproposals rom three firms.Ac chesame [ime, many problems can be pre-vented by insist ing hat the propcsalsad-dresseachof these nine quesr ions.

8.

9.

Counesy David L.Smi ih.ACapredand repr inred wich permission rom June 1980 ssueof Publ icRelor ,cnsJcurnol.Copyright | 980.

est in 'rate haracter ist ic-cf populat ions. n oiher \ \ 'ords.sVstematic crr i : l r in1 '-1h{1.- lqna\r i t nossih lr or nract t ionr:rs omake accuraiesi i i lcnr i f } l : ' , . . "J1' r ' r ' * * '^. , 'publ icsbasedon evidence ra* 'n frorn scient i f ica l lvepresental ive amplc-sSuccessful ub) ic el :r t ionsnranagers nou about formal reseercl in l i i i r -

c 'Js rrnd stat ist ics. ubl ic re la l ions educat ionat nrant universi t iesp' ' r i ; ,c ludcsa rescarchmethodscourscas J)[rr t f t ] tc curr iculunt.Cort inui ; t - . . i1 ,-cation programs for practitioners tvpicalh' include offerines on ho\\' 1o useresearch n program planninr. n lanaqenteni . nd et 'a luat ion.The fo) iorr ingsect ions ntroducesome of the methodsand issl les n conduct ing ormal re-sa'.arch.

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SecondaryAnalys isand On-Line DatabasesDoin!. researchdoes no1 aiuavs cal l f r . rr a thcr inc data vourself .Secondarrl r l l i l r ' : is f usc: c]a1i,ai l :cr . lc L.r son-i tonr si : . r i ic ' t t oi other pi l : I t r ' , :s : '\umercrus qovernmental and commerciai or! :anizai ionsconducl na-t jonal" regional.and Iocal survevs.Some of these surrevs track issuesandi;cnd:. For crr lrnple. hr l l .S Burcau c' f he Cinsus has a lons histrrrvof dc-veloping standaidizci ldrf inir i r rrs.sanrpl ing cchniques. ophist icated relh-ods.and publ icat jons f f in. l incs.\ ' i ihin so\ crnnrcnl.special izeclcp:rr tnretshale lar. , . :eeserirch iaffs rackinsmaior developnrents nd trends n acr icLr l-lu i r . j ; r l ra)r . . ,U5l l leSS. te ( 'cot t t | i : r . at t . l cdueaLj\ ) i r . iu l tJI i l r L)ui i l i f ! \ ()1 Ur. i l l -easunder constant tud\ ' .

Since he l9- i0s. rajorcommercialpol l inr hrms such as t i rose ormed bt '. " , . t_- l , , l l : - i .C. ; , , . _ (, : : l l i t i . l l , ; t i i l . , l . : , . i i t , . r l - (r i - l j : i l l l , : i i , , l . l : , , . i r l t , . i . i j r , ; ,n3nlesstnonlnr( 'us . , i thnreasures f publ icopini,-rn. lr .rosteren nrajorci t ihassimilar esearch irms rackinc ocalpubl icoir inion rends and conduct ingrnarkel in-qesearch.' lajor ne\\spapes. elevis ion tat ions. nd other ne\\ 's i -ganizat ions esuiar l i conductanC epori sur\evs. he resultsof thesesurvevsof len can be sesnreni ed n the basisof geographr ' . iemographrcs.nd oiheraltr ibuies elerani to publ ic relat jonsF)roblenti tuat ions.Sometinres verlookedare the sun'ev esearch entersmainlair iedbr al-rnosl al i maioi ' univcrsi t ies. esearchconductedu' i th pubi ic funds is of ienpuLrl ished nd aiai iablc for the askin,q.r lostpubl icagencies an provide ist-ingsof data setsancipublications.Foi much less han the costof conductingasurve\:. dditional analvses f availabledata often can be done to help ansu'erquest ions ot asked n the originalana)r 's is.

Special- interestubl icat ions nd scholar l l ournais regular lr .publ ish e-searchdata.A gre.at eal of research s conducted o answer questionsprevi-ousl)' ans\\'eredb1' competent researchers n,l revievvedb1' knorvledseableeditorial boards. On-line searchesnori ' make it easY and c.osleffective tosearch research iterature for studiesdone on specific opics. t mai;es ttlesense1rrdesi_ennd conducl researchunti l after explorine the possibilit l thatsorneoneelsehasalreadvdone the u'ork and published he results.

The niost frequentlr 'used esearch pproach o jnformation gathering npubf icrelat ion-s.oq'ever.s researching n- l inedatabases. omeof the most-used databases nclude Lexis-Nexis.Dun and Bradstreet. Dorl ' JonesNeu'stRetr ieval. eq'sNet.Data Times. \ ' ise \ : i re.Neu's Sites. nd Burre le'sBroadcastDatabase al l are brand names). ract i t ioners se heseservicesoaccess nd s,.- ' .archhrough nert 's nd technical ubl icat ions. usinessnforme-t ion services.market research. inancial repoi is. qovernnlent records.andbroadcast transcr ipts.For example, the Neu' York publ ic relat ions f i rmChacma, nc.. conducteddatabase earchesor economic and pol i t ical factson foreiqn sovernn'lents nd clients datingback 10 to 1? r'ears.On-line feedsof internat ionalne* 's u' i resal lou'ed he firm to track developmentsabroad,uith sun-imarv r inttrutsavai lable achmornins.:a

Sonteon-l ine database onrpanies ustomize ervices o t 'neet he specif icneedsof subscribers. or erampie, o track the over-the-countercold remedl'

Chapter 0 StepOne:DefiningPublicRelarions roblems 351

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f ie lC. he manaqerof informat ion senices a1 Ketchunl Publ ic Relat ions nNerr York suL'scr ibedo Dori . lones's custont ized er l ice to get relevant n-format ion faxeci o he off iceas soon as t goeson l ine.Neu'sNe1 nd Lexis-Nexrsr i ' i l l sel up s pr--cia li ies or subscr ibers.rakinc t easl for custon. ierscri icccss nl t ' r t t rat i ' . r I ti thoui lhc usualcosl of l i ( ( rr tverr t ionalcalch oi t i i : cn-t i re database.15Content AnalysisConlent analvsis s the appl icai ionof svslemat ic rroceduresor obiect i re i rdrturnr jn in-r r ; ; r1s hi ins reporicd n thc l lcdir . ; ' l ' russcl ip l l i r ) t : r i iJ f , t t r ; . iJ-' - .- . i . ,rL; i ,r i r , ; t . ' i , i ' ,1:. . l l i l . ' '1 ., . . '1. ; , . , i , r ' . . . . . , .r i : ,1:. ' ' . ; i : , : , ] - ' : ' l : r ,r - I : ; 'used as the bases () r conienl analvses . 'her indicate onlr ' ' " r 'hat s L'einrpr int . tJ o l t r rrradci lsl .i i . r t i i t i r i i ' . rci i j o i i reard. ,Ancl hc-r 'dc l ro l nr iasLlrcuh,: ihe; 'o i not thr art i , l i , :nces: l r rned c'rr e l ievt :cl eSSa!e onlcnt.For e :am-ple. a content anal \sisof nes'spapcr i ippingspr.ovidt 's usq{ul neasurcoiu 'hat messales re beingplaced n the media.but i t doesnot indicate eaCer-ship or impact.Analvzing the edi tor ie lsand let ters o the edi tor ma) ' \ je ld l i t t le moretharr he vicr ' ,s , f he edi to i and pr-r l . l ishc'r .he ran!e oI let terssent s s. ldomrepresentedL'r those chosen or publ icat ion. l - \nd the edi tor ia l page dorsn(. l1 pnroqrnrnrrhl iconinion rs is mnde ahundant ivclear $hen candidatesrccci r r ig nc\\ 's l lepe urrclorsgrn. : t ts- j t rto i r i ; r clcct ions. s ;rrcnda-se1; i -r !rcsearci rers aut ion.media are bretter r t te l i ing us q'hat to think about thanthcr arc at te l l inr usuhat 1o hink. : f

As John Naisbitt den.]onstratedn his popular bc'okson trends.hori 'ever.content analvsis an providevaluable nsights nto what is ikelv to be on thepublic asenda n the future. Recognizins he role of the meciia n reportineand inf fuencing rends. n 1963Naisbi t tbeganpubl ishinga quarter lvneuslet-ter,Trend Report,basedon conlent anal'r 'sesf 206 metropolitan newspapers.Ncri ' the nation al and regional neu'sleiters eport content anal_r'sesf morethan 6.000 ne\\'spapers. ased n \\/ashington.DC. but no lonser ou'ned bvNaisbi t t . these neuslet tersgi le corporate and government subscr ibersanearly'-u'arning )'stem or forecastingsocial and economic conditions.oftenlong before ther,are apparent o most observers.

Increasinsir , .ubl ic relat ions irms are helping heir cl ientsant icipate s-sues bv either subscribing o issues-trackins ervicesor bi ' doing their ori 'nmedia content analvses.t is i inportant to note. hou'eler. that these mediacontent anah'ses m plov a more svsten.]at ic.ormal method han the usual n-fornral approachesused for monitorins the media. The kel differencesarethe representat ivenessf the contentselectedor anal l 's is nd the object i r , i t r 'used n neasurins and coding he content.SurveysN{ailed uestionnairesnd n-personntervieu'sre the tu'o majorap-proaches rsed n survev esearch. he adequacyof both dependson the sam-pl ing procedures sed.uhat quest ions re asked.and hou' the quest ionsareasked.

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Advantages l ntoi l td qtrcst iotutci t ' r jsnclui icconsicieratr i r 'rv inssof t imeand moner ' . onvenienceor responJents ccauseher deiernt insuhel to an-srvei he quesi ions.-greateassut 'ancei anonlnr i t r .stancjarcl izedrordinq.noinicr i ' isu'e hias. cccsso respondrnts i ( r t cacj i l r cacire:dn p:rstr ; rhr in l l ; -v iewerrs.nd oppclr tur .r inor respondentso take t ime to sathc'r nformationneeded o complere he quest ionnaire.The bi i . rest disadvantaqesf ntanl survcls arc ihai r :s iarci i - . : rs r , rvUr()control over u'ho respondsand that lorr r rspl i lse ia ics are typica). \ 'hereasthi c l i - ig inal ta i l ing ist l rar i ia lcr br 'cn a l 'anc. iont l ralr 'c1edrnci e ' i .sar i l . l -t j1 , ; , q l . r11l1 ' . r t l l i 'c( r , l l r - , ' r , r - . . ] r l r . . r , j ,1 i i l . r - iqrr : . ,1-1r ' , . r , f i t ' , t t i l i . j ' t . , : . l i < :rn11r l .

1,r 'cna 9[]p:rcen1 eSpr611153tr l t j coul i ihr rnadequaief thosenot respondintrepres.3nl -sj-cni f icantnCunifcrrnr J-crmcnir f the popul. l t ionLr i in! stur i ic 'd.. Remcmber that elect ions re often uon bl f rai : t ions f a perceni.There s nol r i r : i : i r r t l1r ! cOl l \c i t i lo l ia i \ \ ' iSd(. i I t1 i l l i i l r : ' : r f ' - t rc i r i l i iu i i l l r ut i i i lu i r ic. ' i l r iunans\\ : r id quest ion cmains.uh;. 'h hal i of the slnrple did or did rrot re-spond?Other disadvanta!.esnciude iack oi ccntrol over the conci i t ions nderuhich thc orrest ionnaires conplei . 'd.no assur ir i rcclrai t i re ntend,:J eslnn-dcnl compir , ' tedhc qucsl. ionnaire.ack of f l :x ih i l ; : r in horr ouesi ions arcaskeJ f thc' esponJcntdoesnot urJ-rstartduhrt is b. ' i l rsasLeJ. nd di f f icui-t ies n ce t i l r r :anCnraintaininq rrrrent i ia i l i rs is ls.

A var iat ion of the mai led quest ionnaire akes the form of a pase in-cluded n publ icat ions r distr ibutedu' i thother mater ials. \ \ 'hereasire costoia seoarat; mai l ins is saved.al l the adianlasesand disadvantaoes f the "- J *'mail . 'dquesl ionnaire ppl l 'and in sonlecases re maenif ied.Itrpersoti irtten ev's give researchersncreased ontrol over the sample.but the increased ost of that conirol becomes he major disadvantage. ele-phone nlen'ieu'soffer a fast and cost-effective\'av o complete nten{eu'stuC-ies uhi le providing more anonvmitr 1o respondenls. ore than 95 psrcentof householdshave telephones. ut not all are iisted n direciories.Computer-assisted andom dieit dialing (RDD) has helped soh'e hr' samplineprobler:rcauseci r-incomplete ciirecton listings.But even uith the mosl sophisticarecisofnvare- amplingphone numbers producesonl_r, bout tu,o u'orking phonenumbers or even' three numbers dialed.The reasons or the relativell lo\ -and droppinq-rate of ri 'orking phone numbers amonq those dialed aremodems. axes.and secondand third l ines.Neu area codes n. iake lcqucnichangesn the dialing softu'arenecessan'. o alihou,chhe numbcrs selected orcallsn:a1'be representative.ns\\ 'eriirc. achines nd refusal atcrs ave n:ade tmore difficult to obtain representatitesaniples nd havedriven up costs.le

For exan. iple.be rese' .archirm Survel Sanrpl in,e. .nc.. esr intateslrat rc-searchers .lust all f ir 'ephone nurrlrers to completeone intertieu' in Chicaeoand three cal ls o completeone inten' ieu' in Cincinnat i . r4oreover,l though36 percentof adultshave refused o part ic ipaten a research tudv, hev saidinconvenience 'as he major reason or refusjns.Notabl l . more people thanever are part ic ipat ing n survet 's. or l t ' - fu 'opercentof al l adultshare part ic i-pratedn some tlpe of surve) ' . ven E4percentof thoseu'ho had refused ocooperate n one survevsaid hat thevhad part ic ipatedn anothersurve], . iu

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1n-pci 'son oorstep nter\ . i r . \ \ ,s ar, be the mosl f ler ib le and thoroushmc1i .)od. ul the costs are proport ionir teh grealer. n hoth reJr.phone nciciooistepappi-oecheshe inter i ieu,ers l ' lemseivesan in1' iuencehe informa-t ion cathered. o nterr- ieu,erraining s an essenria l lementof th is ; rpp;"oach..Advantaqes f jnte;-reu siudjes ncludchirh responsr al is. creater fexi-t i l i t t r t t dcr i l inc r i ' i th thl 135ir ,31i i ' i .q1s.to i ( r . ( , l i l i r l 0r ' r r cOltdi , , iOl-rsrni-1: in i r ich the quest io l lsare asked. ncreased ontrol or.er the order and com-i l l

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NOTES1. Edi lard J, Robinscn. Pttbl ic Rclar ions Rcst.arch nd SLtr ievRcsearch:Aclt icr-ir ig Orgati : .ar ictnaiGoals in a Contnutnicatiot:Cottr txr (\eu )brk: App)eton-Centurr -Crofts.1969;.The f i rst hook devoted o usinr social sc lcncesLlr \L ' \ . -r l : : r lcr m: i i rc 'ds n pi t l - i ic c let ionsL From thc fable. "The. Rl ind \, len and the Elephant." bi John ( iodfrer Saxe(181Gl 8S7). quoted bl Henn lvf intzber-c.Stralegl Formation: Schools ofThoueirt." n f 'crsptcti t , tr (rr l-Sir .r /{ ,r . ' i .\ l r i r tntr 'rr tott. di ted br ' .Jarnes\ '. Fredric}:-son (Neq York: Harper BusinessDivis ion of Harper & Rorv. 990): 05-6.3. Quoted in \ \ 'a l ter I i . L indenntann. 'Research.Er aluat ion.and I{easurerne i : - i\at ional Pcrspectrve."' tLbl ic ieiar ior .s. I tc l i r '16. no.2 (Sumnter199' t11.11..1 I1;r: . C..F- . : t t : r ing. "\ ' lore \1usi : I ' icas: . Compos:rs."Str t t r r iav l r ' r t i rt . ( l ' i . , ,s ii1. no.

3 l t l { r . j i l .i r . Peter H. Rossi and Hogard E. Freeman.Eraiuarion:,4 Svsrctn.ar ic,4pproach.r"h

i:u. i tr i i ,r , t ;_r t 'ai . l . . - ' \ Sagc ' i " i; .r- ;: rr ;: . gLi:rr .- ' .' : . David \ '1.Dozier. "16E Inlovai ion oi Research rr Publ ic Relations Practice:Re-vjcr i of a Prosram of Studies."Publ ic RclationsResearch nntLal (1990):3- lE.SeealsoJon \ 'hi te and Dar, id Nl . Dozier . Publ ic Relat ionsand \4anac.ement e-cision Nlakine." n Ettcl lettcc itt f 'ubl ic.Relar ion-r nd ConntLutica!i i tn \ lanagr'-ntctn. edtr,ed r - lames :. Grunig (Hi i isCale. J: Laurence Erlbaulrr .Associaies.1! /9:) .91-10S.

S. \\ ' i lbur Schramm. l !en, l \(essages,nd l t(cdia:A Loctk at Huntan Contmunication(5er ' .Yoik: l la iper anaiRou: 197-r1.i .

9. \\ ' i ibur S:hranrm. "The \ature of Clommurrication et\\ '3eu - lumans." n T' i t tI'rocc.rsattd E-ffcctso.f llass Ct'uttn:ioricatiur:,e\'. etl.. editr'C h, r \\'ilbur Schranrinand Donald F-. oberts (Urbana: Universin' of I l l inoisPress. 971),2ti .

10. Carl Sandburg.Abraham Lincoln: The \\ 'ar ) 'Zar-sI ( \eu York: Harcourt. BraceanciWorld. 19-19):3G37.

11. JosephA. Kopec. The Communication Audit." Publ ic Relai lons ournal 33,no. 5(Mat ' i962) :24.11. For more on the dist inction between "stakeholders"and "publ ics." see.Tames .

Grunis and Fred C. Reppcr. "Strategic \4anasenrent. ubl ics. nd Issues," n Er-cellence n PLLblicRelations. 12146.

13. Adapted froni Brenda Dervin. "Audience as Listener and Learner,Teacher andConfidante: ' lhe Sense t.{akinsAppioach.' ' in I 'ubl ic ClomniLtnication anipaigt:s.lC ed..edi tedb1'Ronald E. Rice and Char lesK. Atk in (Nervbun'Park. CA: SasePublications. 989),67-86.

I i . J im \/anLeuven. Expectancl Theoi f in \4edia and \ lessaseSelect ion."Conrn", i i -nicotiortRcscarch . no. 4 {C)ctober1!i6i) : | l1.

15. Heinz \\Ieihr ich. The TO\\ 'S \{atr ir : A Too i for SituationalAnal1sis." n .-{rralcslcPittnnir tg: vlodelsand Analvtical Techniques. dited bl Robert G. Dlson (Chi-ches'.e. UK: John \' i ie1'and Sons. 990). 7-36.

15. Keln'I i rcl :er and f)or is I)ercl ian. Publ ic l ielar iciTl-ri ' r i l i r ig.A I' lanrtcdAr:7;roacit.fctrCrtating Acsu/ts Engleri 'oodCli ffs.NJ:Prentice-Hal l . 989).4i- .16.17. Glen \{. Broom and David lr '1. ozier, L;sir tgResearchn Publ ic Rclations;ApS:l t-carions o Prograrn \, lanagetntnrEneleu'oodCli ffs.NJ:Prentice-Hal l .1990).20.j8. For nrore detai led discussion f researchmethods. ee Broonr and Dozier. L/sinqResearrJt rt Public Relations.

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:1.

lc)

ADD'TIONAL SOURCES

l0Lar issaA. Gnrnie."LlsingFocusGroup Rcsearcir n Publ ic Rc:lat ions." ubl ic l l t -iariottsRcric't ' 6. no. (Summe 1990): G37.For an accountof the orisin-s nd usesof the onrbudsmanconcepl.see Donald C.Rou'at. ed..The C)ntbudsniartCiti :en's Defutdcr. 2d ed. (London: Georse -A.l lenand t lnuin. 19oEi.\ ' l :r ' i l l )ai ' i r l :,. I 'ar i i i Prr '.. rr i iol. ' ' I ' t t i ; i tc []r!orions .Tttrrt i t l i l . no. 3 i\J:rr i : i rI 987):2i .

22. Amv Jacksonand Unitl Stoakes. internet \/ isi iance; 4oniLoring Public OpinionC)nlrne.">uL:!rcit: latior,srr i :r i i .r . ovember 199i. p. 11.13. Davjd \\ ' . Steuart and \{ ichaerl A. Kamins. Srt.tttdarv Rcsearih: In-fctrtrtai ir ,n

.\ourccs t t td lvl tr l tor is.d sd. (Neuburv Park. C.A: Sase Publ icai ions. 99- l ) .Dis-cusseshorr to locate infoimation from larious sources. nciuci ine govcrrnntel li i t :Lrr i l ! ) . t , , ; i i i , . t r . i , .1 , - . . r ; . - , . : . : , . : i - l ' ' l1 t ' ] . ' - ' l :1 . . ' - : ' . : r : ' '1 . :

24. O'Duvcr 's FARA Repor;1. no. 1 (\ larch 1991): - ' . i \4onthl l neuslei tc i - uFr. ' r t intcirvclc4lncntsundrr the ForeritnAgents Rccislrat c,n.rrci.Jt< ^lohn 4asterlon. Discor,ering Databases: n-Line ServicesPut Researchat Prac-ti t ioner's Fing;i t ips.' I 'ubl ic ] i t: lati tttsJciurtiul ir . ro. i ( \ove ntl. 'r ) ,r)) 1: )- i ;t2i .16. For more detai led ciescriptionsof content analvsis procedures.see Robert PWeber. Basic CorretttAnaltsis (Beverir Hil is. CA: SagePubiicatlon5. !$-i): andGuido H. Stenrpei l I."Conrent.Anaivsis." n Ac-rearclrv[ethods n ltlass Contnur-nication.edited b1'Guido H. Stempel l i and Bruce Fl. \ 'estler (Enrleu ood Cli f is.NJ: Prent ice-Hal l . 9Ei . 119-31.17. David l-. Grel and Trevor R. Brou'n. 'Letteis lcl 1i)eEditoi: Hazv Reffeci ionsofPublic Opinion.' 'JournalismQuarterlt 4T (Autumrr 1970): 5G--i6. 7i.2E. For a sood summan of 1rr 'o ecades f agenda-ieit i i r-cesearch. ee he special s-sueof Journalisn Quarterl t 69.no.4 (\\ ' inter i992): and lr{axuc'l l r lcCombs.EdnaEinseidel.and Daljd Weaver."The Agenda-SettingRole of Mass Communica-tion." chapter 2 of Contentporart Public Opinion: Issues nd the Jt'eu'sl{illsdale.NJ: Lau'renceErlbaum Associates.99i). 1i-21.

29. Terrence Coen, "Improve Phoneroom Efficiencl'," Thc Frante, Nolember 199i. p.1. (Quarterl l 'ne\\ 'sletter ubl ishedby SurveySampling. nc..Fairf ield.CT.)

30. Pat Leuis. "Cooperation Rates- the Ups and the Douns.'' The Frame 14. no. 1(1991):2.

Brocrm. Glen N{..and David M. Doziei. Using Research n Public Re ations:App!i 'catiotts c Progrant 14anasentrnt Engleu'ood Cli ffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall . i990.

Fink..Arlene. iou' to Analv:e Sun el Data (The Survev Kit, \rol. 8) and 11orr ' o Rc'port on.Sun'os ( lhe Survev Ki t . \b l . 9) . Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage Putr l ica 't ions,199-5.

Fori ler. Flovd l . Jr..Suri 'c.v esearclr \ lethods,2d ed. Ne\\ 'burv Park. CA: Sase PLri.-i icat ions.1993.Covers ess3ntia ls f sr . tr \ey esearchand adapts t to p. ' rs.r ; , r1conputers for dala entr) ' and anal)sis.

Greenbaum. fhomas L. The Handbook for Focus Group Research,2nd ed. Thou'sand Oaks,CA: SagePubl icat ions. 997.Aulhor summarizes20 r 'earsof erpert-ence n focus eroup research.

Hr.man. Ilerbert H. Secondart Analvsisof Santple.lrnc-ts: Principles,Procedures,

Part l l l ' ' lanagementrocess' . : !

:..d!:d

366

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anri Pc,runial i l ics. eu )oik: John \\ ' i le l and Sons. 9l l . Considrr ' - ' i the cles.r icreferenceon doine secondai t analr ,ses.Lavr: ikas.Paul J. ktcphonc.!r r1.r l \1t : rhr ,d.s.d ecl, l t rbLlr \ Prrk C.{ :Sa,ccPubl i -cat ions. 9!-1.C)ut lnrcs hr usi .of nru irc l rnc, l r -e l or condt lct i i t r r ) lphonr r . ' -search. samp, l inq echniqurs. sup.: r l is inq. t l tcr i tc ' . : r : . i :nd sr ' - 'ur inqcoopcr i r -t ion of respondents.

\J i1 lc i " .Delbert C. I landbt,r . , l ;o. f Rcstarcl tDrr lgr t at t i l St , t i , t . '\ i ( i t t l . I i r r i t l ! t i i .- i th cd.\e ubun l 'ark. C-{ : Sage -uhl :cai ions.19Qi. lhis lnar n. t i is Incsl cornpleien' tanualon social sciencersscarch nl3thods. ' {osl valu:rblcare ! i }e cuidrs iocl i r lnS.esl : i i i : i , i i i i t l p icscnl l i i ( ) i ls c i f s i ' l : ,c tc i l . l r l :s et lJ l r , r l i : r ' -c .\ \ ' j l l r : rn. i .Fr : 'd"r j r ] : f l t r r ' ;o11j71, '' r ' i r l :^ ! t r i i is l i r ' .s .1thed. c 'n )o: l : : l - lo l t . Rini :h. l r t and\\ - i l ts to l t . l9:r l . L is:s contr- i iuntcz:1i( ) I t\a i l )p l3! t ir i t r l ru. l ' i . : : ' . i r i l r i i ' :