What Public Relations research questions and objectives do you encounter?

1 Situation analysis

Before launching a PR campaign or initiative, you need to conduct a situation analysis to assess the current state of affairs, opportunities and challenges, and the gaps and needs of your organization and its environment. Answering questions such as what is the background and context of your PR issue or opportunity, who are your key publics, stakeholders, and competitors, and what are their characteristics, interests, and expectations? can help you identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of your organization and its PR function. Additionally, you should consider existing or potential issues or crises that could affect your reputation or relationship with your publics as well as the best practices and benchmarks in your industry or sector. Your situation analysis objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to guide your research design and methods.

3 Media research

Media research is a valuable tool when it comes to understanding the media landscape, media coverage, and media relations of your organization and its competitors. It can help you answer questions such as what are the trends, opportunities, and challenges in your industry or sector, who are the key media outlets and journalists covering your topic or issue, and how much and how well are you being covered by the media. Additionally, it can help you measure the effectiveness of your media relations strategies and tactics in comparison to those of your competitors. Lastly, it can provide insights into how the media coverage and media relations affect public awareness, perception, and behavior. When crafting your media research objectives, make sure they are linked to PR outcomes and impacts so that you can optimize your media relations and monitor your media performance.

4 Evaluation research

Evaluation research is a key part of measuring and assessing the results and impacts of PR activities, programs, or campaigns. It can help you answer questions such as how well your PR plan was implemented, what the outputs and outcomes of your activities were, how they impacted publics' awareness, knowledge, perception, attitude, behavior, or action, and how they contributed to organizational goals. Additionally, it can provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your efforts, as well as any lessons learned and best practices. Evaluation research should be based on PR objectives and indicators to demonstrate value and accountability. Ultimately, it should help to provide recommendations for future PR activities.

5 Ethical research

Ethical research is the application of ethical principles and standards to PR research, such as honesty, integrity, respect, fairness, and responsibility. This type of research can help you protect the privacy of research participants, ensure the accuracy and validity of data, acknowledge sources and contributions, balance interests and expectations, and communicate findings. Your ethical research objectives should be in line with PR values and codes of conduct to enhance PR credibility and trustworthiness. Questions to consider include: how do you protect privacy and handle sensitive information? How do you guarantee accuracy and avoid bias? How do you cite sources and avoid plagiarism? How do you prevent conflicts of interest? How do you disseminate findings in an accessible manner?

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?