1. Taejin Jung, Ph.D. Week 6: Defining PR Problems
COM215
Taejin Jung, Ph.D.
Week 6: Defining PR Problems

2. Way of Approaching PR Problems
Old Approaches
- Seat-of-the-pants approach
- Hunches
- Gut feelings
- Personal experiences
Current Approaches
- PR practitioners as “an applied social and behavioral scientist” using “research to help in the problem-solving process”
- Research is “the most powerful tool available to the applied practitioner”

3. Management Process (Monitoring) ↓ Strategy (Planning) Implementation
◙ PR is a scientifically managed part of an organization’s problem solving and change process
1. Defining the problem (or opportunity)
- Situation analysis
- “What’s happening now?”
2. Planning and programming
- Set up strategy
- “What should we do and say, and why?”
3. Taking action and communicating
- Implementation
- “How and when do we do and say it?”
4. Evaluating the program
- Assessment
- “How did we do?”
Situation Analysis
(Monitoring) ↓
Strategy
(Planning)
Implementation
(Action)
Assessment
(Evaluation)

4. Role of “Research” in Strategic Planning
“You can’t measure that. Let’s just go with our gut”
- The decline of PR is due to the lack of monitoring and substantive evaluation of results (↔ MBA)
Reasons of so little research in PR
- Many employers’ and clients’ views that research is not necessary
- Little understanding how to do and use research
“Research is the systematic gathering of information to describe and understand situations and to check out assumptions about publics and public relations consequences”
- The scientific alternative to tradition, authority, and intuition
- Research training tops the list of needed professional continuing education

5. Problem Statement
It is written in the present tense, describing the current situation.
It describes the situation in specific and measurable terms (5W1H).
A problem statement does not imply solutions or place blame

6. Two Forms of Research ◙ “Evaluation” Research ◙ Benefits of Research
◙ “Formative” Research
To define audiences and segment publics
To prevent crisis
To monitor competition
To test messages
To generate publicity
To formulate strategy
◙ “Evaluation” Research
To measure success
◙ Benefits of Research
To achieve credibility with management
To help management keep in touch

7. Content of Situation Analysis
◙ External factors
Content analysis of media coverage and Internet sources (e.g., Reports, transcripts, and tapes of radio, TV, and cable coverage of the problem situation)
Lists of and background information on individuals and groups who share the organization’s interests on the problem situation
Results of surveys and public opinion polls related to the organization and the problem situation
List of government agencies, legislators, and other officials with regulatory and legislative power affecting the problem situation
Copies of relevant regulations, legislation, pending bills, referenda etc.
◙ Internal factors
Mission statement, charter, bylaws, history, and structure
Statistics about resources, budget, staffing, sales, profits, stockholders
Policy statement related to the problem situation
Position statements by key executives regarding the problem situation
Lists of organizational media for communicating with internal groups
Description of how the organization currently handles the problem situation

8. Researching the situation (SWOT)
Situation Analysis
Internal External
Analysis Analysis
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threats

9. Internal Factors (Strengths & Weaknesses)
In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors
Strength could be:
- Your specialist PR (or marketing) expertise.
- A new, innovative product or service.
- Location of your business.
- Quality processes and procedures.
- Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service.
A weakness could be:
- Lack of marketing expertise.
- Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to your competitors).
- Poor quality goods or services.
- Damaged reputation.

10. External Factors (Opportunities & Threats)
In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors
Opportunities could be:
- A developing market such as the Internet.
- Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances.
- Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits.
- A new international market.
- A market vacated by an ineffective competitor.
Threats could be:
- A new competitor in your home market.
- Price wars with competitors.
- A competitor has a new, innovative product or service.
- Competitors have superior access to channels of distribution.
- Taxation is introduced on your product or service.

11. SWOT Strategies
SO strategies build on organizational strengths to take advantages of opportunities in the external environment
2. ST strategies also build on organizational strengths to counter threats in the external environment
3. WO strategies attempt to minimize organizational weakness to take advantage of external opportunities
4. WT strategies attempt to minimize both organizational weakness and environmental threats

12. SWOT Analysis Examples
◙ Wal-Mart SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store.
Weaknesses: Wal-Mart is the World's largest grocery retailer. Control of its empire, despite its IT advantages, could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge span of control.
Opportunities: To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such as Europe or the Greater China Region.
Threats: Being number one means that you are the target of competition, locally and globally.

13. Primary vs. Secondary Research
Primary Research
In academia
Creation of new knowledge/Testing theory
Gather information from subjects or the natural world
Survey
Focus Group
Content Analysis
Experiment
Interview
Secondary Research
Professional (PR) - Informal
To answer the current question
Faster & less cost
a. Organizational records (annual report/financial report)
b. Databases (census, public opinion, international business, and news information)
c. Research reports

14. Types of PR Research ◙ Quantitative Research (Formal)
◙ Qualitative Research (Informal)
Focus Groups
Case Studies
In-Depth Interviews
◙ Quantitative Research (Formal)
Survey
Content Analysis
Experience Surveys
Uses small number of experts
In-depth questioning
Sales people, consultants, former employees
Case Studies
Identify similar or “best practice” situations
Conduct in-depth analysis and interviews
Focus Groups
Projective Techniques
Ways of tapping respondents’ deepest feelings by having them “project” those feelings into an unstructured situation.
One-on-one interviews that probe and elicit detailed answers to questions, often using nondirective techniques to uncover hidden motivations.

15. [Informal 1] Focus Group Interview
Free-flowing interview
Guided by moderator
6-12 people with similar backgrounds
1-3 hour duration
Ex) Buick “LaCrosse” – To French Canadian, it means “masturbation”
Was originally designed to stimulate consumer group process of decision making to gather more accurate information about consumer product preferences
Started in 50s
It is not a problem solving session or a decision making group, but is an interview
Object is to get high quality data in a social context where people canconsider their own views in the ocntext of the views of others.

16. [Informal 2] The Case Study
Advantages
- Describe and provide examples
- What is being studied has already occurred
- Look back through direct observation, participation, secondary research
- Study of campaigns, individuals, and organizations
Disadvantages
- Its inability to “generalize” in its findings
- “Theory” vs. “Grounded theory”
Case studies are in-depth studies of particular people, organization, events, or even processes.
- Found in most applied disciplines (e.g., business, law, advertising, medicine, and PR)
Descriptive approach
- Describe a person, organization and event
- Extension of secondary research
Provide “examples” of what worked or did not work in a very specific instance.

17. [Informal 3] In-depth interview
Involve asking questions, listening to and recording the answers, and then posing additional questions to clarify or expand on a particular issue.
Questions are open-ended and respondents are encouraged to express their own perceptions in their own words.
Ex) Clinton and Health Care (
Can be very structured to very unstructured.

18. [Formal 1] Survey Research
Data collection through communication with a representative sample
Used to:
- Describe
- Learn why?
Advantages
- Quick
- Inexpensive
- Efficient
- Generally accurate
Method of Communication
- Personal Interviews
- Telephone
- Mail
- Internet
Temporal Dimension (Time)
- Longitudinal studies (over time)
- Cross-sectional studies (a point in time)
Types of Question
- Structured versus unstructured
- Disguised versus undisguised

19. [Formal 2] Content Analysis
Enables us to look at qualitative data in a quantitative manner
Qualitative data (In-depth Interview, FGI, Observation)
 Make category (Coding scheme)
 Quantification
 Analysis
Ex) Number of certain types of press releases
Transition from “Informal” to “Formal” methodologies
Informal Formal
Qualitative Quantitative
Observation Count
Samplings

20. Recommended Websites for Secondary Research
American Association for Public Opinion Research (
Bureau of Labor Statistics (
Content Analysis Resources (
U.S. Census Bureau (
The Gallup Organization (
Public Relations Society of America (
Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (