Research is essential to organizations before executing a PR campaign. Research can help identify potential problems, solve those problems, and prevent problems from happening. Research helps define an organization's target audience so the org can begin to think about a campaign that best caters to them. Research allows for the most effective campaigns.
Applied research is one type that is essential to an organization. What exactly is applied research?
“Applied research deals with practical problems faced by organizations and guides effective resolution of such problems” (Smith, 2021, p.473).
In other words, applied research identifies problems an organization may face and helps you come up with solutions. Three types of applied research include:
Focus groups
Surveys
Content analysis
Let's break down each of these methods.
A demonstration of focus groups. Photo by Naylor.com
Focus Groups
Focus groups are used to gather qualitative data for organizations. They “enable researchers to collect information on anything from products and services to beliefs and perceptions in order to reveal true customer attitudes and opinions” (Boughton). Focus groups involve a group of people in one room where a moderator will ask questions to guide the conversation. This will create a discussion where everyone in the group is allowed to comment and talk freely. This method helps organizations identify possible attitudes about their brand they weren’t aware of or potential problems a new product or service may face that need to be corrected. The largest advantage to focus groups is that the conversation is free flowing. Rather than interviewing one person for their personal opinion, organizations are getting opinions from multiple participants.
Surveys
Surveys are great methods of research because they can reach large groups of people. Today, surveys are easy to create due to the growing amount of online survey creators. Additionally, they’re very easy to administer, often involving only sending a link to people. They’re one of the cheapest methods of research. According to an online survey website called Snap Surveys (Defranzo), there are many advantages to surveys:
Can be developed in less time
A broad range of data can be collected (attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, behavior, factual)
Numerous questions can be asked about a subject, giving extensive flexibility in data analysis
Can be administered remotely via online, mobile devices, mail, email, kiosk, or telephone
Content Analysis
Content analysis is used to analyze qualitative data for certain themes or meanings. This method can be used to analyze text from interviews, focus groups, or any other text.
“To analyze the text using content analysis, the text must be coded, or broken down, into manageable code categories for analysis” (Columbia, 2023).
This method helps look further into previous methods used to research. For example, an organization may have conducted a focus group study earlier in the month. In order to identify potential things they may have overlooked, they may use this content analysis method to analyze it further by breaking the text down into themes. This helps organizations identify potential problems or opportunities.
Steps to executing a content analysis. Photo by tutor2u.net
These methods are very effective and often provide different type of data. Organizations may use each of the methods prior to creating a campaign. Additionally, organizations may use a method called sampling. Sampling is when a group of individuals within an organization is selected to represent the whole population. Sampling is beneficial because it saves time and money (Smith, 2021, p.479). This research may provide opinions from a certain demographic or population that an organization may be targeting with their product or service.
So, next time your organization is planning a PR campaign consider doing extensive applied research. It could make or break the campaign.
Resources
Boughton, L. (n.d.). What is a focus group and how can it benefit your market research?. Angelfish Fieldwork. https://info.angelfishfieldwork.com/market-research-fieldwork-blog/what-is-a-focus-group-and-how-can-it-benefit-your-market-research
Columbia. (n.d.) Content Analysis Method and Examples. Columbia Public Health. https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/research/population-health-methods/content-analysis
DeFranzo, S.E. (n.d.) Advantages and Disadvantages of Surveys. Snap Surveys. https://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/advantages-disadvantages-surveys/
Smith, R.D. (2021). Strategic planning for public relations (6th Ed.). Routledge.
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