Primer of Public Relations Research

Front Cover
Guilford Publications, Jul 13, 2010 - Business & Economics - 367 pages
This authoritative guide provides comprehensive coverage of the various research methods available to public relations practitioners. Written in a practical and direct style, the book takes readers step-by-step through the various elements of designing, conducting, and reporting PR-related research in both corporate and nonprofit settings. Informal and formal research methodologies are discussed in depth, including clear guidelines for using secondary sources, case studies, observational approaches, content analysis, sampling, survey research, and more. Demystifying statistical concepts and methods, the book provides detailed instructions for using SPSS, the widely available statistical software package. Numerous concrete examples, sample research tools and reports, and computer screen shots enhance the utility of the book, as do helpful review questions and practice problems at the end of each chapter.

About the author (2010)

Don W. Stacks, PhD, is Professor of Public Relations and Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Creative Support in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. He served as program director from 1995 to 2009. He has written more than 150 scholarly articles and papers and has authored or coauthored seven books on communication topics. Dr. Stacks's most recent awards include the Public Relations Society of America's Outstanding Educator, the Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize, and the Eastern Communication Association's Distinguished Research Fellow and Distinguished Teaching Fellow. He was recently elected to the first class of the Institute for Public Relations' Research Fellows and was selected as a Senior Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research. Dr. Stacks has been an active communication consultant for over 30 years. His areas of expertise include organizational systems assessment, sociological/psychological organizational analysis, media relations, internal organizational communications, and leadership, as well as serving as a trained listening specialist.

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