Term
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Definition
Two-step flow theory
i. Says that media effects are not direct; instead they are mediated by opinion leaders
1. Information goes from media to opinion leaders
2. Then from opinion leaders to everyone else |
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Term
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Definition
| Agenda-setting theory: The public learns about the issues on the press agenda little effort on their part, and considering the incidental nature of this learning, issues move rather quickly from the press agenda to the public agenda. |
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Term
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Definition
Cultivation theory- the homogenizing effect of creating a shared culture. For example those who watch a great deal of television have a different picture of the world-social reality-than do those who do not watch much television.
“mean world syndrome,” meaning that heavy television viewers see the world as more dangerous and less trustworthy, and view it more pessimistically than do light viewers |
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Term
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Definition
Spiral of Silence- When people perceive their opinion to be the minority
Ex; when you are in class and you think you are the only one who doesn’t understand the concept or idea, however, many people don’t understand the same concept as you. |
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Term
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Definition
Social Learning Theory-
• People learn how to behave by observation, imitation, and modeling of others and media
• Conducted a study about violent/non-violent cartoons
• Stimulation= see and do
• Catharsis= see and don’t do |
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Term
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Definition
PR Scholar, Established 4 models of PR
1) Press Agentry (Public-Be-Damned) (1 way)
2) Public Information (Public-Be-Informed) (1 way)
3) Two-way Asymmetric (Mutual Understanding)
4) Two-way Symmetric (Mutual Adjustment). |
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Term
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Definition
| Adoption Process Handout: Awareness, interest, Evaluation, Trial, Adoption |
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Term
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Definition
diffusion of innovation- innovation is communicated through various channels over time
-knowledge, persuasion, decision (accept/reject), implementation, confirmation |
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Term
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Definition
Categorized media into 5 categories:
Western:privately owned media free of gov. control
Authoritarian/Communist:media controlled by government
Developmental:gov. has some control of media to serve political, social, cultural development
Revolutionary: media challenges gov. in order to bring changes |
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Term
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Definition
• His work focused on national cultures, the dimensions that he articulated can be applied to organizational cultures as well, because organizations often reflect the national cultures in which they operate
• Published Dutch “Cultures Consequences” compared IBM in Japan with IBM in Germany
• Came up with 4 Dimensions of Culture in 1980 (Power distance index [PDI], Individualism/collectivism [IND], uncertainty avoidance index [UAI], masculinity/femininity [MAS]). |
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Term
| Ecological approach to public relations |
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Definition
| Borrowed from the life sciences, the term introduced students and practitioners to public relations as dealing with the interdependence of organizations and others in their environment. Viewed in this perspective, public relations’ essential role is to help organizations adjust and adapt to changes in their environment. |
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Term
| Definition of a system and explain how an organizational system would work |
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Definition
| A system is a set of interacting units that endures through time within an established boundary by responding and adjusting to change pressures from the environment to achieve and maintain goal states |
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Term
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Definition
Anticipate and planning ahead, you have to anticipate changes of environment so the organization can adapt to the environment; helps you be more pro-active; anticipate problems before they hit.
i. Ex; Open system- it encourages scanning the environment → issues management |
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Term
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Definition
Waiting until something bad happens; trying to fix problems only after they hit.
ii. Ex; a closed system- it is not engaging in scanning the environment→ crisis management. |
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Term
| Environmental Scanning and Factors that affect it |
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Definition
the study and interpretation of the political, social, economic society and technological events and trend which influence business, industries, and the market.
Influences:
• Degree of organizational conflict with or competition against the environment (more environmental scanning)
• Degree of internal support and unity - more internal support means more environmental scanning; don’t have to waste time explaining to people what we’re doing (more environmental scanning)
• Degree to which internal and external conditions are predictable (predictability= less environmental scanning) |
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Term
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Definition
| Issues management is the proactive process of anticipating, identifying, evaluating, and responding to public policy issues that affect organizations’ relationships with their publics |
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Term
| Stages in the development of publics |
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Definition
•Problem recognition: represents the extent to which people are aware that something is missing or amiss in a situation, thereby knowing that they need information
•Constraint recognition: represents the extent to which people see themselves limited by external factors, versus seeing that they can do something about the situation. If people think they can make a difference or have an effect on the problem situation, they will seek information to make plans for action
•Level of Involvement: represents the extent to which people see themselves being involved and affected by a situation. In other words, the more they see themselves connected to a situation, the more likely they will communicate about it. |
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Term
| System, subsystem, suprasystem |
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Definition
System= SDSU
Subsystem= College of Business
Suprasystem= CSU system
“the environment”= the entire suprasystem minus the system itself |
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Term
| Where PR fits in a systems view of organizations and why it is important |
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Definition
PR would be working between the organization and its environment
PR function primarily serves as the adaptive function
Adapting to change pressures from the environment
Because we are a boundary spanning function, we see stuff coming and know that the organization has to adapt
You can adapt proactively or reactively |
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Term
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Definition
i. Receives input from the environment
ii. More likely to engage in environmental scanning
iii. Leads us to issues management
iv. Because open system is scanning for potential issues, you are managing issues before they become crises
v. Proactive
vi. More likely to adapt and survive
vii. PR More likely to do research
viii. likely to be managers
ix. Two way symmetrical model/ flow of information |
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Term
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Definition
i. Doesn’t receive input from the environment
ii. Crisis management
iii. Because you didn’t scan the environment you now have a big crises on your hands
iv. Reactive
v. Does not adapt easily
vi. PR Less likely to do research
vii. Less professional - no RPIE - PI
viii. More likely to be technicians
ix. One way flow of information/ disseminates info
x. A-symmetrical if they did two-way communicationMore professional - Uses RPIE |
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Term
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Definition
| Maintaining a dynamic equilibrium and what organizations need to survive |
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Term
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Definition
Refers to changes in the structure and process element in the open systems model (helps maintain homeostasis/equilibrium)
• Generate new structure (ex: starfish legs) in order to maintain homeostasis
a. Ex; press and public criticism of how the state fair is being managed prompts the board of directors to appoint a new administrator and to recognize the business office.
b. It helps form the structure of the process, but not change the goal
c. Ex; starfish grows back its leg when it gets ripped off in order to survive. |
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Term
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Definition
o Negative feedback is an error message indicating deviation, and the system adjusts by reducing or counteracting the deviation. Negative feedback is important for balance because it maintains a steady state
o Positive feedback is when a system responds by amplifying or maintaining deviation. This kind of interaction is important to morphogenesis, or system growth
o The response to negative feedback is “cut back, slow down, discontinue. Response to positive feedback is “increase, maintain, keep going.” |
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Term
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Definition
• When organizations automatically adjusts in response to feedback from the environment
• In-put/ out-put self regulation process (AC/ heater regulation thermostat)
• Self regulating in response to feedback from environment
• Know the end result homeostasis you want (use feedback to maintain homeostasis and guide morphogenesis) |
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Term
| 5 element model that portrays what tends to occur or would occur in goal seeking systems |
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Definition
1. Goals established in a control center
2. Outputs related to the goals, which have an impact on the state of the system and its environment
3. Feedback to the control center on the effects of the output
4. A comparison of the new system state with the goal state
5. Control center determination of the need for corrective output |
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Term
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Definition
| sending the message, this is one-way communication, the passing down of information, getting information out there |
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Term
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Definition
| This is two-way communication. Getting info out there and getting feedback. A reciprocal process of exchanging signals to inform, persuade or instruct, based on shared meanings and conditioned by the communicators’ relationship and the social context. |
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Term
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Definition
1. Attracting attention to the communication
2. Achieving acceptance of the message
3. Having it interpreted as intended
4. Getting the message stored for later use
5. accepting change (Persuasion)
6. stimulating active learning and practice (instruction) |
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Term
| Problems that arise with communication |
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Definition
o Technical problems arise when a signal or channel limits or distorts the message being transmitted from the source to the sender. (neither person’s fault)
o Semantic problems occur when the receiver’s perception of the message and meaning are not the same as those intended by the sender. (Receivers fault)
o Influence problems indicate that the senders’ message did not produce the desired result on the part of the receiver. (Sender’s fault). |
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Term
| Models of Public Relations |
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Definition
| Press Agentry, Public Information, Two-way Asymmetrical, Two-way Symmetrical |
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Term
| Elements of the mass communication model- introduced by Shannon and Wrever |
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Definition
| Sender, Message, Receiver, Feedback (is only a communication model if there is feedback, otherwise it is only dissemination), Medium/Channel, Noise, Encoding/Decoding, Context of Relationship, Social Environment |
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Term
| Characteristics of Sender |
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Definition
• Credibility (authenticity)- this amplifies the value of the information
• Status- in the profession of the topic
• Expertness- they have to know what they are talking about
Characteristics of message sources affect receivers initial acceptance of the message but have little effect on long term message impact
a. The “sleeper effect”
b. Source credibility amplifies the value of information
c. Perceived status (higher status=more credibility), reliability, and expertness (know what they are talking about)
• Although source characteristics affect the communication process, their impact varies from situation to situation, from topic to topic, and from time to time |
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Term
| Compliance-gaining Strategies: Sanction strategy |
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Definition
o Use rewards and punishments controlled by the sender, the receiver, or the result of the situation
o Messages convey punishment or reward
o Sometimes the difference between Sanction strategies and Circumvention strategies is follow through
o Ex; alumni please give us money and will get to sit by Weber at a fancy dinner; promise of reward/ or threaten a punishment, ex: get fired if you don’t do something, get promoted if you achieve itgmzt |
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Term
| Compliance-gaining Strategies: Altruism strategy |
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Definition
o Call upon the receiver to comply so as to help or come to the aid of the sender or some third party represented by the sender
o Appealing to people’s good nature/good will/sense of community |
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Term
| Compliance-gaining Strategies: Argument strategy |
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Definition
• Three Areas:
• Direct Requests- in which the sender does not give the receiver the rationale or motivation for the request
o “please go to bed”
• Explanations- in which the sender gives the receiver one or more reasons for complying and
o “you need sleep to go to school tomorrow- go to bed”
• Hints- in which the sender sets up the situation or suggests circumstances from which the receiver draws the desired conclusion and compliance
o “Look at the time, aren’t you tired?” |
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Term
| Compliance-gaining Strategies: Circumvention strategy (BAD) |
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Definition
misrepresent the situation, give false rationales, or promise rewards and punishments not within the sender’s power to deliver
o message is promising reward that can not be delivered or threatening punishment that is unrealistic
• detracts from the credibility of the speaker
• reduces ability to be effective in the future
o Ex; saying to kids go to bed or I will kill you.
• This type of strategy detracts of credibility of the speaker, reduces effectiveness in the future. There is a difference between a sanction circumvention which is based if there is a follow through |
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Term
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Definition
• Provide target audience with opponent’s message and say why they’re bad
• Used when audience is highly educated or when it is known that the audience will encounter the opponent’s message
• Ex: Smoking opponent will say smoking is cool, but parents inoculate children by saying this is why it’s not cool |
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Term
| Power Distance Index (PDI) |
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Definition
1. About the extent to which people accept social inequities and think of them as being unchangeable
a. The traditional example : high PDI - India - very intense system of social system; the people there tend to accept social hierarchies and think of them as being unchangeable
2. US has low PDI - people can climb the social ladder |
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Term
| Individualism/Collectivism (IND) |
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Definition
1. Individualism measures the extent to which people put their own needs and goals ahead of the group
a. High individualism - individual before group; USA
b. Low individualism - group before individual; Japan, East Asian countries
2. Implications for employee communication and PR |
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Term
| Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) |
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Definition
1. Looks at the extent to which people need and rely on unspoken social rules
a. a country that is high in uncertainty avoidance is one in which people have a lot of unspoken social rules where communication is verbal AND non-verbal; East Asian cultures - many unspoken rules that govern social relations
b. US is low in uncertainty avoidance - pretty much everything is verbal, spoken, laid out |
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Term
| Masculinity/Femininity (MAS) |
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Definition
1. Looks at the extent to which cultures demonstrate traditionally or stereotypically masculine characteristics
a. aggressive cultures, assertive cultures - HIGH masculinity; US, Mexico
b. Gender roles very defined
c. nurturing is valued - LOW masculinity; Sweden, Finland, Norway (Scandinavian); gender roles not sharply defined |
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Term
| Theories of Mass Media effects |
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Definition
• The media vs. the audience (power struggle)
• The channels vs. the receivers (power struggle)
• Hypodermic Needle Theory
o The mass media has powerful/uniform effects on the audience
o Ex: people thought if people were showed a zombie movie they would then go out and kill everyone
• Was during Nazi Germany so it seemed like it
o Debunked- no longer believed to be true |
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Term
| Theories of Mass Media effects: Minimal Effects Theory |
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Definition
o Audiences are powerful and media are weak
o Only some of the media has some effect on some people some of the time |
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Term
| Middle Range Theories of Media Effects (Where we are now) |
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Definition
1. Agenda-Setting Theory (McCombs & Shaw): Media sets public agenda by covering certain topics over others. Example: Media is covering Jon and Kate plus 8 and not Brad and Angelina plus 5.Used in 1968 presidential election-topics the media talked about most were the issues that voters said were most important to them.
2. Social Learning Theory (Bandura): Media teaches us how to behave. Example: Rap videos and treatment of women, video games and violence in children. Bobo Doll experiments: 2 groups of children-one group watched non-violent video and other watched violent video. The violent group attacked/hit the Bobo Doll more times than the other group.
3. Uses and Gratifications Theory (Herzog, Berelson, later Rosengren): Why people use certain types of media (i.e. Facebook). What needs are being met on FB that aren’t being met realistically. Someone has 500 FB friends and none in real life.
4. Cultivation of Perceptions of Social Reality (Gerbner & Gross): Think real world is exactly like what is on TV. Biggest concern is portrayal of minorities in primetime TV. Gerbner and Gross looked at the mean world index and looked at TV watchers. Heavy TV watchers think world is mean because news only shows bad stuff. |
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Term
| Diffusion Theory and Process of Adoption |
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Definition
Sources of Info: Mass media, agencies and experts, friends/neighbors, salesmen
a. Awareness - has heard of the idea: lacks details
b. Interest - Develops interest: gathers general information and facts
-Sources of Info: Friends/Neighbors, agencies/experts, mass media, salesmen
c. Evaluation - Can I do it? Mental trial; application to personal situation
d. Trial - How to do it? Small-scale, experimental use
e. Adoption - satisfaction: large-scale continued use (behavior change) |
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Term
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Definition
First to adopt new ideas
out in front of others
independent thinkers
high net worth
high risk capital
prestige and power
many contacts outside community
many sources of information
not named as source of information by others |
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Term
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Definition
younger
more education
participate more in school, church, community, org.
more sources of information
avoid untried ideas but quickest to use tested ones |
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Term
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Definition
slightly above, average in age, education, experience
medium high in economic and social status
active in community groups but not leadership
respected in own circles
informal leaders
not innovators
Most often named as neighbors and friends |
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Term
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Definition
older
less education
less active in community/groups
fewer sources of information
Rely heavily on influence from early majority |
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Term
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Definition
older
less education
less activity
less information
family ties important
new ideas may seem to conflict with teaching of parents, religion, tradition
Likely to be non-adopters |
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Term
| Elements of Public Opinion |
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Definition
a. Direction - simply means good or bad/agree or disagree
b. Intensity - Measures direction and intensity of opinion
i. Likert Scale: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree
c. Stability - the extent to which a particular opinion is constant over time
i. Administer same question w/ Likert scale answer on two separate occasions
d. Informational Support - how much information/facts people actually have to support their opinion
i. more people will have opinions that have facts to back up those opinions
ii. important for PR because if you want to influence people you have to educate them; the amount of information people have will affect the extent to which they are willing to modify or change their opinions
e. Social support - whether you think other people support your opinion
i. it is easier to express an opinion when there are high levels of social support
ii. in PR you use this by using testimonials - “9 out of 10 people agree that…” get people to behave the way you want them to by showing them there is social support for the behavior you want or showing that there is no social support for the behavior you don’t want
• IMPORTANT: in PR; harder to change mind if person has a lot of knowledge about an issue; easier to change if know nothing about issues |
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Term
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Definition
• When people perceive their opinion is in minority, they don’t want to speak up which in turn contributes to their silence
• When minority opinions don’t get expressed because of lack of social support, “Silent Majority”- she developed theory by observing how people react in train cabins in US; Colleagues claim she developed it w/respect to Holocaust in Germany.
• Individuals who think their opinion conflicts with the opinions of most other people, they tend to remain silent on an issue (and vice versa)
• IMPORTANT: because to change behavior, have to empower people with minority opinion to speak out |
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Term
| Independent Variables of Situation Theory of Publics |
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Definition
i. Problem Recognition - represents the extent to which people are aware that something is missing or amiss in a situation, thereby knowing that they need information
1. high vs. low
ii. Constraint Recognition - represents the extent to which people see themselves limited by external factors, versus seeing that they can do something about the situation. If people think they can make a difference or have an effect on the problem situation, they will seek information to make plans for action
iii. Level of Involvement - represents the extent to which people see themselves being involved and affected by a situation. In other words, the more they see themselves connected to a situation, the more likely they will communicate about it |
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Term
| Dependent Variables of Situation Theory of Publics |
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Definition
Information Processing (aka Passive Communication)
Information Seeking (aka Active Communication) |
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Term
| Type of Publics that Arise around issues |
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Definition
a. All-issue publics - are active on all issues in your situation set
b. Apathetic publics - are inattentive and inactive on all issues in your situation set
i. Largest proportion of public is in this category
c. Single-issue publics - are active on any single issue (or a subset of issues/ limited number of related issues)
d. Hot-issue publics - are active after media expose almost everyone, and the issue becomes the topic of widespread social conversation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Attitude is the cross-situational predisposition or preference with respect to an object or issue. Attitudes predispose individuals to respond in certain ways from one situation to another |
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Term
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Definition
| Opinion is the judgment expressed about an object in a particular situation or given a specific set of circumstances. Opinions tend to reflect an individual's related attitudes but also take into account aspects of the current situation |
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Term
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Definition
a. Your organization is simultaneously oriented to an issue and a public
b. Coorientation useful to PR because it tells you where the problems are in this relationship in this situation
i. Issue/Object – Class levels
ii. Organization’s view of issue – We want money
iii. Public’s view of issue- we are the 1%
iv. Agreement – No agreement
v. Organization’s assessment of public’s view –they don't think its fair
vi. Public’s assessment of organization’s view – they don't care
vii. Accuracy – represents the extent to which your estimate matches the other person’s actual views
viii. Congruency (perceived agreement) – extent to which your own views match your estimate of another’s views on the same issue |
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Term
| Uses of the coorientation model in PR |
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Definition
- Diagnostic tool helps you find problems in your relationship
- Potentially can help you prioritize which problems to address first
- When you use coorientation model multiple times, you can track your changes in organization/public relationship |
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Term
| Why employee communication is important |
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Definition
a. Organizational effectiveness and profitability - When employee’s feel communication in their companies is better, they like their company more and work harder; better organizational effectiveness, productivity
b. Managerial accountability
c. Good employee communication systems are set up so that managers can be help accountable for distributing information |
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Term
| Characteristics of healthy working relationships |
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Definition
a. Employer-employee trust and confidence
b. Honest, candid & free-flowing information
c. Personal satisfaction - when employees are not satisfied they quit; costs companies a lot of money to retrain employees
d. Work continuity without conflict - people want to be able to do the job they were hired to do without drama
e. Healthy & safe surroundings
f. Organizational success - where employees feel they contribute to the organizations success
g. Optimism about the future - because they are optimistic about the companies’ future they want to continue working there |
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Term
| Organizational structure - (centralized vs. decentralized) |
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Definition
i. centralized - one where you have a very clear headquarters where the majority of the decisions are made
ii. decentralized - each branch makes its own decisions |
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Term
| Nature of Information Flow |
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Definition
i. upward - employees (bottom of totem pole) even have input into the decision making process
ii. downward - people at the top make decisions and pass them down through the ranks |
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Term
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Definition
i. Formal communication structures - situation where there are a lot of rules and policies governing communication
Top-down flow without feedback - no debate, or feedback
ii. Centralized decision-making
iii. Historicist - you keep your traditions; not in a good way though; you do things this way just because they have always been done a particular way
iv. Formal power - people have power when they have authority; authority gives you the right to influence things because of your position; power means that you have the ability to influence things, regardless of whether you have authority; power resides in positions of authority; you only have power when you have authority
v. Asymmetrical worldview - information only flows one way, from managers down; at the end of the day, the organization does not care about the public, only about the organization itself
vi. No such thing as a completely authoritarian organization |
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Term
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Definition
i. Informal communication structure - pretty much anybody can talk to anybody; not a lot of rules about who can talk to whom and when
ii. Dialogue across organization - discussion and input from employees before decisions are made
iii. Decentralized decision making
iv. Innovative - think of particular situations to come up with new and better solutions
v. Individual empowerment - try to empower individuals; employees feel like they can try to do things whether or not they have authority
vi. Symmetrical worldview - cares about the organization, its employees, and its other stakeholders
vii. No purely participative organization of the company |
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Term
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Definition
simultaneous orientation toward each other and toward aspects of each others culture
used to examine relationship between managers and workers in a multicultural, multinational organization |
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Term
| Challenges to internal communication |
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Definition
a. Safety and compliance - company is required by federal and state laws to post rules; inspection grade, minimum wage, etc; sexual harassment info
b. Labor relations - keeping up communication with all of your employees and the unions
c. Organizational change - mergers, acquisition, and layoffs
d. Manager incompetence or worldview - when managers don’t want to share information; some managers have a perception of the world where they don’t think that information should be shared |
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Term
| Tactics for acculturating, informing, and listening to employees |
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Definition
Acculturating: Vision Statements, mission statements, policy documents, ethics statements, and training manuals
Informing: Employee publications, inserts and enclosures, published speeches, bulletin boards, intranets, hotlines, e-mail, new media
Listening: hotlines, toll-free numbers, anonymous e-mail, ombuds officer (listen to employee concerns) |
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Term
| Indicators of professional status |
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Definition
a. Specialized education
b. Body of knowledge
c. Individual accountability
d. Community Recognition
e. Code of ethics/standards of professionalism |
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Term
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Definition
| deep philosophical meaning behind ethical terms; we don’t worry so much about this type of ethics; just be aware of term |
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Term
|
Definition
| the study of how people actually behave; |
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Term
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Definition
| main area we are concerned with in this class; looks at questions about how people should behave |
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Term
| Teleological approach/Consequentiality |
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Definition
| determines if an action is ok by looking at the consequences of the action; list all possible good and all possible bad; if the good outweigh the bad then that decision is ethical; if the bad outweighs the good than that decision is unethical |
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Term
| Deontological approach / Non - consequential |
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Definition
| don’t really care about the consequences of the action; care about the intention behind that action; PR practitioners are judged by their intentions and not by the consequences of their actions |
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Term
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Definition
| the notion that the exact same ethical rules should apply to all people in all situations |
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Term
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Definition
| the ethics of a situation depend on the uniqueness of a particular situation; problem is that if everything is relative, then you cannot make uniform statements such as Mother Theresa was a better person than Hitler |
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Term
| Importance of ethics for public relations |
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Definition
a. Fiduciary relationship with stakeholders - grounded in trust; a relationship where you have to behave in a trustworthy way just because people already trust you
b. Professional privilege - protecting our own profession; PR people are in a position to know a lot of things about a lot of people and companies; PR people need to be concerned about ethics and behave ethically because if we don’t we are going to lose our own position of privilege
c. Social responsibility - fulfilling our duty to society as a whole; PR people need to care about ethics because if we don’t we are failing society as a whole |
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Term
| Positives of Public Relations |
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Definition
i. Public relations improves professional practice by codifying and enforcing ethical conduct and standards of performance
ii. Public relations improves the conduct of organizations by stressing the need for public approval.
iii. Public relations serves the public interest by making all points of view articulate in the public forum.
iv. Public relations serves our segmented, scattered society by using communication and mediation to replace misinformation with information, discord with rapport.
v. Public relations fulfills its social responsibility to promote human welfare by helping social systems adapt to changing needs and environments |
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Term
| Negatives of Public Relations |
|
Definition
i. Public relations gains advantages for and promotes special interests, sometimes at the cost of the public well-being
ii. Publicity clutters already choked channels of communication with the debris of pseudoevents and phony phrases that confuse or influence rather than clarify
iii. Public relations sometimes corrodes our channels of communication with cynicism and credibility gaps |
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Term
|
Definition
| state issues (PR people don’t have license because it violates the 1st amendment freedom of speech), it is REQUIRED before you practice a profession |
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Term
|
Definition
| state does NOT issue it comes from a professional association, it is NOT required but it is recommended |
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Term
| Elements of accreditation process |
|
Definition
a. Universal Accreditation Board established in 1998
b. Exam administered by PRSA
c. Accreditation involved:
i. “Readiness Review Panel” - an oral interview by jury of accredited peers; includes presentation of portfolio and response to essay question
ii. Written examination - now all multiple choice
iii. Maintenance and continuing education - every three years you have to do something to keep yourself up to date professionally
Usually for people who have a minimum of 5-7 years
iv. *$20,000 difference in income between accredited and non-accredited practitioners |
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Term
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Definition
-Advocacy: act as responsible advocates for those they represent, provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts and viewpoints
-Honesty: adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those they represent while communicating with the public
-Expertise: acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience. Advance profession through professional development, research and education
-Independence: provide objective counsel to those they represent, accountable for actions
-Loyalty: faithful to those they represent, while honoring obligation to serve the public interest
-Fairness: deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers etc. |
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Term
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Definition
Free Flow of Information
-Competition
-Disclosure of Information: sharing information that you have available
-Safeguard Confidences
-Conflicts of interest: not ethical for you to promote product if you have financial interest in product
-Enhancing the profession |
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Term
Four-step process of public relations management (RPIE)
R - research - practitioners need to research 3 things in PR research |
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Definition
1. Client - San Diego center for the blind
2. Public - target publics that this organization wants to reach
3. Issue/problem/opportunity
Then comes SWOT - (strengths & weaknesses which are internal, opportunities & threats which are external) |
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Term
Four-step process of public relations management (RPIE)
P - planning - GoalPOST |
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Definition
Goal - the goal statement - a positive iteration of the problem statement
Publics (targeted, segmented and prioritized)
Objective - for each public
1. Measurable
2. Clearly connected to a specific public
3. Time frame
4. Appropriate outcome - with regard to attitude, behavior, and/or knowledge
Strategies
Tactics |
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Term
Four-step process of public relations management (RPIE)
I - implementation - TASC |
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Definition
Tasks
Amount of money
Schedule of execution
Coordinator - who will be coordinating the implementation
For the project - articulate the tasks that the client needs to do; get real world quotes for the amount of money that it would need to implement the campaign
Put together a realistic schedule for them
Identify coordinator to do the work |
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Term
Four-step process of public relations management (RPIE)
E - evaluation - done at 3 levels |
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Definition
Level of preparation
Level of implementation
Level of impact |
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Term
| Steps in Scientific Research Process |
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Definition
1. Select topic
2. Review Literature
3. State H or RQ
4. Design Study
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data
7. Presentation
8. Replication |
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Term
| Primary vs. secondary research |
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Definition
a. Primary research is when you go out and collect the information yourself and you analyze it yourself
b. Secondary research is when someone else has already done the work and collected and analyzed the info, and you just look it up in the library
i. Internet, journals, books, etc |
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Term
| Research Question Vs Hypothesis |
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Definition
RQ: This is the question that you are trying to answer when you do research on a topic or write a research report.
H:A hypothesis is a statement that can be proved or disproved. A research question can be made into a hypothesis by changing it into a statement. For example, the third research question above can be made into the hypothesis: |
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Term
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Definition
a. Surveys are systematic queries of subsets of the population under study
b. Questionnaire’s are a type of survey - mailed questionnaire’s are the most traditional method
i. Considerable savings of time and money, convenience for respondents because they determine when to answer the questions, greater assurance of anonymity, standardized wording, no interviewer bias, access to respondents not readily attached in person by interviewers, and opportunity for respondents take time to gather information needed to complete the questionnaire. |
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Term
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Definition
a. Population are the people you are trying to get info from
b. Sample is the subset from that population that you’re getting the data from |
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Term
| Instrument validity vs. instrument reliability |
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Definition
a. Validity - Deals with whether your questionnaire items are measuring what you want them to measure, whether the measurement itself is valid
b. Reliability - the extent to which a particular survey instrument will return the same answers over time |
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Term
| External vs. internal validity |
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Definition
a. A study that readily allows its findings to generalize to the population at large has high external validity - asks the question “can you generalize the results”
b. To the degree that we are successful in eliminating confounding variables within the study itself is referred to as internal validity - “Are we measuring what we think we are measuring” |
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Term
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Definition
i. designed to gather data from scientifically representative samples
ii. help answer questions about situations that simply cannot be answered adequately using informal approaches
iii. make it possible for practitioners to make accurate statements about publics based on evidence drawn from scientifically representative samples
1. Methods
a. Secondary analysis & Online databases
b. Content analysis
c. Surveys |
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Term
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Definition
1. Personal contacts
2. Key informants
3. Focus groups/community forums
4. Advisory boards/committees
5. Ombuds officer - informal problem solver
6. Call-in phone lines - analyze the phone calls that come in pertaining to your area of interest
7. Mail analysis
8. On-line sources
9. Field reports
ii. Research that is less rigorously done than formal research
iii. Sample is a subset of a population
iv. Two ways to get the sample
1. Random or convenience
a. Random is sampling where every member of your population has a statistically equal or calculable chance of being selected for your sample |
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Term
| Qualitative methods vs. quantitative methods |
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Definition
a. Qualitative - Deals with descriptions
i. Data can be observed but not measures
ii. Qualitative = quality
b. Quantitative - Deals with numbers
i. Data which can be measured
ii. Quantitative = Quantity |
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Term
| Strategic vs. evaluative research |
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Definition
a. Strategic research - allows PR to present and advocate proposals supported by evidence and theory. Research is the systematic gathering of information to describe and understand situations to check out assumptions about publics and public relations consequences. It is the scientific alternative to tenacity, authority, and intuition.
i. Main purpose is to reduce uncertainty
b. Evaluative research - Program conceptualization and design
i. Monitoring and accountability of program implementation
ii. Assessment of program utility: impact and efficiency
iii. Evaluative research is used to learn what happened and why, not to prove or do something |
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Term
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Definition
a. Gathering information about public opinion, trends, emerging issues, political climate and legislation, media coverage, special-interest groups, and other concerns related to an organization’s stakeholders.
b. Searching the internet, online services, and electronic government databases.
c. Designing program research, conducting surveys and hiring research firms |
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Term
| Excuses for not conducting research in PR |
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Definition
| PR professionals claim that they lack funds and time to do research |
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Term
| Writing a problem statement |
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Definition
a. A useful problem statement summarizes what was learned about the problem situation
i. It is written in the present tense, describing the current situation
ii. It describes the situation in specific and measurable terms, detailing most of or all of the following
1. What is the source of concern?
2. Where is this a problem?
3. When is it a problem?
4. Who is involved or affected
5. How are they involved or affected?
6. Why is this a concern to the organization and its publics?
b. A problem statement does not imply solutions or place blame. If it did, program strategies would be predetermined and limited, much like the cuttlefish’s limited options for responding to its environment. The classic example of a problem statement that has an implied solution is the overused, “What we have here is a communication problem.” Communication is part of the solution, not the problem! |
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Term
| Elements of Situational Analysis- Internal Factors |
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Definition
| Deals with organizational policies, procedures, and actions related to the problem situation. It also provides ideas and information for speeches, pamphlets, special reports, exhibits, and media requests |
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Term
| Elements of Situational Analysis- External Factors |
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Definition
| Systematic review of the history of the problem outside of the organization, detailed study of who was affected and how |
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Term
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Definition
Strengths and weaknesses (internal)
Opportunities and threats (external) |
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Term
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Definition
| research where you have high generalizability from from the sample to the population |
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Term
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Definition
low generalizability
o Asking friends for advice |
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