Course Description:

Ongoing research and evaluation is crucial to every step in the public relations process--from gathering the initial information needed for campaign planning to evaluating the effectiveness of the effort. This course provides students with an overview of research methods and techniques including secondary, primary, and informal research. Students also learn about the range of evaluation techniques. These include media analysis and measurement for both traditional and online media, competitive intelligence and fact-finding, focus group and custom survey research, and media segmentation and targeting. At the end of the course, students are prepared to prove the worth of communications and demonstrate value with solid data, projections and new insights for future campaigns.