Improving Communication Through Public Relations Research1
ABSTRACT Public affairs programs often communicate with their customers, or publics, in simply one direction. During a pollution incident press releases are generated and sent to the news media, corporate executives give positive sound bites for the evening news, and reporters' questions are answered. Evidence of whether the response and cleanup was successful is typically evaluated by the slant of the television or newspaper reports. However, public opinion may radically differ with what is being reported. It is important, therefore, to have a public relations methodology established to directly measure public opinion. It is especially important to measure a “baseline” opinion before an incident occurs that will help determine the variance of public perception in your community and clearly determine if, and by how much, your corporate image has been damaged or improved. This paper will offer usable suggestions of how to measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, public opinion.