Research Process & Methodology

This course provides students with the research skills needed to successfully work in public relations. Throughout the course, students learn the importance of understanding target audiences and how to conduct research on these audiences to strengthen public relations planning and execution. The first half of the course focuses on the formal research processes, methodologies, design, and collection. The second half of the course focuses on research tactics, inclusive of writing surveys, conducting interviews, hosting focus groups, and preparing to conceptualize a research topic. Students also learn methods for correct citations, quoting works without plagiarizing, copyright infringement, legal and ethical issues in research, and receive training in working with human subjects. In this course, students also prepare research proposals as a springboard for their Capstone papers.