Chumley notes the differences in PR education programs, particularly higher education, between different countries and, I am projecting my own thoughts, different business cultures.

First, let us note that Chumley’s observation is, in his own words, unconfirmed and perhaps based upon anecdotal (or unreferenced / linked to) observations. So, my premise is more along the lines of , “What if it is true?”

Chumley writes:

… (an individual) and some colleagues, as part of a group project, had looked at how many PR diploma or post-grad certificate programs in Ontario included a formal course on research. Surprisingly few was the answer.

Now, I don’t want this to turn into a “beat up on Canada post” because I’m pretty confident this situation likely exists in other countries, and perhaps even in some programs in the U.S. Also, Canadians are nice. I like them.

How widespread it is, I don’t know. However, I believe when I get to the office I can find references to the accreditation requirements for U.S. higher education programs. I am confident that a course in research is required. But, I’ll have to check first. The AJEMC site is down right now. Sorry, I don’t keep these things on file in my mind.

My take would be the following:

• All successful communication starts with an understanding of your audience.
• A coherent and relevant understanding of your audience starts with research of said audience.
• So, any effort to teach how to communicate successfully must include a course in research.

Come on, these are basic tenets of communications – “the discipline that studies the principles of transmitting information and the methods by which it is delivered (as print or radio or television, etc.).” (Source)  

To not provide that fundamental basic understanding in your curriculum would be a case of malpractice and malfeasance.

mal·fea·sance – /mælˈfizəns/

the performance, by an educator, of an act that is unjustified, in principle, and harmful, or contrary to the principles of communication study; wrongdoing (used esp. when referring to an act in violation of a student’s, client’s, or the public’s trust).

My point? To not teach students how to properly research before initiating any form of business and/or organizational communication activity would be an act of malpractice.

mal·prac·tice – /mælˈpræktɪs/

failure of an educator to proffer instruction through reprehensible ignorance or negligence, esp. when injury or loss follows – or a stupid press release goes out or a PR campaign destined for failure (and wasted client funds) is initiated

This is a perfect example of the failure of public relations practice today. It is more widespread than you may believe.

Evidence this PR Week story, citing that the “2006 PRWeek/Cymfony Corporate Survey reveals that communicators on the corporate side are grasping the importance of new media and measurement – but not everyone has jumped in with both feet.” (Subscription required)

This particular survey cites that “only 51.1% of respondents have allocated some of their 2006 budget for measurement, and of those who did, more than half only allocated 1% to 5% of their budget.”

Please note that the “2006 PRWeek/Cymfony Corporate Survey polled 219 in-house professionals, drawing primarily from the technology, consumer products and service, and financial and professional service industries. Nearly half had revenues from $100 million to more than $1 billion, and half had between one and five employees in the communications department.”

Well, if this is the case, there may be justification for claims of malfeasance and malpractice among practitioners, too.

Too often you will hear practitioners state that they act on gut feelings, or what has worked for them before in other situations. Well, the latter may have relevance, but the former is just lunacy. Sure, some will say there are lies, damn lies and statistics. But, properly conducted research is essential in the practice of public relations.

The sad reality is, on the first day of our course in Survey Research, I tell the students three things.

• The good news is – we’re going to do research.
• The bad news is – for some of you, this may be some of the last research you will ever do.
• Finally, if the latter is true – do your part and push forward the ideal of research in all of your communication planning. To not do so will be a disservice to those you serve and those you wish to reach.

So, what should those programs that are not teaching research do to remedy the situation? Either revise their curriculum and start teaching research or … close their doors. Of course, I would prefer that they do the former.

Too harsh? No. More like, too little – too late. Think about it. How may graduates have they already unleashed upon the world?

I am confident that any argument attempting to justify not teaching research is – indefensible.

An heuristic effort is one that “encourages a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.” We need your help in pursuing research on the issues of hreleases and social media newsrooms.

What we are seeing in the hrelease, social media press release and social media news room efforts are experiential learning activities. It is collaboration. It is the essence of what this interactive conversational media represents. Just read the conversations it has generated.

I love these learning and experimental efforts. I’m often confused, even saddened, by the way they are so quickly written off by observers. To me, blogging and wikis and all of the interactive online dialogs are the best part of the WWW. In fact, the best part of blogging to me has been the wide variety of ideas and opinions it opens up to students. That is why I’m so happy that so many PR practitioners are choosing to blog.

So, whether we are talking about Todd Defren at PR Squared and his Social Media Newsroom Template or his “Social Media Press Release” Template; or, Chris Heuer’s Idea Engine and Brian Solis at PR 2.0 – Silicon Valley and all of the people involved in the Social Media Club … it is all one big collaboration.

Comments and input from those like Brian Oberkirch about “The Case for hRelease” and Tom Foremski’s rant on the press release and attempts to change it are all equally important.

Phil Gomes, Rick Murray and Ming Lee at Edelman have given us StoryCrafter and Shannon Whitley has given us PRX Builder.

Everyone is learning. I don’t think any of the participants in the collaborations actually purports to have all the answers. Now, my students want in on the action in a little deeper inspection of all these ideas.

What is the one of the important things that is missing? The research to see how journalists will react to these new ‘animals’ like the hrelease, newsroom and social media in the PR/Journalist symbiotic relationship, overall. My students have done research on social media adoption by newspapers. Now, this semester, they are embarking on research to see how journalists react to these new approaches.

Anyone want to participate? Want to help us, please?

Leave a comment and we can hook you up with the student group that is doing the research. Anyone that may provide contacts and introductions to national journalists in the top 50 newspapers, for instance, will likely help the students achieve a more successful survey effort.  In their previous efforts, it was easier to get through to the 51-100 top markets.

My hope is that three different research teams will focus on three different groups of journalists. Those are:

• local journalists in a regional area, like Alabama, or any other state,
• national journalists in the top 50 newspapers,
• one specific trade group or market segment – to be determined.

What are your thoughts? This way we’ll have an idea of the viability in a large section of PR that seems to go unnoticed in these discussions – local PR practitioners and journalists. We’ll also address national media. The trade group, or market, can be anyone’s choice – as long as we can get to a significant respondent pool.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see if these people actually find benefits in all these new tools or approaches?  How about gathering their input as to ways the approaches might be improved to increase acceptance and adoption by journalists. Or, we might just find that they aren’t desired at all. Who knows … until we ask.

I’m just testing to see if merely posting this in a blog will bring in participants, by the way. We’re going forward with it regardless. But, we’d love to have help and guidance. Thanks.

So, I’m going to try something new here. Do you need some survey research done for your organization? We might be able to help you.

We have the ability to perform surveys either by online data collection or phone collection. We do not want to do any research that has open access to the survey instrument online. This must be research among a predefined audience that we may contact.

The potential respondent pool isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, but we would prefer a potential respondent pool of 500, or so. However, if you have known group of influencers or stakeholders (for instance) you wish to survey, we will consider that group, too.

If the survey is online, we will do it via a Secure Form Link and build in a process to restrict your form with a password in order to control multiple submissions.

If the survey is by telephone, we will use online data capturing software filled in by the interviewers. However, it will be secured so only you and the survey team will have access to it.

I cannot promise we will accept your project, but we’re open to all who might wish to offer a project for consideration.

Ideally, we would like to work with a public relations and/or marketing firm, nonprofit organization, government agency or a corporation/business. We’ll have to talk, of course, and work out details. Also, the client must be available to interact with the students in multiple phone conferences, if not in person.

So, anyone game out there?

I included the entire press release below because it has a certain “new media release” flavour to it .

Sidenote: Shel Holtz and others have launched a podcast about the new media release movement. It is called NMRCast and can be found on Shel’s blog.

Now, here is Fard’s release on the “Taking the Pulse of the Healthcare Blogosphere” survey. Please check it out.

Envision Solutions, LLC and The Medical Blog Network Kick Off Comprehensive Study of Global Healthcare Blogging Community

The “Taking the Pulse of the Healthcare Blogosphere” survey will track the demographics and opinions of healthcare bloggers from around the world.

New York, NY — July 31, 2006

NEWS FACTS

- Envision Solutions, LLC (http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com) and The Medical Blog Network [TMBN (http://www.healthvoices.com) have launched the “Taking the Pulse of the Healthcare Blogosphere” survey. The study is the first systematic attempt to gather comprehensive opinion and demographic data from the global community of healthcare bloggers. Envision Solutions and TMBN expect to re-field the survey in the future.

- The healthcare blogosphere is rapidly growing in size and importance. However, little is known about the activity and opinions of large numbers of healthcare bloggers.

- The 2006 edition of the survey will run from July 31 to September 29. It is open to individuals and organizations that devote at least 30% of their blogging time to healthcare-related topics. To learn more about the survey, please go to: http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/survey.html.

- Envision Solutions and TMBN will release the preliminary results of the survey in the late fall. The final results will be presented at Healthcare Blogging Summit 2006 (http://www.healthvoices.com/conference) taking place in Washington, D.C. on December 11.

- Envision Solutions and TMBN will collect and analyze data provided by a global sample of healthcare bloggers willing to take the survey. While the data is expected to provide new insights into the attitudes and behaviors of this community, we acknowledge that we may besurveying the most active bloggers and caution against applying the data to the overall healthcare blogopshere.

- Envision Solutions is a healthcare marketing communications consultancy. The Medical Blog Network is the world’s largest community of healthcare bloggers. TMBN connects bloggers, their audiences and the healthcare industry via a number of hosting and promotional services.

MULTIMEDIA

Please consider using this Web-ready logo (with the link to the survey) in online articles and blog posts about the study. View and download the logo here: http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/surveylogo.html (by right-clicking the image). Please contact Fard Johnmar for a print-ready version of the image.

QUOTES

Fard Johnmar, Founder, Envision Solutions, LLC

- The healthcare blogosphere is a diverse, vibrant community that generates valuable, free content for the masses. This survey will provide insights on why people blog about healthcare and identify appropriate ways for industry representatives, including public relations professionals, marketers and advertisers, to interact with them.

Dmitriy Kruglyak, Publisher, The Medical Blog Network

- The rapid emergence of the healthcare blogosphere leaves healthcare consumers, professionals and institutions no choice but to pay attention to it. This new form of media is steadily gaining credibility and shaping the reputations of healthcare leaders, vendors, providers and other industry players. This survey will provide a roadmap people can use to successfully navigate this rapidly evolving online ecosystem.

ABOUT ENVISION SOLUTIONS, LLC

Envision Solutions, LLC is a full-service healthcare marketing communications consulting firm. The company provides innovative products and services to not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Envision Solutions’ core competencies are in the areas of analysis, strategic and tactical recommendation development, training and content development. Please visit http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com for more information about the firm.

ABOUT THE MEDICAL BLOG NETWORK

The Medical Blog Network (TMBN) is the world’s largest community of health and medical bloggers. TMBN connects bloggers, audiences and the healthcare industry via a number of hosting and promotional services. We are building a next-generation eHealth resource based on open publishing of healthcare information by consumers and professionals. Visit http://www.healthvoices.com for more information about TMBN.

For instance, Steve Rubel is writing about a corporate blogging study from a competitor. I’ve got a few questions, so, I ask:

OK, Steve. Your cut-n-paste skills are up to par. But, what do you think of the conclusions of the survey? You post it, but do not discuss it. I’m often curious when people post things without any thoughts shared. You know, is there a motive involved? Or, is this just sharing little bits of information? Either way, with his post, I don’t know the answer.

My questions. First, do we have all the information we need to judge whether or not this is a valid survey? Second, as David Maister suggests, should “(these) numbers … be shouted by every PR firm from the rooftops”?

If so, why? I followed the single link on the post Steve offered. I followed links found there and read the posts and claims. There is nothing there, really. Well – except for some claims tied to broad statements citing vague (undefined) percentages. They do not reveal what those percentages represent. No identity of the number of respondents surveyed, the larger potential respondent pool, the types of corporations surveyed, etc. are revealed. So, what – if anything – can we derive from this survey?

Ann Handley wraps herself around “63 percent said…” while not knowing what that 63 percent represents. Is it 63 percent of 30 respondents or 300? Wouldn’t that make a difference as to how much authority I can apply to the survey results? What if it was just 63% of pet food corporations? There are a lot of corporations out there. What business are those corporations in – tech, consumer goods, services? We don’t know, do we.

Please, I beg you. People, do the right thing. The sane thing. Put down the koolaid, folks, until you know what is in it.

What Steve posted, it turns out, is essentially a pitch for a free webinar:

Cymfony and Porter Novelli Announce Free Webinar Highlighting Findings from Corporate Blog Survey to Help Companies Seeking to Capitalize on the Blog Channel.

The full details of the research (which might answer some of those questions above) are apparently going to be provided this week.

On Tuesday, July 25, 2006, at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Cymfony and Porter Novelli will host a free webinar entitled “Corporate Blog Learnings — The Discovery Age.” … A full report on the survey findings will also be available on the July 25 webinar, as well as on Cymfony’s and Porter Novelli’s Web sites.

Now, the examples above come from the PR / Marketing area. I think we’ve all seen examples of survey research reported in more traditional media and the details were brushed over, or entirely left out. This is bad practice, no matter where it occurs.

I’m thinking it would be wise to wait for the details to determine whether or not anything should be embraced as noteworthy and shouted from any rooftops. To their credit, Cymfony/Porter Novelli note:

All efforts were made to reach a broad cross-section of corporate bloggers; however, the corporate blog environment is less mature than the consumer blog environment, creating a challenge in finding corporate blog owners and getting them to answer questions about ROI, resources and strategy.

Now, the emphasis in that last quote is mine. Quite telling, isn’t it? This is a pitch to encourage participation in an immature market. See, now we can derive some idea of the possible motivation behind such research. They want to encourage more participation. They, perhaps, want to sell services to help clients accomplish this task.

So, for my students, I will suggest that all you read online (and everywhere, for that matter) should be investigated a bit before wrapping yourself around it as earth shattering news – or fact. Also, if you take the time to do that little bit of further research on your own part – your blog posts will likely provide a better service to your readers, and a worthwhile learning experience for yourself.

I’d rather read a news story or blog post about such survey research with some form of commentary included by the blogger. Hey, even if I don’t agree with their conclusions, it provides much more food for thought than a blanket cut-n-paste. It is even more important, I believe, for those claiming to be the “thought leaders” to actually include – well – some thought in their posts. What a concept.

I’m quite proud of them. Sorry, I can’t reveal the client or the survey focus until after they have completed their work. But, this is quite a significant response. Their entire population (potential respondent pool) is approximately 22,000 people. They were able to reach all of them through email. So far they have a six percent response rate. Pretty good.

With all the talk of late about measurement in PR, I think this illustrates (in our small way) that students are being exposed to appropriate survey research methodology and tactics in the classroom. They will be prepared to implement research for their new employers.

An interesting side story, the students are using an online survey distribution service. When they launched the survey, I was in another class. During the class, the survey was such a success that it actually bounced back 406 results because the account’s limits had been reached. Upon leaving class, I found an email from the students explaining the problem. So, I went in and upgraded the account. I didn’t really need to as they had already reached about 1,000 results (much more than I require). But, I wanted to see how well they would do (they’ve worked so hard). The previous record for a class survey with a similar respondent pool potential was 815, Well, this group blew them out of the water… and their survey isn’t over yet.

Congrats to the group. They are doing a great job. (Update: Overnight their total reached 1,476 total respondents. Add in the 406 that bounced and the group received 1,882 respondents.)
I think this speaks to the increased use and comfort level of certain populations with online services. That previous record was about 4 years ago.

Of course, we will review and publish the results for everyone in the student blogs at the end of the semester. I just wanted to do a quick update to my blog about the ongoing activities.

Testing out Qumana for blog posting.

Also, from the PRbytes listserv (forgive me, I cannot find the originator of the post), there is an interesting download entitled: PR Measurement Comprehensive Overview.

• Do You Need a License to Earn a Living? You Might Be Surprised at the Answer – New York Times
  So, is this an argument to *not* have PR licensing?
  (tags: professional+licensing PR public+relations credibility faith)
• America’s Career InfoNet: Licensed Occupations
  Kudos to Cyrus in the PRMindshare listserv for tips to this, and the NYTimes article, links.
  (tags: professional+licensing PR public+relations credibility faith)
• PR Measurement Comprehensive Overview
  (tags: PR measurement Public+Relations publicrelations survey+research survey)

Another great blog I suggest you check out is the new Graduate Observations of Public Relations at WordPress.com. OK, not that new, but new to my students. Check it out. Glad to see some grad students blogging. Congrats!

infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-01-24

• WebJunction – About Wikis
  About Wikis: A good overview of the functionality of a wiki and how to best set one up.
  (tags: wiki collaboration)
• Instiki
  A wiki for your desktop. Just found this and thought I’d give it a try.
  (tags: wikistudies)
• The Bad Pitch Blog
  “A public relations resource from Richard Laermer and Kevin Dugan, since January 2006. Read our Wrath.”
  (tags: PR press+release pitching bad+pitch best+practice worst+practice)

A different slant on blogging this semester will be evident in some of the blogs. The PR Survey Research group will post once a week. Their goal is to (a) find examples of research – or what is passed off as research – online and critique it, (b) identify best and worst practices, (c) look for transparency and evidence of methodology being clearly revealed, (d) critique the instrument and (e) general analysis of the value of the research effort.

An interesting part of this will be that the students currently do not know much about survey research. I willl be interested to see how their analysis improves throughout the semester. This puts a lil’ pressure on them, but also puts a great deal on me, too.

The PR Messages in Style & Design class will be posting to their blogs twice a week and each post must have a direct relation to current PR/Marcom issues and trends. I prefer that they focus on areas of PR/Marcom of particular interest to their future career paths, how they might implement new media/social media in practice, and what they feel are the most pressing issues for PR/Marcom, overall. Respectful, yet in-depth, critique and/or praise is expected in all of their observations.

Please read, in order, the following three posts from Allan Jenkins at Desirable Roasted Coffee. And cue the theme music Who Let The Dogs Out.

Is Bacon’s Information, Inc utterly clueless? I’d say it’s possible

Cluelessness & Bacon’s: to finish the story

Bacon’s Information & Cluelessness (“it was an error in judgement…” says Bacon’s Senior VP)

Then read this Snopes Urban Legend history lesson.

Allan got “the bug letter”.

Thanks to Jeremy Pepper for the links. Very funny stuff. And, yet another ‘survey research’ lesson learned – the hard way.