Public Relation Research is Critical

Source: UNSW, 2015

Research, according to Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin (2013) is an integral part of the planning and development process of a public relation campaign. Without collecting and analysing data, public relation practitioners are unable to make decisions and map out strategies for effective campaigns. Eslake (2006) supports this statement by stating 'in the absence of accurate and reliable information, people and organisations will make bad decisions; they will be unable to help others to make better decisions; and no one will be able to ascertain whether the decisions made by particular individuals or organisations were the best ones that could have been.'

However, in regards to looking for certain research, practitioners must be able to decide what is safe to use and what isn't.  The words 'reliable, 'credible', substantiated' and 'accurate' must be applied to research in order to be able to prove a fact, rather then just providing guesses. The public want to know the facts and they want to know where it came from and how it was proven. Deciding which research adheres to these standards, all comes down to ensuring research is collected and derived from credible sources. Eunson (2012) states that sources can include primary research such as surveys, and secondary data that is a re-examination of primary data such as encyclopedias. However, all this data should be extracted from experienced research companies, statistic and government websites or peer reviewed journal articles, rather then an individual voicing their 'gueses' on their blog or on Wikipedia. 

Source: Quickmeme, 2015

Data needs to be proven by qualified individuals that can provide evidence, in order for it to be 'reliable, 'credible, 'substantiated' and 'accurate'. From this, the public will be able to have trust in public relation practitioners and their related campaigns as it will be valid and genuine. 

References:

Eslake, S 2006, The importance of accurate, reliable and timely data, viewed 31 March 2015, http://www.anz.com/documents/economics/The_Importance_of_Data.pdf 

Eunson, B 2012, Communicating in the 21st century, John Wiley & Sons, Milton.

Quick meme 2015, digital image, viewed 31 March 2015, http://www.quickmeme.com/Actual-Advice-Mallard/page/1816

UNSW 2015, Research groups, digital image, viewed 31 March 2015, http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/what-is-cse/types-of-cse/research-groups/

Wilcox, D, Cameron, G, Reber, B, Shin, J 2013, Think public relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey. 

The Boston Tea Party

'Public relations played a role in building support for the conflict that led to American Independence' (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber, & Shin 2013, p. 45). Samuel Adams, a famous public relations pioneer, was responsible for the orchestration of the Boston Tea Party which was considered 'the greatest and best-known publicity stunt of all time' (Wilcox et al. 2013, p. 45). This is evident by Smith (2008) who stated that the Boston Tea Party was a pseudo-event that was designed to shock and mock the British tea tax. It was also used to symbolise colonial defiance, however it left many colonists shocked and outraged. The campaign involved colonists throwing crates of tea from a British trade ship into the Boston harbour to protest unnecessary taxation on items such as tea (Boston Tea Party Historical Society 2008).

Figure 1: The Boston Tea Party
Source: WND, 2014

Although there are similar comparisons between advertising and public relations such as both communicating their messages through media, the two have a few differences.  Advertising is about paid space and broadcast time. On the other hand, public relations refers to relating to an event (Wilcox et al. 2013).  This campaign was heavily public relations orientated rather than advertising as it did not depend on paid broadcast time and space. Rather, the campaign used press agentry, as well as combining this with clever slogans and symbols to sway public opinion (Wilcox et al. 2012).


This event was a successful public relations campaign, however this campaign could not be used in today's society. This is because nowadays we conform to political correctness and this event caused a lot of controversy as it was not only planned in secrecy but the way the event itself was carried out shocked society which can be seen as unethical (Smith 2008).

References:

Boston Tea Party Historical Society 2008, The full description of the events, viewed 23 March 2015, http://www.boston-tea-party.org/in-depth.html

Wilcox, D, Cameron, G, Reber, B, Shin, J 2013, Think public relations, Pearson Education,  New Jersey.

WND 2014, Boston tea party painting currier, digital image, viewed 23 March 2015, http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/new-irs-rules-would-scuttle-tea-parties/boston-tea-party-painting-currier/

Smith, R.D 2008, Public relations history, viewed 23 March 2015, Public relations history, viewed 23 March 2015, http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415994224/pioneersinpublicrelations.asp