DPR3711 Assignment 1 Semester 1 | Due March 2025

DPR3711 Assignment 1 Semester 1 | Due March 2025. All questions answered. LEARNING UNIT 1: PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH Question 1: Developing a research proposal Fourie and Cant (2017:64) define public relations research as "the effort aimed at discovering the facts or opinions pertaining to an identified issue, need or question". Fourie and Cant's statement points to the fact public relations research is about gathering information that is used to underpin public relations decision-making processes. Furthermore, the definition suggests that any response to a public relations issue/problem should be informed by research. The research will empower you as a public relations practitioner to understand the perceptions and views of your stakeholders or audiences. The purpose of this activity is to test your ability to develop a research proposal. A research proposal is a research strategy/plan for conducting your research. • Identify an organisation of your choice. • The organisation is seeking to conduct research to analyse its stakeholders’ perceptions of its social media strategies. The organisation has never conducted this kind of study. You are expected to develop a research proposal for the project. To this end, complete the following: Item Guidelines Research title (1) Formulate a title which clearly indicates the central theme of the study, e.g.: An investigation of employee communication satisfaction at the University of South Africa. Overview of the organisation (1) Provide background information on the organisation, including its vision and mission. You should source the information from the selected organisation’s website. Background and context of the research problem (1) State why the research is important. Research problem statement (1) Describe the research issue in one sentence, e.g.: A qualitative analysis of employee communication at the University of South Africa. Literature review (10) Explain key concepts of your study such as communication, organisational communication and social media. Additionally, you should mention studies that have been conducted on the use of social media. You should also indicate the uniqueness of your study. How is it different from previous studies? Research method (2) Describe your chosen research method and justify it. In other words, state its advantages according to the literature (research methodology literature books and journal articles). Population (1) Define your population, e.g. the population of the study comprises all employees at Unisa. Sampling method (1) Describe your chosen sampling method and its advantages. Data collection (1) Tell the reader about the data collection process with special emphasis on the data collection instrument. Data analysis (1) Explain how data will be analysed. The data analysis approach should be consistent with your chosen research method. Total 20 marks • To learn more about the organisation, visit its website. Please do not contact the organisation. Question 2: Media monitoring Media monitoring is one of the public relations campaign evaluation tools in your arsenal as a public relations practitioner. Therefore, this question evaluates your ability to compile a media monitoring report. In table format, compile a media monitoring report of an organisation of your choice. The report should consist of at least five news stories and not media statements. Use the following template: Name of media organisation: Media organisation/source Title of the story/headline Date of publication/broadcast Rating Action required (10) LEARNING 2: PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANNING Question 3: Public relations planning To underscore the importance of public relations planning, Lattimore, Baskin Heiman and Toth (2012:113) state that "exciting as they may sound, public relations actions that arise from spur-of-the-moment decisions usually produce short-term gains and long-term losses". In simple terms, without proper planning, your public relations efforts are doomed to fail. • Identify an organisation of your choice. • What is the organisation's mission? • Develop a public relations plan for the organisation that includes the following elements: o Research (2) o Objectives (2) o Programming (6) o Evaluation (4) To complete this activity, visit the organisation's website. Please do not contact the organisation. (14) Question 4: Crisis management According to Coombs (2015), as quoted by Cant and Fourie (2017:208), a crisis is "the perception of the unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders related to health, safety, environmental, economic issues and can seriously impact on an organisation's performance and generate negative outcomes". Coombs's definition suggests that a crisis event cannot be predicted. However, it must be managed. Crisis management, according to Fourie and Cant (2017:211), is the process of managing relations between an organisation and its stakeholders. The purpose of this question is to give you an opportunity to determine public relations implications of a crisis. • One of the United Nations Global Compact principles deals with labour standards (see organisation that is involved in a labour strike/dispute according to news articles. • What is the organisation's mission? • Briefly describe the crisis. (2) • What are the public relations/communication objectives when dealing with this crisis? (4) • Who should be on the crisis management team? (3) • Mention two public relation actions/activities that you would implement to deal with the crisis. (4) • Who is your target audience? (3) To complete this activity, visit the organisation's website and search for news stories on the crisis. Please do not contact the organisation. (16) LEARNING UNIT 3: MEDIA RELATIONS AND WRITING Question 5: Compiling a media list/database Compile a list of five print and electronic media that should appear on the media contact list of an organisation of your choice (no names or contact details of individual journalists are required). The list of media in South Africa is accessible from the following website: TECHNICAL PRESENTATION Please refer to the referencing guidelines in Tutorial Letter 301. You can find the tutorial letter under Additional Resources. Technical presentation elements Marks Introduction 1 Table of contents 1 In-text referencing 1 Conclusion 1 List of sources consulted 1 Total 5 Total marks = 70 Downloaded by