How research will prevent you from looking like a fool in front of your peers and client

Recently I was given a research task to complete from the Managing Director. Prior to this I didn’t understand the full extent of how important research was as the only real research I had performed was for assignments. As there is a large amount of confidentiality surrounding the client and task there is only so much I can say, so please forgive me for the lack of specific details.

The first part of the task was to research public opinions and what has been brought up in the media regarding the topic. As the topic was a foreign idea, one that I have never had much of an understanding of, it took me quite a while to understand what was relevant and what was not so relevant. I was restricted by the Managing Director to secondary research, which according to Jugenheimer, Bradley, Kelley & Hudson, (1955) “is the summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing data.” In particular I was restricted to online research so was not able to phone or speak to anyone. So after reading and reading and reading recent information which was released on this topic, having to use a dictionary to define some of the unfamiliar terms, I put together a summary of public opinions according to online media and blogs.

Everything had to be referenced so that the Managing Director could read further if she wanted to on the information provided within the research to ensure that she was fully aware of the topic before she used the information in a work shop she had to present.

The next section of research involved summarizing data in the form of numbers. Although one would think it would be easier to find factual statistics rather than public opinion, I found it quite hard as various sources gave different statistics. This therefore took time to research where each of these sources got their data and information to decide which one was better informed and up to date. Although it took time I managed to find the correct statistics and lay in out into an easy to read format with extra information than what was asked just to help shape the information required.

The third part was to research major events occurring in Australia. As a lot of the task and client was confidential and so I was only given a short and concise description of what was required within the research task, this task was what stumped me the most. How was I going to define what events were considered ‘major’ and how would I differentiate what was major from all the events that occur in Australia over a year? Not knowing what industry the client was relevant to or what this research was going to be applied to, I took a shot in the dark and listed out various events in the nation that I personally believe to be major.

After completing the research and I sent the tasks to the Managing Director, not knowing if what research I had done was useful, correct or in depth enough. However I received compliments on the work.

Reflecting on this research task I was given, which started off a little dry and tedious, as I had little understanding of the topic which made it quite a lot harder, I was in a seminar at University where the importance of research was discussed. The tutor told the class that without completing the necessary research and planning, you could make a fool out of yourself in front of your peers and client if your information isn’t correct or if you are unaware of the details.

This stood out to me in regards to how important research is and that the Managing Director trusted me with a task that could have tarnished her image and reputation of not only herself but also her business if I had not done the research necessary for her to complete the workshop with the confidential client. This experience has opened my eyes to the amount of and the importance of research in every task that is completed not only whilst studying a university degree, but also throughout a career within the PR industry where practitioners need to have a thorough understanding of a client, their position within society and their industry before even meeting a representative from the Clients organization.

References:

Jugenheimer, Donald W, Samuel D Bradley, Larry D Kelley, and Jerry C Hudson. 2010. Advertising And Public Relations Research. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.