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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Survey Research

 This week's lecture discusses survey research, one of the most popular research methods in the public relations industry. Popular both in the academic world as well as in the professional world, surveys are often found in academic journals like PR Review to provide insight on a research topic. It is a cheap and easy way to analyze data and get responses right away. PR News is the information resource for news, research, analysis, business opportunities, market trends, etc. in PR and communications. Most of the articles I blog about from PR News base data from surveys.


PR Newswire features an article discussing an insurance survey. The article titled, State Farm Life Insurance Survey: Despite Importance, 74 Percent of Couples Rarely or Never Talk About Life Insurance, showcases people's thoughts about life insurance. The survey, conducted by KRC Research , shows most people find life insurance extremely important and a top priority. However a majority of people don't like talking about the subject.



I could see why most people would not want to talk about this issue. The survey says,"the key reasons for avoiding the topic include stress over daily economic pressures and concern that a partner might react negatively – especially in the event of a job loss."People avoid confrontation so the survey research method is the best way to find out these hidden opinions. 

If I was the public relations researcher for this topic, then survey research method would be the tool to use. Surveys are the best way to find out information that people fail to converse about. Similarly, it is beneficial to get a prospective from a large group of people.


State Farm Insurance struggles to get information out of consumers about life insurance. "This survey shows that, at a time when couples should be sitting down to discuss how to prepare for the unexpected, far too many remain silent," said Joe Monk, CEO of State Farm Life Insurance. However despite people's reluctance to speak about the issue, 62 % of men and women think life insurance is most important today due to the uncertainties of the recent economic downturn.


Overall, KRC Research chose wisely when selecting the survey research method. It is a wise decision to use survey research to explore thoughts and feelings when people don't want to talk about it. Most people in the survey said life insurance is an awkward conversation so using a survey to get more information is a safe bet. Surveys stick to being the most popular research method in the industry because it is the best means to find hidden feelings and responses.

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