Research For PR And Advocacy

Research for Public Relations and Advocacy NRCCUA Research Summit March 3, 2009 © Lipman Hearne 2009. This material cannot be copied or reproduced without permission

2 Today’s focus: • Accountability • Transparency • Authenticity

3 Today’s focus: • Accountability • Transparency • Authenticity Why? • Growing skepticism due to misuse, overuse and conflicting research results • Necessity to cut through “noise” to command attention and trust

4 Critical questions to ask before conducting research: • Who’s going to use it? Who will see/read/hear it? What insights do you seek? • What decisions need to be made? What action needs to be taken? • Who do you need to hear from? • How will you get the information from them? • How will you use the results?

5 Accountability • Responsible, truthful

6 Accountability • Responsible, truthful Who do we need to be accountable to? • The press? Our clients? Policymakers? Our partners? Our donors? Our staff? “Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.” Mark Twain

7 Accountability For the press, be able to provide technical detail, such as: • Exact language used in the instrument • Total number of people contacted • Number of people not reached • Number of people who refused to answer • Number of terminations • Number of ineligibles • Number of completed interviews

8 Accountability Provide an explanation of your method What kind of polls can be problematic? • Internet polls • Problem: nonprobability samples • Interactive voice response polls • Problem: anyone can answer the phone and respond • Partisan or privately sponsored polls • Problem: Democratic and Republican pollsters, in particular

9 Accountability Go to great lengths to explain: • The organization’s point of view • The author’s affiliations • Conflicting data – avoid the “I hope they won’t notice” strategy

10 Transparency Transparency = Full disclosure Accepted practices • Release the full questionnaire, results, methodology • Identify research sponsor and fieldwork provider • Disclose margin of error “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.” Naguib Mahfouz

11 Transparency Ask yourself: Would I feel comfortable answering this question? If you find yourself answering “Yes, but” or “No, except” – then don’t ask the question.

12 Transparency Words matter Single words that mean the same thing can convey different ideas. • Taxes . . . Revenues • MX Missile . . . Peacekeeper • Pro-choice . . . Pro-abortion • Welfare . . . Public assistance

13 Transparency Consider presenting the data in person: • Invite someone with a different point of view to share conflicting data • Answer all questions • Distribute the entire data set

14 Authenticity Research designed for media attention is usually inauthentic. 9 out of 10 of you agree with us.

15 Authenticity Research designed for media attention is usually inauthentic. 9 out of 10 of you agree with us. Research that is based on sound methodology, described articulately, is authentic. 76.2% of Americans are “generally” or “strongly” in favor of a change in the direction of X.

16 Authenticity Authenticity • Validity: accuracy/correctness • Are you measuring what you think you’re measuring?

17 Authenticity Authenticity • Validity: accuracy/correctness • Are you measuring what you think you’re measuring? Achieving validity • Accurately reflect the concept (idea) • Of particular importance in polling: content and construct validity

18 Authenticity Responses can vary dramatically depending upon whether the question is closed- or open-ended (choices or no choices)

19 Authenticity Responses can vary dramatically depending upon whether the question is closed- or open-ended (choices or no choices) Ex: Respondents were asked what is the most important thing for children to learn to prepare them for life • When given a choice of five options, 62 percent chose “to think for themselves” • When asked in an open-ended format, 5 percent identified that notion

20 Authenticity Polls do not typically measure how intensely respondents feel about issues, too.

21 Authenticity Polls do not typically measure how intensely respondents feel about issues, too. The beliefs of those who care little are often publicized as much as those who care a great deal.

22 Authenticity What makes findings credible? • There is other research on the topic • There is corroboration from multiple studies

• Donna Van De Water • dvandewater@lipmanhearne.com • Rodney Ferguson • rferguson@lipmanhearne.com 23

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Research For PR And Advocacy

by Lipman Hearne Inc. on Nov 20, 2009

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