PROCESS IN CONDUCTING APPLIED RESEARCHES IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

PROCESS IN CONDUCTING APPLIED RESEARCHES IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Identifying area of research. It is important that a Corporate Communication Manager knows in advance what things that they want to research about. There are many areas that require research and these could be getting customers’ feedback on services or goods offered by organizations, getting suggestions on improving services or goods offered or introducing new ones, assessing the programme that has been implemented and analyzing position of the organization as compared to other similar organizations. 

 

Literature searching/review. Second step to conducting Corporate Communication research is about doing literature search or in other words literature review. The significance of doing this activity is that it provides a glimpse of what has already been done so far as far as the identified research area is concerned. Literature could be field reports, data bases, mails, toll-free calls and media analysis (ibid). One can add Corporate Communication, Public Relations or Marketing books, journals, articles and other credible sources of information.  Additionally, it is through literature review a Corporate Communication Manager can see how previous studies were done (research methodologies), what were the findings and what was not done (research gaps). Hence, literature review informs the Corporate Communication personnel about what needs to be done in the research planned to be done.  

Stating the research problem, developing objectives and research questions. Having reviewed the literature in the area of the research, Corporate Communication personnel can now be in a good position of stating the problem which actually explains the essence of/purpose of/the unknown about the research to be done.  The problem can be a gap in the literature, a need to re-do a previous research which appears not to have yielded the intended outcomes by employing different methodologies and a need for getting new and more current information on what is already known. Moreover, the problem can be the controversy between what has been implemented and what is expected to happen as an outcome. Although, it is added that, the nature of problems in Corporate Communication is rooted in attitudes, opinions, issues or public opinion (ibid), it can also be rooted further into finding marketing opportunities. This is due to the fact that Corporate Communication embraces marketing also. Additionally, at this stage, one can outline objectives and formulate research questions.  
  

Choosing a general research approach. Having clearly stated the problem, a Corporate Communication Manager has to decide on the nature of or type of data to be collected. This general research approach can be Qualitative, Quantitative or Mixed research approach. Qualitative research approach will be useful when a Corporate Communication Manager is interested in collecting or exploring non-numerical and in-depth information  from key informants. In that case, qualitative research approach requires that one uses in-depth interviews, focus groups and sometimes content analysis to study opinions, experiences, perceptions, reasons, behaviours and meanings that people attribute to their contexts. On the other hand,

 Quantitative research approach enables a Corporate Communication practitioner to collect numerical and broad information in terms of trends, opinions or preferences from respondents. This approach produces quantities in terms of frequencies, volumes, intervals, figures and the like. In that case, it requires that the Corporate Communication Manager uses questionnaires/structured interviews, experiments or content analysis as methods of/tools for data collection  .

Mixed methods research approach which combines the strengths of both, qualitative and quantitative research approaches. In that case, the practitioner will collect both, in-depth and broad/numerical information. However, it is noted that the choice using either qualitative or quantitative research approach depends on the nature of research questions and academic background of the researcher. Additionally, none of the approaches is better than the other , and therefore, it would be better if one combines the two approaches (ibid). 
            

Choosing a research  design. Research design is the plan on how the entire research will be conducted. It is a framework that determines data collection, analysis and presentation procedures. The research design is normally determined by the research approach, that is, type of data to be collected.

 Quantitative research approach is based on surveys and experimental research designs. Qualitative research approach is based on case studies and ethnographies. Mixed methods research approach which combines both, qualitative and quantitative research approaches. In this scenario, a Corporate Communication Manager can choose: -

   Explanatory sequential mixed research design (collecting quantitative data in the first phase then followed by collection of qualitative data in the second phase). Exploratory sequential mixed research design (collecting qualitative data in the first phase then followed by collection of quantitative data in the second phase) or, Convergent/triangulation research design (collecting both qualitative and quantitative research design at the same time).

Choosing population and samples. Having known which research design is suitable for the research, a Corporate Communication Manager has to identify stakeholders from whom data will be collected. It is, however, important that one selects participants who are in line with information required. Additionally, it may be difficult for the Corporate Communication Manager to collect information from the entire population, in that case, it is important to select a sample; a small group of participants from whom information collected will be generalized to the entire target population. However, it is important to note that, there are different types of sampling techniques that the Corporate Communication Manager can use, these include, Probability sampling techniques. These include simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster sampling and multistage sampling techniques. Non-probability sampling techniques including purposive, quota, convenience or volunteer and snowballing sampling techniques.  

 

Identifying data collection methods. Having known the research approach, research design and thus the stakeholders from whom the Corporate Communication Manager is to collect information, then all that remains is the data collection process itself. This next activity however, requires that one chooses certain tool(s) or method(s) which, in one way or another, will be determined by the nature of the data to be collected: -

Qualitative research approach. For qualitative research approach, the data collection methods to be used can be in-depth interviews, observation, content analysis, focus group discussions as well as narratives.

  Quantitative research approach. If a study is based on the quantitative research approach, then the Corporate Communication Manager can use questionnaires/surveys/structured interviews, content analysis as well as experiments.

 Mixed method research approach. With mixed methods research approach, Corporate Communication Manager can combine methods from both qualitative research approach and quantitative research approach; the purpose being to collect both, quantitative and qualitative data.  

 

Data analysis and presentation. Having collected data, Corporate Communication Manager has to analyse and present the information. This implies summarizing, cleaning and taking useful data. However, this activity depends upon the type of data collected, in that case: -

 Qualitative data. In analysing and presenting qualitative data, one can use thematic methods or narratives. It is all about summarizing the information through explanations depending on the themes that have emerged in data collected.

  Quantitative data. Quantitative data requires that one uses statistical methods in data analysis and presentation. These includes averages, tables, percentages and other figures such as graphs and charts.

 Mixed data. When one both, qualitative and quantitative data, then one can use both, thematic and statistics in data analysis and presentation. This process can be done in phases, that is, starting with quantitative data analysis, then qualitative data analysis and vice versa. Alternatively, the two processes can be done at the same time.

 

Recommendations. The last process that Corporate Communication Manager has to do after presenting data is to provide suggestions on what has to be done. The recommendations can be based on how the identified problem has to be solved or how the identified opportunity has to be taken advantage of.

BY KIMATI ELITRUDAH

BAPRM 42582