Thank you for agreeing to take part in this international survey of public relations measurement and evaluation practices. It will take 15 to 20 minutes to complete and your response is completely confidential. You will be sent a copy of the full survey findings via member companies of the Association for Measurement & Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) later in the year. In this questionnaire, the term “PR communication” is being used to encapsulate the wide range of activities that are covered by public relations, marketing PR, marketing communications and corporate communications. References to “your organisation” can mean either your employer (for in-house practitioners) or clients (for consultancies)

These questions are about your work and workplace

What type of PR communication are you involved in?
	Mostly internal (e.g. employees, directors, members)
	Mostly external (e.g. media, regulatory bodies, clients, customers, shareholders, interest groups)
	Internal and external about equally

What is the size of annual PR communication campaign budget(s) that your organisation normally works with? (Expressed in $US)
	$0-$20,000
	$20,000-$50,000
	$50,000-$100,000
	$100,000-$500,000
	$500,000 plus

Which term best describes your workplace?
	Consultancy
	Government or Government Agency
	Commercial
	Non Government and not-for-profit
	Other

Please specify here

How many employees are there in the whole of your organisation?
	One
	2-10
	11-50
	51-100
	101-500
	500+

Where do you rank in terms of PR management responsibility?
	Board Director
	Senior Manager/Director
	Manager
	Executive

Your evaluation and research practices 1 Different methods can be used to evaluate PR communication. Please answer according to the way public relations is practised in your organisation, not the way you think it should be practised.

Does your organisation evaluate PR communication activity?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never

How does your organisation (employer or client) value PR communication activity?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Relate it to pre-agreed Key Performance Indicators
Relate it to broad business or organisational objectives
Relate it to specific sales or marketing objectives
Seek a monetary value from it in terms of a cost/benefit
Seek a “Return on Investment”-type result
Measures by media output
Use Dashboards or Communication Scorecards
Other method

Please specify 'Other method' here

How often does your organisation use the following methods to help plan PR communication?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Library searches
www information searches
Focus groups
Phone surveys
Mail surveys
Online surveys
Questions in omnibus surveys
Media coverage monitoring (clippings/tapes etc)
Media content analysis
Customer comment analysis
PR/communication audits
Readability tests
Dashboards or communication scorecard
Other formal research

Please specify here

How often does your organisation use these methods to monitor progress of PR communication programs?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Library searches
www information searches
Focus groups
Phone surveys
Mail surveys
Online surveys
Questions in omnibus surveys
Media coverage monitoring (clippings/tapes etc)
Media content analysis
Customer comment analysis
PR/communication audits
Readability tests
Dashboards or communication scorecard
Other formal research

Please specify here

How often does your organisation use these methods to evaluate PR communication programs after they are completed?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Focus groups
Phone surveys
Mail surveys
Online surveys
Questions in omnibus surveys
Media coverage monitoring (clippings/tapes etc)
Media content analysis
Customer comment analysis
PR/communication audit
Dashboards or communication scorecard
Other formal research

Please specify here

Your evaluation and research practices 2

How often does your organisation measure the following?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Changes in behaviour resulting from PR communication
Changes in target group knowledge resulting from PR communication
The number of listeners or readers reached by PR communication
The volume of PR communication (e.g. number of news releases or publications sent)
Changes in attitude or perception resulting from PR communication
Business indicators (such as sales, turnover, cost reductions) resulting from PR communication

How often does your organisation measure the following?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Volume of media coverage (the appearance of media items featuring the organisation)
Favourability or unfavourability of media coverage
Advertising $ value of media coverage
Inclusion of the organisation's key messages in the media coverage
Relevance of the audience exposed to the media coverage
Number of the target audience reached by the media coverage
Target audience response to the media coverage

How often does your organisation measure the following?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Relationships between the organisation and stakeholder
Attitudes/sentiment towards the organisation
Its reputation
Outcomes of sponsorship and events

Which of the following most accurately reflect your PR communications evaluation?
	Always		Often		Sometimes		Rarely		Never
Evaluation is conducted in-house
Evaluation is conducted externally
Evaluation is done internally and externally about equally

Evaluating online and social media One of the major changes affecting public relations and corporate communications in the past decade has been the emergence of online and social media. These questions cover your current monitoring and evaluation of these new media channels.

How do you rate the level of control that your organisation has over its reputation, since the advent of online media and social media?
	Much greater control
	More than before
	About the same
	Less than before
	Out of control
	Never had control

How often does your organisation measure the following?
	Constantly		Daily		Weekly		Monthly		Never
Online media
Online conversations on blogs and other social media
Sentiment towards your organisation expressed in online media and social media

Does your organisation optimise press releases for online distribution (with metatags, XPRL, keywords, unique URLs, etc)?
	Yes
	No

If Yes, how do you measure the results? Please tick the appropriate box
	Page views
	Click-throughs to other parts of the organisational website
	Keyword research
	Web analytics
	Sales enquiries
	Completed transactions
	Feedback to the company
	Subsequent media coverage (online and offline)
	Discourse on blogs and discussion groups
	None of these

Which measure, in your opinion is the most effective for evaluating the effectiveness of online-linked PR communication? Please tick the appropriate box only
	Page views
	Click-throughs to other parts of the organisational website
	Keyword research
	Web analytics
	Sales enquiries
	Completed transactions
	Feedback to the company
	Subsequent media coverage (online and offline)
	Discourse on blogs and discussion groups
	None of these

Budget and trends Over the past 15 years, the issue of budgets for PR measurement and evaluation has been widely discussed - a frequent question is what represents an appropriate ratio of the overall PR communication budget.

Which of the following is most true of your PR communication work?
	Budget is always available for evaluating PR communication
	Budget is frequently available for evaluating PR communication
	Budget is seldom available for evaluating PR communication
	Budget is never available for evaluating PR communication

How much of your total PR communication budget/expenditure is allocated to evaluation?
	Nil
	1-5%
	6-10%
	Over 10%

What is the budgetary trend for evaluation in your PR communication work?
	Falling
	Rising
	Remaining about the same

What do you think the budgetary trend for evaluation should be in your PR communication work?
	Falling
	Rising
	Remaining about the same

Views about PR evaluation There is a wide range of views on the measurement and evaluation of public relations. This section covers an extended list of positive, neutral and negative views. You may find that some prompt comments that can be written later in the questionnaire.

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements
	Strongly Agree		Agree		Undecided		Disagree		Strongly Disagree
Budget is difficult to obtain for PR evaluation
Measuring PR communication is important
PR evaluation is difficult to sell to clients/ executives/ sponsors
Practitioners often lack training in [or knowledge of] evaluation techniques
It is hard to obtain information on PR evaluation techniques
Practitioners often forego evaluation because of lack of time
PR would be more credible if there was one agreed measurement technique
PR is an "art" and therefore difficult to measure
Practitioners fear evaluation because it can reveal unsatisfactory results
PR communication is more about relationships than measurable results
PR evaluation is too costly
Evaluation is accepted by most PR practitioners as an integral part of developing effective programs
Advertising Value Equivalent is not a valid measure of PR effectiveness
Evaluation is essential for credibility with clients and employers
PR evaluation is more talked about than done
PR evaluation is best delivered by external specialist
The larger the financial investment in the project, the more likely it is to be evaluated
PR credibility is more closely related to practitioner charisma than measured results
There is pressure from clients/employers to more clearly demonstrate results of PR communication
PR evaluation is best delivered by external specialists

Can you indicate why your organisation never evaluates PR communication activity? Is it because of some of the reasons proposed in the previous question or are there other judgements made?

These questions are about you Please tell us about yourself. All details will be remain confidential

Gender?
	Female
	Male

Age Range?
	18-24
	25-34
	35-44
	45-54
	55+

What is your highest level of education?
	Secondary school
	Vocational, trade or professional qualification
	Tertiary Education in PR or Communication field
	Tertiary Education in any field

Are you a member of a public relations professional body?
	Yes
	No

If Yes, please name the professional body.

Please indicate your current annual salary range (Expressed in $US)
	Less than $35,000
	$35,000 - $49,999
	$50,000 - $74,999
	$75,000 - $99,999
	More than $100,000

What is the country in which you are mostly working?

Finally … is there comment you would like to add about PR research and evaluation?

Thank you for your time. Hit submit once to lodge your completed survey.

This survey is being conducted under the code of conduct of the Market Research Society. All data and written responses will be treated as confidential. Data will be used for analysis of samples and sub-samples and included in various reports on the survey. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Dr Tom Watson, The Media School, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965140 or email twatson@bournemouth.ac.uk © Tom Watson 1992-2007