GAINESVILLE, FL – Three things bug Don W. Stacks as a judge of hundreds of public relations awards entries: confusion about goals and objectives, too little knowledge of the advantages of different data-gathering methods, and the inability to first define and then evaluate success in a campaign. These points come from the first post on his new blog, Stacks on Research, published in conjunction with the Institute for Public Relations (IPR).
Stacks, professor of public relations in the University of Miami School of Communication, is the newly elected chair of the IPR Measurement Commission. “As chair of the Measurement Commission and a Trustee of the Institute,” he writes, “I will be focusing on research standards, standard-setting, best practices, and how all three contribute to an objective evaluation of how well we did what we set out to do.”
Among his ambitions for the Measurement Commission in 2013 are to take a longer-range, think-tank view of the entire research process; to focus on basic research understanding and on standards for research, measurement and evaluation in practice; and to continue cutting-edge commentary and producing important white papers in the field.
Through his new blog, Stacks will pursue a larger discussion of the research process. “While I will touch on different channels, which I consider the social media to be a part, my commentary will focus on the larger elements of research: basic methodology and how it should be used, appropriate measurement techniques (to include some history – contemporary measurement goes back more than 300 years), and evaluation techniques and processes. I will also comment on ethical issues in research, especially those that may end up changing professional practice.”
Stacks received his bachelor of arts from Northern Michigan University, his master of arts from the Auburn University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He has written more than 150 scholarly articles and papers, and received IPR’s Pathfinder Award in 1999. The Public Relations Society of America named him Outstanding Educator in 2003 and the recipient of the Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize in 2005. Most recently, Dr. Stacks was inducted into the PR News Measurement Hall of Fame. He has authored or coauthored seven books on communication topics, including “Primer of Public Relations Research” and “A Practitioner’s Guide to Public Relations Research, Measurement and Evaluation” (with David Michaelson). Stacks edited the 2002 and 2007 “Dictionary of Public Relations Research and Measurement.”
The IPR Measurement Commission is composed of researcher-practitioners and thought-leaders in public relations research, measurement, and evaluation drawn from four segments of the global public relations industry: corporations, government, and non-profits; public relations agencies; research firms; and academia.
###
Contact:
Jenn Moyer
Institute for Public Relations
352-392-0280
jmoyer@jou.ufl.edu
