Promoting a Water Sanitation Project in Auckland

Promoting a Water Sanitation Project in Auckland

Water safety is essential for human health. However, many cities in the world suffer the challenge of declining water quality, which is mainly contributed to by increased dumping in water bodies. The process of promoting water sanitation, hence, is essential in enhancing water quality and the overall health status of the citizens. It is, therefore, prudent that city management authorities pursue this avenue with total commitment.

Promotion is purely a public relations function. It is the public relations department that designs promotive campaigns and facilitates their implementation in an attempt to spearhead the achievement of the organization’s objectives. In this paper, a PR research program for addressing the mentioned issue is presented. Precisely, a discussion of the appropriate research methods that can be used to gather information from the public is given in depth. An analysis of information backing the selected techniques is offered.

Research methods

Need for Research

The case at hand demands that the PR program seeks to first collect information from the public concerning their perspectives and beliefs regarding water quality. This is because such programs that target to sort out an issue that affects many people are only best approached by seeking to involve the affected people. Here, dirty water is an issue that concerns all the inhabitants of the city. Therefore, if the water company is to manage the challenge effectively by developing a water sanitation promotion program, it is essential that the company first develops a perfect method of collecting data from the citizens..

Johnston (2014) explains that public health initiatives, like the one in question here, are best achieved when the people are engaged. Government policies worldwide are evolving towards the involvement of communities in public health initiatives. Crabtree (2011)states that engaging the community has been advanced as an essential strategy that can be used for the betterment of community health systems. This is because joining the community is a means of enabling people who are powerless to gain control of their lives and, in the process, improve their health. When people have power, they tend to be more responsible because they understand that the betterment of their health is purely in their hands.

Bobbit (2009, p.2) defines public relations as the management of information flow. By this, he described that PR measures must involve information gathering from people and the dissemination of this information through appropriate channels to people that need it. Therefore, PR programs rely heavily on the creation of relationships with the community. This may be done online or face-to-face. However, whereas online connections may be useful in some cases, the need for face to face relationships where the PR officers meet directly with the people involved also stands out (De Weger, Van Vooren, Luijkx, Baan & Drewes, 2018). A comprehensive and ongoing community relations program can help any firm achieve its goals and win the approval of the community in which it operates (Brunton et al., 2017). This is the perfect scenario for the current case. A relationship with the community, through collecting data and involving them in projects, can be vital in enhancing the goals of organizations.

Research Design

With the presented understanding, data collection for the current PR program is justified. Several approaches can be used to research. Precisely, survey, retrospective, and cross-sectional designs are the most applicable in the present case. The strengths and weaknesses of each, according to Abutabenjeh and Jaradat (2018), determine their feasibility for whatever instance. Accordingly, the survey approach demands the presence of a pre-defined research population and mainly applies when only necessary information is needed. In contrast, the retrospective design needs that data to be already available, which is not the case in the present situation. Retrospective research involves the collection of data from pre-existing records. These two are not applicable in the current situation based on the definitions.

The best approach in this case is a cross-sectional research design done by a mixed-method approach. A cross-sectional study, according to Allen (2017), is used by empirical researchers to gain information on a population of interest. In this researches, data is collected, but variables are not manipulated. Zangirolami-Raimundo, Echeimberg, and Leone 92018), when discussing cross-sectional methods, state that a rapid one-time collection of information from the specific group of interest can be done and the data used to influence decision making concerning the matter of interest. On the other hand, mixed-method approaches are mainly used in cases where both qualitative and quantitative data are to be collected. Schoonenboom and Johnson (2017) suggest that such methods are useful when the researcher wants to collect much data through the same study.

Data Collection

With the mixed cross-sectional research design described, many data collection methods are applicable. Paradis et al. (2016) state that these may include focussed group discussions, questionnaires, observations, and key informant interviews. Of these, the questionnaire method proves to be the best approach because it presents the researcher with the freedom to control the research without needing to hire many other people to assist. Questionnaires with essential questions are designed before the real study and administered to the selected respondents at the same time for completion. The researcher then analyzes and summarizes the questionnaire responses to develop conclusions. However, these may be a problematic method for the illiterate. This weakness may be overcome by complementing the approach with interviews.

The current project, which involves the promotion of water sanitation in Auckland, needs to be pinned in the community. This is mainly the result is aimed at bettering the life of the community members. The process of research, however, can only be attained by selecting a sample population to study. This is because the entire city population is too large to be included in the research. For this reason,  a strategic random sampling approach shall be used to select participants. Especially, respondents shall be chosen from the various regions of the city by an arbitrary criterion. The research will primarily ask the people to state their thoughts on the need to tighten sanitation activities, and the different ways they think they can help in attaining the goals of water sanitation. Also, people’s thoughts on the habit of people dumping water in rivers shall be explored in the research.

The rationale for Method Selection

The notion that public relations are only but using communication to persuade publics is archaic. Research programs in public relations are increasingly attracting attention and significance (Bowen, 2009, p. 402). This is mainly because of the value that research presents – is that it allows different professions to generate new knowledge as the world changes continually.

Davis (2016) postulates that research in public relations presents several advantages. Firstly, it makes the communication cycle complete by ensuring that information flows two-way. Initially, public relations was only about information flowing from the PR department to the public. With research, it is possible also to collect data from the people, as well as feedback on ongoing or completed programs. The current case is a perfect example of a project that can benefit from the employment of research methods. Promoting water sanitation in an entire city demands that the people be involved. Otherwise, the PR team will carry out communications, but the people may end up ignoring it. Letting people be part of the process enables a faster and better achievement of the PR objective, mainly by altering the people’s mindset concerning the problem at hand. Secondly, research also makes public relations methods strategic and targetted by ensuring that communication of PR information is only directed towards the people who care about and want such information.

The generation of results is the ultimate justification for the use of research in public relations. Researching helps to show the impact of a project and to refocus efforts based on numbers (Davis, 2016). For example, if an initiative fails to work with some group, it is possible, through research, to statistically show its ineffectiveness and redesign it based on need.

Davis (2016) further explains that public relations research can be formative or evaluation. The formative analysis allows for data collection that is meant to influence the design of a particular program. This is the type of research that is undertaken in the current case. On the other hand, evaluation research collects data on the effectiveness of a public relations initiative. Thus, it is mainly useful for future planning.

Mixed methods cross-sectional researches proves to be best in public relations formative studies. The cross-sectional approach allows the analysis to e simple, short-lived, and only focussing on the current state of the target population. With this, it is possible to study the people’s perspectives and perceptions on a matter or program at the time of its launch. If more information is needed later, another study is done. The use of mixed methods, on the contrary, allows the researchers to collect a wide range of data on the issue at hand, including numerical figures on the number of people in support of the program, as well as qualitative assertions on possible changes to be made.

References

Abutabenjeh, S., & Jaradat, R. (2018). Clarification of research design, research methods, and research methodology. Teaching Public Administration, 36(3), 237-258. doi: 10.1177/0144739418775787

Allen, M. (2017). Cross-Sectional Design. The SAGE Encyclopedia Of Communication Research Methods. doi: 10.4135/9781483381411.n118

Bobbitt, R. & Sullivan, R. (2009). Public Relations Campaign: A Team-Based Approach. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Brunton, G., Thomas, J., O’Mara-Eves, A., Jamal, F., Oliver, S., & Kavanagh, J. (2017). Narratives of community engagement: a systematic review-derived conceptual framework for public health interventions. BMC Public Health, 17(1). doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4958-4

Crabtree, J. (2011). The Importance of Community Relationships between Small-businesses and the Community (Undergraduate). California Polytechnic State University.

Davis, A. (2016). Mastering Public Relations. [Place of publication not identified]: The Saylor Foundation.

De Weger, E., Van Vooren, N., Luijkx, K., Baan, C., & Drewes, H. (2018). Achieving successful community engagement: a rapid realist review. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1). doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3090-1

Johnston, K. (2014). Public Relations and Engagement: Theoretical Imperatives of a Multidimensional Concept. Journal Of Public Relations Research, 26(5), 381-383. doi: 10.1080/1062726x.2014.959863

Paradis, E., O’Brien, B., Nimmon, L., Bandiera, G., & Martimianakis, M. (2016). Design: Selection of Data Collection Methods. Journal Of Graduate Medical Education, 8(2), 263-264. doi: 10.4300/jgme-d-16-00098.1

Schoonenboom, J., & Johnson, R. (2017). How to Construct a Mixed Methods Research Design. Kzfss Kölner Zeitschrift Für Soziologie Und Sozialpsychologie, 69(S2), 107-131. doi: 10.1007/s11577-017-0454-1

Zangirolami-Raimundo, J., Echeimberg, J., & Leone, C. (2018). Research methodology topics: Cross-sectional studies. Journal Of Human Growth And Development, 28(3), 356-360. doi: 10.7322/jhgd.152198