The Complete Guide on How to Write a Public Relations Research Paper

It is no doubt that every student needs to make significant efforts to write a proper paper worthy of A/A+. Nevertheless, either a perfect research paper or short article requires sophisticated research and work with credible sources. What is more, a student should be able to employ the necessary literary devices and stylistics to intersperse the paper but not so sophisticated that it may seem that Charles Dickens wrote it. Frankly speaking, a flawless paper requires regular practice until one develops all the effective methods of writing.

Asking, “Where to find all this useful information on academic writing?” Look! You can read a lot of ‘great’ books, manuals or, alternatively, you can just read this complete public relations research paper writing guide to the end and write a good research paper on Public Relations. As a result, you will deal with different stages of good writing that are directly applicable to the public relations field.

What to Write About in My Public Relations Research Paper?

Before writing a research paper itself, it is important to understand the meaning of Public Relations. While writing such a type of work, it is better to define the central terms for the field, its current methods, strategies, and practices. As public relations is the essential element of the marketing strategy of any modern institution and company, you should know how to determine its role for the business realm. As a research paper writer, you may provide a new perspective to the audience while investigating the current state of affairs in Public Relations. Moreover, you can examine a certain product or service in the paper by discussing its advantages and disadvantages. It is significant to discuss the communication strategies since they are the inevitable part of each public relations policy. Thus, you should demonstrate strong interest and knowledge in the character and performance of public relations by including relevant citations, statistics, analysis, and comparison.

It is crucial not to confuse a research paper with an essay or term paper on the same topic. To be more specific, while a writer usually expresses his/her point of view in an essay, a research paper should focus more on the information provided by the other authors. Another distinct feature is the length of the work – since an essay should have around 5 pages, a research paper is written at least on 8 pages or more. It is not so important to understand the subject deeply to write an essay; however, while doing research, you’d better possess the profound knowledge of the discipline. In your case, it is Public Relations. So your research paper can include the methods to compare and contrast or analytical and argumentative tones. In contrast, while writing an essay, you stick to the academic style mixed with the philosophical or narrative tones. The mentioned styles are not the only possible, although, they are the most common among the essay writers. Also, a research paper can introduce the literature review as the current opinions about the investigated topic.

Therefore, a research paper is more sophisticated and complex type of academic paper since it requires the skillful evaluation of the information and its detailed presentation. The work must be structured and filled with the opinions of competent critics, as well as supported by the strong researcher’s arguments.

Choose a Good Topic for Your Research Paper on Public Relations

Once you determine the type of writing you need to work on, it is significant to choose the topic. It is more important to do it properly. As an alternative, you can ask for the advice of your instructor – “What is the best topic for my research paper on Public Relations?” In this case, you should have the list of possible topics in hand. Otherwise, there is an impression that you have no idea what public relations are. So it is more interesting to choose the topic that is the most appealing to you as a researcher. Brainstorm the ideas and define the keywords of the field in question. To be honest, a mind map is always a useful idea since it helps to visualize both the central idea and surrounding blocks. Also, the potential findings can be discovered by such a method.

After that, it is crucial to make sure that proper information is available in libraries or on the Internet. Then, it is useful to formulate a strong thesis statement to elaborate a research paper on it. Don’t neglect the outline creation. Your research paper outline is based on several reflective questions. You can find it complicated to write a proper outline without details. So, specify the goal of your paper, the target audience, and the potential areas of controversy. Public Relations is a broad and sophisticated discipline to research, so the tutor’s assistance may be needed. Furthermore, in the sphere of public relations, the body of knowledge is constantly growing.

Indeed, a suitable topic may concern some innovative issues since recent technologies are of the utmost importance for this discipline. What is more, the information about innovations can transform the research paper into the valuable source of a novelty for further investigation. The sphere of public relations is closely linked to the real-life environment. So despite being a rather challenging task, writing a research paper seems to contribute to the practical experience of future specialists. The public relations field is regarded as one of the most complicated areas to research for some reasons.

• The ambiguousness of the terms makes it difficult for the researchers to agree on the interpretation. Nonetheless, public relations usually stands for the contributing relations between the institutions, organizations, companies, and their audiences.
• The scope of public relations is rather far-reaching, which, in turn, makes a topic application process easier.
• Public relations are closely associated with the public so that it can be applied to a broad variety of industries, from private to governmental institutions.

Hence, there is a vast range of topics suitable for the research paper on Public Relations. Remember that it is not enough to focus merely on the definitions since public relations is a much wider discipline. For instance, you can study different functions and branches of modern public relations, and compare them with previous tendencies; thus, conducting a historical analysis. There are the most interesting topics to choose from:

• The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Public Relations. The matter is that CRS is crucial for the development of public organizations so that it would be useful to understand its role and functions;
• The Role of Public Relations in Crisis Management. Public relations specialists’ efforts are often aimed at supporting a company when any problem occurs – a financial crisis or any other issue.
• The Impact of Media on Public Relations. Apparently, social media has played an essential role in public relations, and this topic is rather broad as it includes the primary research of media tendencies;
• The Evaluation of Public Relations Management in Technology. Technological issues correlate to modern communication, and it would be beneficial to rate its role in public relations;
• The Evolution of Public Relations Discipline. Public relations as a discipline isn’t a recent invention. There are a lot of points worthy of evaluation;
• The Importance of Internal Communication for Public Relations. The internal communication functions in the shifted environment. Therefore, public relations are changing with the times as well.

Last, but not least, you can write a research paper on a definition of public relations. As a rule, different terms are generated in such a way as to discuss them from various perspectives. Conduct your own research on the interpretation of all the available information. On the other side, it is useful to mention the variants of non-deliberate topic choices, like:

• A Case Study of Public Relations Management;
• Public Relations and Inbound Marketing.

The fact is that these options do not reveal the essence of future work and need an improvement. When talking about the topic related to governmental practice, it must be said that the variety of sectors are beneficial in this regard. To be more accurate, every company needs an effective communication strategy to address large audiences. The public relations management is a proper tool to improve the image and reputation of the organization. For this aim, companies can employ different media tools, commonly used in modern social media. Also, the rapid technological revolution influences the development of public relations that makes it even more interesting to choose the topic.

How to Write My Public Relations Research Paper Structurally? Our Experts Give Extensive Answers

While writing the research paper in Public Relations, it would be useful to rely not only on the academic or peer-reviewed works but also examples of one’s personal experience in this sphere. Therefore, you should include interviews or surveys of specialists or groups of specialists to make research more vivid and multifaceted. Regarding the sphere of public relations, the primary research based on the human subject will be up-to-date since the relationship between people is the touchstone of public relations.

As you know what topic to research in your paper, it is important to think over the structure of the research paper. Remember that the title is one of the essential parts of each paper. That is why it has to be distinctive and even thought-provoking. Imagine that you are offered to choose from a variety of academic papers on the same subject – what work would you choose without flipping through it? The paper with the noticeable title will win “the battle.” A title is used to introduce the topic of research to the audience so that people may already grasp the central idea of paper writing. Next, you should include the abstract that may be defined as the summary of the paper. An abstract is considered a standard requirement for research papers, and that is the major difference between the research paper and the other types of writing, such as essays or reviews.

In the introduction, you should answer simple questions:

• Why did I choose to write about this topic?
• What was of the most interest to me?
• What would I like to share with my audience?

The introduction always lays the foundation for further content, or background of the research paper. Also, the paper of such type usually includes the methods of research. This section is devoted to how the writer did the study. In this regard, you should explain the central setting, study design, and sampling strategy of the research process. Here, one can also include the study variables or the procedures of data collection. Also, a writer should outline the methods of the research analysis.

Next, as the author of good research papers should make the report of the collected data and key findings. Remember the central problem of the research paper and make sure that the results correspond to the thesis statement. A discussion is an unavoidable part of the previous unit. It gives the writer an opportunity to present the final results. The main findings of the research should be discussed in relation to the previous research in order not to lose or confuse the central point. If you are interested in the potential development and study of the particular topic, it is important to include the passage about practical implementations of the findings. Also, you should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the research; namely, discover its limitations.

The conclusion is an integral part of each research paper, and it is important not to restate the data that has been mentioned previously. Nevertheless, it can include personal references or prospects for further work. If someone provides you with profound research for your topic, it is a proper way to include them into the references list. As the researchers contribute to your work significantly, they deserve to earn authorship. To proceed to the closing stage of the paper, you must include references from which you take some in-text citations completed properly. References should consist of any materials that are used in the research paper.

It is advantageous to include some hints on writing the strong research paper. If a person writes about the subject of his/her passion, it is more likely that they will succeed. So choose what you like in public relations. A researcher should find the connection between the educational and career goals, merely not to waste time on writing. Effective research proves to be useful if it can be employed in professional practice, or at least if it contributes to the experience. What is more, a strong thesis statement is a formula for success. A thesis can be regarded as the writer’s state of intent since it is the demonstration of his/her expectations and aims in the research. To write a powerful thesis, a writer should think over the unlikely connections, controversies or misconceptions within the chosen topic. Another useful way would be to re-frame the classic terms in the context of current technology or innovation trends.

Obviously, consultation with professionals is vital for writing the perfect research paper. Unfortunately, the even broad personal experience is not enough in this regard. Nowadays, the Internet offers a variety of sources to choose from so they are of general access to all writers. The Internet can be the leading voice in one’s field of writing regardless of the academic position. The list of useful sources on the primary level can compound:

• Johnston, Jane. Media Relations: Issues and Strategies. Allen & Unwin, 2013.
• Swann, Patricia. Cases in Public Relations Management: the Rise of Social Media and Activism. Routledge, 2018.
• Heaney, Katie, and Arianna Rebolini. Public Relations. Grand Central Publishing, 2017.
• Heath, Robert Lawrence. Encyclopedia of Public Relations. Sage, 2013.

As it has been mentioned above, the interaction with the other people is encouraged while conducting research. You can find interesting personalities who can help to better understand the aim and tasks of the project. Thus, those mentors can answer the emerged questions and add significant value and novelty to the research paper. Furthermore, you can make effective connections in a professional sphere by such means.

To sum up, you’re equipped with strong public relations research paper tips on how to write a research paper on Public Relations. Learn to be a step ahead!