Unobtrusive Research

This week, we looked at different types of unobtrusive research. This basically means looking at something from a distance without affecting the process. It can be used to study events, characteristics, and even human behavior. In class, we covered content analysis and indirect measures.


I found a website that talks about content analysis. It is interesting to read that often times, too many companies do not use the proper form of measurement, or do not even use it at all in analyzing their PR data. And often times, when content analysis is used, it actually fails to meet the needs of the PR professionals? Why is this? Are people not conducting it correctly?

The same thing goes for indirect measures. There could be many variables at work when dealing with indirect measurement. For example, this week we were asked to determine which door at the entrance of our School of Communications was more popular. I looked at the wear of the door handles as well as the wear on the floor and tried to see if there were any fingerprints on the glass doors. It was actually difficult to tell which door was more popular. Also, there could have been other variables, such as weather, that could have been at work.

I will admit that this week, it was extremely difficult to find an article that related to unobtrusive research conducted in France. I do not really know why this is. In writing this blog, I have also found that there really is not that much published about conducting PR in France. I hope that this is not a bad sign for my future plans to live/work in France...