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Contacts

For more information about the public relations program, contact the Department Chair Trent Seltzer, @tseltzer.

For more information regarding advising in PR, contact Miranda Russell.

For more information regarding internships, contact Aleesa Ross.

For information about TechPR, the student public relations association, contact the TechPR President.

PR Faculty

• Coy Callison, Ph.D.
• Bill Dean, Ph.D.
• Liz Gardner, Ph.D.
• Jo Grant
• Sun-Young Lee, Ph.D.
• Trent Seltzer, Ph.D.
• Autumn Shafer, Ph.D.
• Weiwu Zhang, Ph.D.

Case Study Resources

Case studies are a great way for public relations students to learn about the challenges and opportunities that they might encounter in the field. By analyzing what real-world practitioners did right (or wrong), students will be better prepared to manage similar situations during their careers. The following websites feature case studies that public relations students might find useful. Supplementary information can be found on other websites and blogs (e.g., the organization's own website), newspaper articles (use the TTU Library's Lexis-Nexis database to search), trade publications (may be online or may need to use the Library's business database to find), etc.

• Ogilvy Public Relations | http://www.ogilvypr.com/en/cases
• Lewis Pulse Social Media Case Studies | http://lewispulse.com/social-media/case-studies/
• Goodby, Silverstein and Partners | http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/
• Tod Maffin's Social Media Case Studies http://www.casestudiesonline.com/
• Edelman Digital
  • Our work: http://www.edelmandigital.com/category/client-spotlight/
  • Portfolio: http://www.edelmandigital.com/our-work/portfolio/
• Burson-Marsteller | http://www.burson-marsteller.com/Innovation_and_insights/Case_Studies/Pages/default.aspx
• Fleishman-Hillard | http://digital.fleishmanhillard.com/type/work/case-studies/
• Ketchum | http://www.ketchum.com/case_studies
• Arthur W. Page Society | http://www.awpagesociety.com/insights/winning-case-studies/

Secondary Research Resources

Conducting background research is a crucial part of the strategic planning process. For example, students will frequently be asked to conduct a situation analysis of an organization, problem, and/or opportunity as the first step in developing a strategic communication campaign. The following resources, although not exhaustive, provide a great starting point for students who are engaged in formative research.

• Center for Media Research: Research Reports Online | http://www.mediapost.com/research/reports/
• Research Briefs | http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Archives.showArchive&art_type=8
• MediaPost blogs | http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.blogHome
• National Opinion Research Center | http://www.norc.uchicago.edu
• National Center for Charitable Statistics | http://nccs.urban.org/
• Databases available through TTU libraries (on the library’s home page, click the purple “Databases” tab)
  • EbscoHost databases such as Communication & Mass Media Complete include academic research on topics such as mass media campaigns, designing strategic messages, and applied PR for non-profits.
  • Hoovers provides “comprehensive company, industry, and market intelligence…database of 12 million companies, with in-depth coverage of 40,000 of the world's top business enterprises.”
  • LexisNexis lets you search full text of national and international publications, as well as public papers of the president, congressional transcripts, statistical data, public opinion polling, and more.
• Public Agenda | http://www.publicagenda.org/
• U.S. Census Bureau | http://www.census.gov/, and http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
  • Statistical Abstracts of the US contains information on social and economic conditions in the US. FactFinder (http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml) will provide a “fact sheet” for a local community, based on census data.
• Pew Research Center | http://people-press.org/
• Pew Internet & American Life Project | http://www.pewinternet.org/
• Institute for Public Relations Research | http://www.instituteforpr.com/
• Texas Tech Personal Librarian for Public Relations Students (Carrye Syma)
  • Each major is assigned a personal librarian who is knowledgeable about the information resources available in our field. Contact Ms. Syma is you have an idea about the type of fact/statistic you are looking for, but need help figuring out which database or information source you should search in.
  • Carrye Syma
    carrye.syma@ttu.edu
    (806)742-2238 ext. 281
    Location: Library, Mezzanine 108