Criticisms of the Research

Criticisms of public opinion research come from a variety of sources. Many people simply are not convinced that a small sample of the population viably represents the whole. Other criticisms deal with sample procedures that, for reasons of economy or expediency, sometimes use outdated population data or make compromises with rigorous statistical requirements. Additionally, interpretation of the data may be casual and superficial, presenting the raw data without deep and careful analysis.

Public Relations = PR, management function that creates, develops, and carries out policies and programs to influence public opinion or public reaction about an idea, a product, or an organization. The field of public relations includes advertising, publicity, promotional activities, and press contact. Public relations also coexists in business with marketing and merchandising to create the climate in which all selling functions occur.

In industry, public relations personnel inform management of changes in the opinions of various groups of people, such as employees, stockholders, customers, suppliers, dealers, and government. These professionals counsel management regarding the impact of actions on the behavior of the target audiences. Once an organizational decision has been made, the public relations person communicates this information to the public.

Public relations activities are a major part of the political process in the United States and other nations. Politicians, government agencies, officials seeking policy support, and foreign governments seeking aid and allies all use public relations specialists. People and businesses in the entertainment industry also use public relations services to increase their business or enhance their image. Other public relations clients are educational, social service, and charitable institutions, trade unions, religious groups, and professional societies.

The successful public relations specialist is skilled in communication arts and persuasion. The work involves functions including the following: (1) programming–that is, analyzing problems and opportunities, defining goals, determining the public to be reached, and recommending and planning activities; (2) writing and editing press releases, speeches, stockholder reports, product information, and employee publications; (3) placing information in the most advantageous way; (4) organizing special events; (5) scheduling meetings and delivering speeches; (6) providing research and evaluation; and (7) managing resources by planning, budgeting, and training staff.

Radicals, members of a movement that advocates extreme change of political and social institutions. The word was first used in the political sense by British statesman Charles James Fox, when he asked for universal manhood suffrage, and it afterward indicated those in support of parliamentary reform. The British Radicals proposed the removal of all political and social restraints on economic relations, believing that individuals are free to the extent that their commercial life is unrestricted.

Today, the term radical usually is used to indicate extreme liberalism, and reactionary is the term used to indicate extreme conservatism. The labels, left and right, respectively, have been attached to these viewpoints. Communism is an example of radical, leftist extremism, and fascism exemplifies the extreme rightist views.

Radicalism ['rxdIkqlIz(q)m] is a political philosophy that emphasizes the need to find and eliminate the basic injustices of society.

Recall, method of removing elected officials from office before the end of their terms. In the United States approximately 1000 cities and 11 states utilize this method to remove officials who have proved unsatisfactory to their constituencies. In order that a recall election may be instituted, a petition, signed by a specified proportion of the qualified voters, must be filed with the appropriate officials who then, after verifying the signatures, order an election.

Refugee, ["refjV'dZi:] person who has fled or been expelled from his or her country of origin because of natural catastrophe, war or military occupation, or fear of religious, racial, or political persecution.