Using Grunig's Indices to Differentiate Organizational Public Relations Functions

Abstract

Focusing on the function played by individuals in public relations organizations, this study tested an updated version of James Grunig's indices for public relations models, a measure that compares, among other things, whether communication is more one- or two-way. A sample of 136 public relations professionals, surveyed in Washington State, demonstrated two clear functions for one- and two-way communication. The study finds limited support for Grunig's indices but suggests rewriting some measure items and adding new items to improve the indices.

From Pre-Science to Paradigm Shift: A Kuhnian Analysis of 100 Years of Public Relations Scholarship

“…As Ryan and Martinson had surmised, misconceptions abounded. Along with Turk's findings outlined above, Reagan et al (1992) and Kelly (1995) showed that practitioners and organizational management (a) often thought they were behaving ethically and effectively when their behavior demonstrated a dominant one-way asymmetrical (propagandistic) tendency; (b) often engaged in mediative or dialogical communication situations only performatively or apparently; and yet (c) almost all organizations made use of public relations, knowingly or unknowingly, as a means of "environmental scanning," or a method by which they could better understand their environments and consequently make better managerial decisions. In this way, the analytical descriptions of organizational behavior, born in the eighties and refined in the nineties, underscored the incommensurability of the competing views of public relations.…”

“…Turk (1985) had already found evidence validating the models, suggesting (a) that some organizations prioritized two-way symmetrical behavior and (b) that all organizations gravitated between models depending on the nature of the communication situation. Moreover, the models returned in two identified JMCQ articles from the nineties (Kelly, 1995; Reagan et al, 1992).…”