Partial Answers to Priority Research Questions—and Gaps—Found in the Public Relations Society of America's Body of Knowledge

Abstract

The Body of Knowledge (BOK: Public Relations Society of America, 1988, 1990, 1993) of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and other literature were used to examine priority research questions generated in a series of Delphi surveys conducted over the past 10 years. The Delphi surveys involved dozens of scholars and senior practitioners who identified priority re- search questions in the field of public relations for the 1980s and 1990s. We perused PRSA's BOK and other literature to see which aspects of the top 18 research questions for the 1990s have been answered completely or partially, to highlight gaps in this body of knowledge, and to point out opportunities for future research. Noted at the end of each partial answer to the research questions are BOK references and search terms that can be used in an electronic search of the BOK data base.