Research in Practice: Exploring Communication Research

Research in Practice: Exploring Communication Research Careers

Hi everyone! My name is Inocencia Cumbe, and today I’ll be sharing the three communication research jobs I explored for this assignment — one in public relations research, one in consumer research, and one in marketing research.

The first job I found is a Public Relations Research Analyst position at a PR agency. This role focuses on tracking media coverage, analyzing public opinion, and creating reports that help organizations understand how their messages are being received. To qualify for this role, I’d need to strengthen my data analysis, media monitoring, and writing skills, as well as learn to use tools like Meltwater or Cision.

The second job is a Consumer Insights Specialist, which involves studying customer behavior and preferences through surveys, focus groups, and data analytics. The key skills needed are quantitative research, statistical analysis, and storytelling with data to help companies design better customer experiences.

The third job is a Marketing Research Analyst, which focuses on evaluating market trends, competition, and advertising performance. This position requires skills in Excel, SPSS, digital analytics, and presentation.

Across these three jobs, the shared skills are critical thinking, research design, and data interpretation, while their differences lie mainly in focus—PR is about communication impact, consumer research centers on human behavior, and marketing research focuses on business growth.

Of the three, I’d love to explore the Consumer Insights Specialist role further because I enjoy understanding people’s motivations and turning data into meaningful stories that guide decisions.

Thank you for watching!