This textbook pitches itself as a choice for upper-level undergraduates and professional master’s degree students in public relations and other strategic communication fields. It meets its intended audience where they are, which is thinking more about how a research methods course relates to the workplace than the maze of philosophical and statistical issues that sometimes predominate this subject.
Editorial Record: Submitted December 18, 2024. Revised July 18, 2025. Accepted September 22, 2025.
Authors
Ruoyu Sun Assistant Professor University of Georgia Georgia, USA Email: rsun@uga.edu
Yan Jin Professor University of Georgia Georgia, USA Email: yanjin@uga.edu
Wenqing Zhao Ph.D. Candidate University of Georgia Georgia, USA Email: Wenqing.Zhao@uga.edu
ABSTRACT
The rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) introduces new challenges to crisis communication. This teaching brief describes a crisis simulation exercise, conducted separately in two crisis communication classes at a university in the United States, where undergraduate public relations students apply crisis communication theories to address a GenAI misuse scenario based on the artificial intelligence (AI) scandal involving Sports Illustrated. Students assume roles of crisis management team members, board members, or journalists to perform specific tasks throughout the simulation. A mock press conference is integrated into the simulation, enabling students to engage in real-world crisis communication dynamics and practice their crisis communication skills in a realistic, high pressure setting. Afterward, the crisis responses developed in each class are shared for critique, objective feedback, and reflective learning.
Editorial Record: Submitted October 18, 2024. Accepted November 19, 2025.
Authors
Denisse Vasquez-Guevara Assistant Professor California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California, USA Email: denissev@cpp.edu
ABSTRACT
Audience analysis is crucial for planning and developing effective communication strategies. It involves gaining a deeper understanding of audience demographics and psychographic data to create strategies that engage audiences around the specific goals of an organization, brand, or public figure. Through the theoretical lens of audience analysis theories in strategic communication and marketing, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles and ethics, and arts-based pedagogical techniques, this teaching brief explores audience personas and the practical application of artificial intelligence (AI) prompt engineering for image generation. Through this assignment, students enhanced their understanding of audience analysis and segmentation while practicing the ethical use of AI guided by DEI guidelines. Specifically, students learned how to represent audience diversity in research data collection equally, audience segmentation profile descriptions that reflect respectful and realistic representations of gender identities and race, detailing the visual and textual descriptions of their needs, interests, and culture. This class assignment could be useful for undergraduate courses such as public speaking, public relations, strategic communication, communication research, public relations campaigns, and social media marketing.
Using theoretical frameworks of psychological distance and science literacy, this study introduces the construct of “closeness to numbers” conceptualized as: (i) practical numeracy – an understanding of how to use numbers, (ii) civic numeracy – a sense of comfort and confidence in discussing numerical data, and (iii) cultural numeracy – an appreciation for numerical data in the field. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews with public relations/communication students (n=15) and professionals (n=20), this study found that practical numeracy can be developed even if some struggled with it early on, civic numeracy nurtured at home and school can become integral at work, and cultural numeracy can be nurtured even if one is struggling with other numeracies. Experiential factors mattered significantly in developing closeness. Use of concrete contexts, establishing a supportive community, and inoculating against number trauma and negative self-talk contributed to building closeness to numbers.
