IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/pbapdi/v18y2022i3d10.1057_s41254-022-00261-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental methods in public diplomacy

Author

Listed:
  • Imran Hasnat

    (University of Oklahoma)

  • Glenn Leshner

    (University of Oklahoma)

Abstract

Public diplomacy (PD) as a field of study lacks both theoretical and methodological depth. Although a wide range of methodology is used to study the field, case studies, surveys, and content analyses are the most frequently used. While these methods are necessary to study PD, they lack the ability to establish a causal relationship between variables. A lot of attention in PD scholarship is now on digitalization and the use of social media in PD. Similarly, a significant portion of scholarship is devoted to analyzing PD messages. This article argues that experimental methodology is an important but under-utilized tool for scholars in the field. Controlled experiments are believed to be the best method to determine cause-and-effect relationships among variables. The article aims to help scholars of the discipline conduct controlled experiments that further their understanding of PD campaigns and messages. It does so by detailing experiments as a methodology, indicating what type of research questions can be answered by this approach and how to carry out an experiment.

Suggested Citation

  • Imran Hasnat & Glenn Leshner, 2022. "Experimental methods in public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 254-260, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:18:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1057_s41254-022-00261-7
    DOI: 10.1057/s41254-022-00261-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41254-022-00261-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41254-022-00261-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aleksandr Fisher, 2020. "Demonizing the enemy: the influence of Russian state-sponsored media on American audiences," Post-Soviet Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 281-296, July.
    2. Meital Balmas, 2018. "Tell Me Who Is Your Leader, and I Will Tell You Who You Are: Foreign Leaders’ Perceived Personality and Public Attitudes toward Their Countries and Citizenry," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(2), pages 499-514, April.
    3. Johanna Catherine Maclean & John Buckell & Joachim Marti, 2019. "Information Source and Cigarettes: Experimental Evidence on the Messenger Effect," NBER Working Papers 25632, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Eytan Gilboa, 2008. "Searching for a Theory of Public Diplomacy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 55-77, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nattavudh Powdthavee & Yohanes E Riyanto & Erwin C L Wong & Jonathan X W Yeo & Qi Yu Chan, 2021. "When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Diane Pelly & Orla Doyle, 2022. "Nudging in the workplace: increasing participation in employee EDI wellness events," Working Papers 202208, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    3. Carly Knight, 2022. "When Corporations Are People: Agent Talk and the Development of Organizational Actorhood, 1890–1934," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 51(4), pages 1634-1680, November.
    4. Steven L. Pike, 2023. "What diplomats do: US citizen perspectives on the work of public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 442-455, December.
    5. Blerim Limani & Emira Limani, 2022. "“Let us talk”: incorporating the Coordinated Management of Meaning’s communication perspective as part of public diplomacy efforts between government, the private sector, and the foreign public," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    6. Yelena Osipova-Stocker & Eulynn Shiu & Thomas Layou & Shawn Powers, 2022. "Assessing impact in global media: methods, innovations, and challenges," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 287-304, September.
    7. Lawler, Emily C. & Skira, Meghan M., 2022. "Information shocks and pharmaceutical firms’ marketing efforts: Evidence from the Chantix black box warning removal," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Nisha Garud-Patkar, 2022. "Mediated Public Diplomacy: Frame-building Contest Between the United States and Pakistan During a Conflict," International Studies, , vol. 59(1), pages 58-75, January.
    9. Steven L. Pike & Dennis F. Kinsey, 2024. "Diplomatic identity and communication: using Q methodology to assess subjective perceptions of diplomatic practitioners," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 66-75, March.
    10. Becker, Malte & Krüger, Finja & Heidland, Tobias, 2024. "What Drives Attitudes toward Immigrants in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from Uganda and Senegal," IZA Discussion Papers 16734, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Claro, María-Francisca & Huguet, Josep P. & Serrano, María C., 2023. "Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 11(2), pages 66-80.
    12. Andrea Pavón-Guinea, 2024. "Conflict, power, and difference in dialogue: a conversation between public diplomacy and positioning theory," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 44-54, March.
    13. Nadia Kaneva & Cecilia Cassinger, 2022. "Centering gender in public diplomacy and nation branding: an invitation to reimagine the future of the field," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 305-313, December.
    14. Hendrik W. Ohnesorge, 2022. "The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 261-271, September.
    15. Anna Kobierecka, 2023. "Post-covid China: ‘vaccine diplomacy’ and the new developments of Chinese foreign policy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 280-293, September.
    16. Sameera Durrani, 2023. "What happens when a country bleeds soft power? Conceptualising ‘Negative Watch’: towards an epistemology for negative and adversarial place branding," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 456-475, December.
    17. Marcos Agurto & Habiba Djebbari & Sudipta Sarangi & Brenda Silupu & Carolina Trivelli & Javier Torres, 2020. "Local ambassadors promote mobile banking in Northern Peru," Working Papers 2020-6, Lima School of Economics.
    18. Biyun Zhu, 2023. "Tool selection for public diplomacy flagships: toward an adaptive model," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 42-53, March.
    19. Lucca Hoffeller & Nils D. Steiner, 2023. "Sympathies for Putin within the German public: A consequence of political alienation?," Working Papers 2314, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    20. Zhao Alexandre Huang, 2022. "A historical–discursive analytical method for studying the formulation of public diplomacy institutions," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 204-215, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:18:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1057_s41254-022-00261-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.