The basis for studying the society is observation. There are three most common types of research:

• sociological research, aimed at clarifying public attitude and opinion, in particular people’s viewpoints regarding certain subjects
• communication audit, conducted with the goal of analysing discrepancies arising from communication between organisations (companies, private and public institutions) and their target groups.
• informal research, which incorporates fact collection, analysis of various informational materials, etc., in other words, methods, which do not require direct dialogue with the research objects.

All of the above studies are integral to understanding perceptual differences among all communication parties, and thus, to minimising errors when delivering the information.