About the Center IRIB Research and Public Opinion Survey Center

In terms of organizational standing, human resources, duties, and facilities, the IRIB Research and Public Opinion Survey Center is considered the largest and most extensive research center of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Its main mission is to study, research, and survey in fields required by IRIB using scientific methods in order to formulate policies, plan, produce programs, supervise, and improve the qualitative level of the national media’s programs within the framework of the organization’s principles and policies, as well as to coordinate, evaluate, and organize the organization’s research based on the comprehensive system of media research.
The initial formation of this center dates back to 1340 and the radio program “Culture of the People,” and eventually, in 1345, the Center for the Culture of the People was established. In the same year, concurrently with the launch of National Iranian Television, the “Public Opinion Survey” committee was launched, which was later renamed to the “Social Research and Program Evaluation Center.” In the year 1368, various research units with different missions were formed within the organization, and in that year, with the merger of the cultural activities unit and the social research and program evaluation center, the “Research, Studies, and Program Survey Center” was created.
In the years 1377, 1381, and 1385, the center’s structure was revised, eventually leading to the formation of the General Directorate of Media and Communication Research, the General Directorate of Social Research and Program Survey, the General Directorate of Provincial and Foreign Research, and three units: Culture of the People, Statistics and Interviewing, and Publications and Information. The name of the center was also shortened to the “IRIB Research Center.” Finally, in 1393, the structure of the organization’s research sector was revised, taking into account rapid media landscape changes in the field of communication and media research, adaptation to new operational environments, as well as meeting the strategies and policies promulgated during the management tenure at the time, and considering the considerations and indicators of “downsizing,” “agile-making,” “efficiency-making,” “becoming more specialized,” and “improving structure while preserving achievements.” In this revision, despite downsizing or eliminating some of the organization’s research units and delegating their missions and duties to this center, as well as merging the Islamic Research Center into the organization’s research center, this center resumed its activities during that period under the title “Research and Public Opinion Survey Center.” Due to the expansion of this center and the upgrading of its organizational status under the direct management of the organization’s president, changes and reforms were also made in the center’s infrastructure.

 About the Emblem (Center Logo) 

1. The right-hand symbol is the emblem of a book and a questionnaire.
2. This symbol also evokes waves and messages.
3. The left-hand sign represents a human head and is a symbol of intellect and thought.
4. The overall symbol of the design evokes the word “Survey” (Sanjesh).
It is worth noting that this emblem was designed in 1368.

Structure of the Center
According to the approved structure announced in Bahman 1393, in addition to the “Strategic Council,” the Research and Public Opinion Survey Center has four general directorates and six managements, and each of the research directorates has a scientific council.

1. General Directorate of Strategic Media Research
Responding to the strategic needs of various policymaking and planning fields is among the duties of this general directorate, which conducts fundamental and strategic research in the field of media in the form of four specialized groups entitled: “Media Futurology,” “New Media and Satellite Research,” “Trendology and Media Analysis Research,” and “Aesthetics and Cognitive Sciences Research.”
2. General Directorate of Research and Survey
Conducting applied research in the fields of audience studies, program surveying, identifying major social, cultural, political, and economic issues and problems related to the media is among the most important duties of this general directorate, which operates in the form of four specialized groups including: “Program Survey,” “Audience Survey,” “Social and Cultural Public Opinion Survey,” and “Political and Economic Public Opinion Survey.”
3. General Directorate of Polling Support and Execution
With three managements: “Provincial Research and Polling,” “Foreign Research, Execution, and Data Processing,” and “Statistics and Interviewing,” this general directorate conducts research and polling on subjects and fields of interest for the external broadcasting and provincial networks of the national media.
4. Management of the Culture of the People
This management operates with the aim of collecting information, written audio, and visual documents of popular culture with an emphasis on utilization in radio and television programming through documentary and field studies and communication with cultural associates (270 cultural associates) across the country. This management consists of the sections: “Popular Culture Research,” “Language and Media Research,” “Communications (Cultural Associate-Media),” and “Collection and Documentation.”
5. Methodology Management
This unit operates with the aim of identifying and localizing modern research methods for use in research and public opinion survey affairs, providing necessary solutions to reform and improve the center’s quantitative and qualitative research methods, and reviewing and critiquing common statistical and research methods in the center.
6. Management of Planning and Research Coordination
Formulating and announcing research policies and guidelines to the organization’s research areas after the approval of the organization’s president, reviewing annual research plans and projects required by the organization’s research units within the framework of the comprehensive system of media research, providing the groundwork for academic interaction and communication with research centers and institutions, and preparing and formulating the center’s annual plan are among the duties of this management. “Planning,” “Evaluation,” “Research Coordination and Communication with Academic-Research Centers” are the various sections of this management.
7. Publications and Information Management
Managing and guiding databases and the research information network, supplying the research information needed by the center and the organization, preparing and performing translation, compilation, editing, and publishing books and journals, and launching and supporting the organization’s research portal are duties entrusted to this management. “Information Technology,” “Library and Archive,” “Publications,” and “Public Relations” are considered among the sub-departments of this management.
8. Financial Management (operates based on the organization’s approved duties).
9. Administrative Management (operates based on the organization’s approved duties).

Products and Services of the Center
1. Research Reports
The research conducted at the center is an important source for policymakers, planners, and programmers of the organization, as well as professors, students, researchers, and other experts in the field of communication and media. The results of these research projects are of great significance both in applied fields and in the scope of theory and the production of indigenous knowledge. These studies are conducted in the fields of polling, public opinion polling, needs assessment, impact assessment, strategic and applied research, analytical reports, etc.
They are conducted and, to facilitate and ease their use, published in the formats of report summaries, articles, research reports, booklets, books, multimedia, etc., and are sent to target users according to the subject.

2. Books
The books published by the center contain the most enduring research as well as translations of the latest research works for the use of the organization’s researchers and programmers. Their contents and materials are mostly in the fields of communication, media (radio and television), advertising, and quantitative and qualitative research methods in social sciences, communication, and Islamic sciences, produced with the aim of being utilized by researchers, national media programmers, as well as clerics and scholars of religious sciences, students, and those interested in the field of communication and media.

3. Publications
A) “Communication Research” Quarterly
This quarterly is published with the aim of reflecting the study and research activities of the national media on a thematic basis and includes scientific and research articles by professors, researchers, and media and communication experts. It is worth noting that this quarterly is the only quarterly with a scientific-research grade in the organization.
B) “Culture of the People” Quarterly
This quarterly is published with the aim of introducing various aspects of popular culture in the fields of folk tales, stories, customs, shared cultural elements, as well as providing scientific answers to media issues in the field of lifestyle, identifying the Iranian-Islamic lifestyle, and promoting it through the national media.
C) “Satellite and New Media Studies” Quarterly
The publication of this quarterly, aimed at producing scientific literature in the field of new media studies, is the beginning of a different effort in the field of understanding and qualitative analysis of satellite networks and virtual media.
D) “Election Studies” Bi-quarterly
The purpose of publishing this bi-quarterly is to assist the research, planning, and programming departments of the national media in the field of elections.

4. Information Portal of the Center
The center’s internet base at http://WWW.IRIBRESEARCH.IR provides visitors with news of the most important scientific and research activities and abstracts of the center’s research, alongside some other useful information. On this website, there is access to the center’s research, research of provincial and foreign centers, internet polling, books, research quarterlies, research bibliography with over fifteen thousand research entries, Latin articles, useful scientific-research websites, etc.

5. Scientific and Research Meetings
These meetings are held with the presence of experts and thinkers in the fields of communication, media, religion, and communication and social research, as well as policymakers and radio and television programmers, and taking into account theoretical and applied discussions in the fields of communication, media, and religion such as audience, message, advertising, religious media, etc. Critiquing and reviewing radio and television programs, research, and addressing grand, serious, and up-to-date topics in this field, proportional to the needs of the national media, are among the goals of these meetings.

6. Library and Archive
With five sections: publications, archives, research, loans, and technical and information services, the library of the Research and Public Opinion Survey Center, as a specialized library in the field of communication and media, enjoys rich and diverse resources in the field of communication sciences, social and psychological subjects, etc., in various formats including reference and non-reference books, periodical publications in the field of communication and media, documents and records, and compact discs. Currently, this library has 30,000 volumes of Persian, Latin, and Arabic books; 11,000 titles of reports, monographs, and theses; and 350 titles of periodical publications along with an index database, compact discs, and educational software, as well as 47,500 titles of Latin and Persian e-books.

It is worth noting that in addition to the aforementioned library, which is considered the main library of the center, a library with an approach to media and religious art is also active in the General Directorate of Islamic Media Research of this center (located in the city of Qom). In this library, authoritative resources in the form of books, theses, quarterlies, and research reports in the fields of media philosophy, religion, art, cinema, and communication have been collected.

7. Database
In this database, in addition to the full text of thousands of studies conducted in the Research and Public Opinion Survey Center, the records of all research carried out in various research fields of the organization are registered. Some of the most important software in this database include: Research Project Workflow, Polling Questionnaires Database System, Elites and Experts Database, Comprehensive Popular Culture Database, and Knowledge Management.

Contact the Center
Website: http://www.iribresearch.ir

Email: research@irib.ir

Phone: 22013585
PO Box: 1999713113