摘要:Although not excessively abundant in Spain, university research into public relations must assume its commitments and meet the needs of the sector. A theoretical reference framework that explains, on one hand, the object and method of public relations; and on the other, provides a systematic procedure for the identification and definition of the «publics» of an organization, giving rise to a plausible paradigm for interpreting the phenomenon of public relations, which meets the needs of the most thorough research, while at the same time helping with professional practice.