Role theory, which posits that people play parts determined to some extent by others' expectations, was used in an investigation of the relationship between public relations practitioners and journalists. Twelve journalists and 14 public relations practitioners were asked to describe both roles in terms of a variety of attributes or characteristics by means of a Q sort. The descriptions were then compared by using factor analysis to islolate the predominant patterns of perception of each role. The primary findings were that journalists and public relations practitioners differed sharply in their perceptions of the public relations role, while both have similar perceptions of the journalistic role. An additional finding indicated that public relations practitioners suffer from intrarole conflict, which results from facing varying expectations from different audiences. (Items used in the Q sort and demographic data about the respondents are included in appendixes.) (FL)