Purpose Of Research

Purpose of research in the creative media industry

The purpose of research is to gain feedback into a product that we want to make such as a TV
show. The media industry has three reasons why it carries out research:

1. Market Research

Market research is finding out what the audience wants and if they want more of it then by going out into the public you can find out if your product will appeal to them. To do this you can use primary research such as focus groups, surveys, questionnaires and interviews/ Secondary research can also be used by looking at BARB which ranks the top programmes on all the channels.

Data from BARB w/e 4 May 2014

		000's
1	BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SERIES 8) (SAT 1915)	8,580
2	CORONATION STREET (MON 1934)	7,701
3	CORONATION STREET (WED 1930)	7,276
4	CORONATION STREET (MON 2029)	7,246
5	CORONATION STREET (FRI 1933)	6,943
6	CORONATION STREET (FRI 2030)	6,537
7	PREY (MON 2101)	6,345
8	EMMERDALE (THU 1902)	6,030
9	EMMERDALE (MON 1902)	6,019
10	VERA (SUN 2003)	5,988

2. Audience Research

Audience research is finding out who your product is for like finding out the age range for your product like a documentary on BBC 3 would be for 17-35. Also you use demographics to find out if your product is good for one particular area or if it is for the whole country. To research your audience you could use primary research such as a survey. Survey Monkey is a good website to create on-line surveys. Demographics and Pschcographics come into play in audience research demographics include age, gender, ethnicity and social class. People can fall into categories A,B,C1,C2,D and E this determines what social statues you fall in to . If someone was to buy the financial times they would fall into the categories of A and By while people who buy the sun fall into C2, D and E categories.  

Psychographics are about people's interests and lifestyle's like what what do people like and what are they in to.  Depending on what they like determines what they watch so if someone like cars then will probably get car magazines or possibly watch shows like Top Gear. To do audience profiles you would use primary research techniques like interviews and questionnaires.

Example of audience profile


3. Production Research

Production research is finding out where to film your show by doing a  recce which when you go out to scout locations that would want to use. Also it can be finding out how much the equipment will be to film by doing a budget which keeps track of much everything will be such as the cameras to the catering. A budget can also be used to keep track of how many things you will be using.

Research Methods 

When undertaking research there is a few techniques you can use. They are:

Primary Research  is when you go out yourself and find original research. Some of the different methods you can use are: 

• Surveys and On-line Surveys 
• Focus Groups
• Interviews 
• Questionnaires

Some of the advantages of primary research techniques such as focus groups is that they are quick to make, easy to assemble and that they and open which can generate new ideas.Some of the disadvantages are that dominant members could skew results, focus groups need experienced moderators so they can control the group when needed and shy members might not contribute as much as other people.

When it comes to surveys the advantages are that they are cheap, You could get a broad range of data e.g. qualitative answers, quantitative answers and you can get a lot of responses from different places.The disadvantages are that the people might not give honest answers, they also might not answer all the questions. It is time consuming to make.

When it comes to interviews they advantages are that the interviewees can't be influenced by other people. You also get a lot of responses, you can also record what the interviewees say . Interviews are also good to get detailed information. Some of the disadvantage are that they are time-consuming to set up  and take part. Also they can be expensive as well.

When it comes to questionnaires they are quick and easy to make. Also you can get a lot of responses and they are practical. Additionally large amounts of information can be gained from a large amount of people  in a short period of time. They are also cost effective to make. Some disadvantages are that they lack validity. People may not answer truthfully to the questions 

Secondary Research 

Secondary research which can be also known as desk research is the collection, summary and review of data which is already existing. Some of the different research methods are:

• Books
• Internet 

The advantages of books is that they are easy to access because you can go to a library. Also they are cost effective because books don't cost much. Also another advantage you can get different perspectives on certain events. Some of the disadvantages are that the information might be dated.. Another disadvantage is that if the book you want is out you can't look at it. Book research would be better for historical research rather than modern research.

Internet Research 

The advantages of internet research is that it is easy to access. Another advantage is that is quick to use along with being able to search for anything. Additionally the internet is free to use. One disadvantage is that people might change information like on a website like Wikipedia. Another disadvantage is if the WiFi drops you can't go on the internet. Internet research is good to research modern and historical facts.

Quantitative and Qualitative 

Quantitative data is data involving numbers. You can get quantitative data from graphs such as pie charts. Qualitative data is when you get data that are detailed and described answers. It can also come in the form of opinions like focus group opinions, survey opinions. With opinions you can find out What,Why,When,Who,Where and How.