Research Techniques for Creative
Media Industries
This following essay will be looking at types of research,
methods and sources of research and purpose of research also why they are
useful in the media industry.
Types of research
Qualitative research is a text
based form of research mainly used in the media industry as text based reviews,
reports and questionnaires a written form of research. This quotes states (McQueen and Knussen 2002 pp 28). “Qualitative research approaches explore and describe,
explain and predict.” This quote explains that qualitative is a more open
source view of information meaning that its more descriptive to which the
researcher can get more information out of the audience as they have more
freedom with the answers that they receive. For example a company selling a new
brand of soft drink would use focus groups or would give samples of the drink
to the public in return for the opinion and views on the new product seeing
what the company can change to get the most profit.
Quantative research is a numerical
form of research that is measured in the media industry using graphs, charts
and percentages this form of research is a more mathematical point of view
meaning questions are not open or direct they are simply figures gathered from
a large group of audience these numbers would either be positive or negative feedback
for companies to use for their own accord. For example if television company
pilot a new show they would have to put the show in at a appropriate time slot
to get the best viewing figures. They would use BARB a television show figure
viewing service to see how well the show is doing. For a couple weeks to a few
months they would continue using this website to see an increase or decrease in
viewing figures.
Methods and Sources of Research
Primary research a form of research
in which the researcher finds out information by their own methods in which
they gather information from their own sources such as interviews or
questionnaires or even simple structured questions. This quote states (May.T Social research pp123). “Interviews are said to allow people to
answer more on their own terms than the standardized interview permits. “The
previous quote explains that interviews are a more direct form of communication
with the audience which allows the researcher a more open answer which they can
either have enough information for a specific answer or a lack of information
for that answer. The interviewer /researcher can probe for deeper responses to
get more information. Furthermore this information gathered might conflict with
other information you will have previously gathered from other sources, which
can entail a positive or negative response in your future outcome.
Secondary research a form in which
the researcher gathers previous information on their specific subject or fields
this source of research tends to become more reliable as the previous recipient
is academically well known for his or her work. For example researching history
you would use scholars or historians websites or books that they have written
in that field to get the best information if they have a academic title such as
professor this makes information more stable as this person is academically
well known in that field. This quote
states (McQueen and Knussen research methods of social science PP26) “The scope of secondary data will often
exceed what the individual might achieve on their own” This quote relates
to the previous explanation in that having information from a secondary source of
an academic professor makes your researcher more reliable and more likely to
succeed and getting the best result.
Purposes of Research
Market research uses quantative and
qualitative research methods and uses both primary and secondary research as
well within the media industry these would be used in the following primary
would be for direct feedback meaning interviews with the market audience this
can either be face to face or a simple questionnaire in doing that both primary
and qualitative research are used to determine the feedback however secondary
research can be used with quanativie using the BARB,RAJA or IMDB websites on
the internet to determine viewing figures or percentages on the markets
products to get a summary on the development on their latest product. Market
research is based all around success of a company’s most recent or bestselling
products and how they can keep these products or when to know that interest is
being lost they will use the three websites used before as a numerical way of
reading information however using qulative to get a direct response. This quote
states (Pole and Lampard 2002 social investigation PP139) “Contrast
questions, which encourage introspection and discussions of the meanings of
social action, perhaps through comparison of a set of events”. Researcher
as with contrast questions can lead the researcher into a different direction
or give them other perspectives to look at when researching within their
product meaning that if a product relates to the audience in a specific way it
can give the researcher another point to consider within their own research or
it can help develop more information on a subject they did either not consider
or didn’t think was relevant. For example when viewing a specific audience for
a television series you would simply not want yes or no questions asking
contrast questions will allow the viewer to open up to the interviewee .The
interviewer can then use this feedback to make the television show better with
this new information gathered from a direct audience with direct responses.
Audience research uses a more qualitative
approach to the audience, as a numerical form of researcher would not be as
specific as the researcher would need it. For example a TV company may use
surveys online to determine a more specific audience. Questions such as age,
sex or even social status will be in the survey later on a percentage is given
determining the audience hierarchy which is the most common audience and why.
The following quote states (May .T 2002 Social Research PP123) “Information about age, sex, occupation type
of house old and so on can be asked in a standardized format” the previous
quote shares the work of Anthony Glidden’s a famous sociologist and his
believes on social class this relates to audience research further as age and
sex is a basic form of information however social class can be considered as
it’s a more in depth form of audience it breaks down further and can give the
researcher a much more open source to consider and why it is aimed at specific
social class whether that be working, high or middle class.
However quantative researcher can
be used with in audience research as a certain percentage of the audience could
be from all sides of social class high or low the researcher could try to
appeal to the other social class to make the audience more involved however
this may or may not work and could cause a relapse meaning that both social
groups could be turned away or brought closer this could either raise or
plummet the percentage of audience or consumers within a short period of time.
Social class is an important to consider when researching a certain product
within the media industry as certain social circles influence others in other
social classes to either be a part of something or not.
Bibliography
May.T 2002 Social Research, Open University Press ,Buckingham
Pole and Lampard (2002)
Practical Social Investigation, Qualitative and Quantitive
Methods in Social Research.
Prentice Hall, London P139
McQueen and Knussen (2002)
Research Methods for
Social Science an introduction.
Prentice Hall ,London
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