The nature and purpose of Research

What is Primary research?:

Primary research is research in which is conducted and collected by yourself, it is obtained through observations and interviews: For example: Semi-structured interviews in which will give the interviewee enough time to explore the questions being asked and provide in-depth responses. This gives the interviewer rich, contextual data in which is high in validity, this allows the interviewer have in-depth results in which they can conduct their main task from. It is the most important form of research as it gives the interviewer a chance to explore the situation first hand which is the most vital thing in research.

An example of primary research in which I've carried out is through questionnaires and surveys, although these aren't necessarily high in validity, they are high in reliability as they are quick to complete, so they appeal to a wider audience than interview based research due to them being less personal. The site survey monkey is what I used to carry out my primary research, although a good tool as it allowed me to get a large range of responses, it could also be argued that it has some downfalls, as some people can forge their identity on the internet as their name, age and gender are anonymous at all times

What is secondary research?:

Secondary research is research that has been carried out by another person or from another source other than the individual who is carrying out the research. This can be obtained through many different sources, the most common of which being: Factual Books (Non fiction), both news paper and film archives and photographic evidence. Although reliable sources of information, secondary research is seen as less important to researchers as the research may of been conducted many years before hand meaning that the research findings may be irrelevant to a modern conduction of research.

Examples of secondary research I have personally used when conducting my own research is: The use of other people's surveys and using their results to either add to the results I have obtained or see the variation from my results. This is an extremely helpful to someone researching to a small scale (like myself) as it entitles me to broaden my results perhaps even double them, this allowed me to provide better results and ultimately a better final piece altogether, which is what I was obviously striving for when completing each and everyone of the tasks.

Ultimately, secondary research although it is a very good form of obtaining data, it is not as useful as primary research to someone like myself for the tasks in which we had been set to complete.

What is Quantitative research?:

Qualitative research methods, are types of methods which are based upon obtaining numerical results, this is due to numerical results being higher in reliability as they can be seen easily through the use of spreadsheets, this allows the researcher to generalize their results to a wider audience as they can be multiplied as they are there to be physically seen by the researcher, this allows them to base their results on a wider society which is seen as a good thing in the eyes of the researcher.

Examples of Quantitative research  are figures such as : BARB figures, numerical responses to adverts and websites such as the number of hits obtained due to these campaigns, these are useful to both interviewers and people in the industry, due to the fact that researchers can obtain these results and use them to back up any findings, and people within the industry can use them to see just how well their product/media production have done and which demographics and pyschographics have seen them.

Examples of Quantitative research in which I have completed has been the use of of Surveys as they produce results in which can be ultimately be placed into graphs/data in which can be physically seen by anyone who wants to obtain the data, I have used these results to back up much of the research I have carried out, this allows me to produce in depth posts with the data to back up any of the points I have made throughout my research.

What is Qualitative research?:

Qualitative research is research based solely on producing results in which are high in validity, so they look to find in-depth responses rather than a large number of numerical responses. This is due to the results having enough depth to them to provide the researcher enough data to gain their results.

Qualitative data results can be obtained through: Reviews (Films,Games etc) and in-depth verbal responses to any new product or form of media. As these provide the researcher with in-depth responses for them to conclude on their research.

In terms of Qualitative data, I personally received responses when pitching my ideas to a group of peers in my class, these allowed me to manipulate and change my ideas accordingly to suit an audience more so than my previous, original ideas.
 

What are data gathering agencies?:

Data gathering agencies are agencies in which gather data from pieces of media by putting them into figures and allowing them to be viewed by companies and researchers who wish to obtain them. In terms of media, BARB figures are the most commonly used, they publish viewing figures for both Television and Film, these allow people to view both viewing figures and see which demographics viewed the content, for example: Age ranges, Genders and how long they viewed the piece of media for, allowing them to know which audience to tailor to, furthermore they can view at which point the viewer turned off and lost engagement, this is vital to producers as keeping the viewer engaged throughout is the aim of a piece of media and if they lose engagement and turn away from the content then they have failed in striving to ensure that the viewer has enjoyed their viewing experience.

Audience and market research Importance:

With any piece of media, ensuring the right audience is obtained for the right piece of media, this makes sure that the media is being viewed by the audience in which it was originally intended to, as if the wrong audience receives the piece of media then it will not be appreciated as the make of it originally intended for it to be. Market research is vital in ensuring that the right audience is received and the final product can be seen and viewed by the people it was intended to, whether this be: Age ranges, comedic audiences or a more serious audience.

Market research is typical carried out through the use of Quantitative research, this is due to the fact that it is more beneficial for the researcher to gather a large range of responses rather than fewer but more in-depth. A larger sample size when researching for a target audience allows the researcher to get a better know how on who will enjoy their content and on a wider scale, as the general public will be ultimately viewing the finished product so getting a sample size on a macro scale rather than a micro scale is important so the final product is more enjoyable.

In terms of market research, it is important that other similar products and their performance have been reviewed and evaluated so that it is ensured what you will be developing isn't overly similar to something that has already been produced, however, it is also important that if an audience extremely enjoys something that it isn't swayed away from dramatically if not it may cause the audience to dislike the final product. Market research most importantly allows the researcher to find out whether the product they are striving to achieve is ultimately marketable to the general public and whether it will succeed if produced

For my own market research I used Survey Monkey to find out whether or not my ideas were good to a wider society and not just myself, the responses received ultimately helped to shape the final product which was more enjoyable than the original.