Research Methods and
Techniques Report
Aims Of The Report
This report will be focusing on
evaluating a range of research
methods and techniques. Whilst
explaining the nature and purposes
of research in the creative media
industries, the collected research
findings will support arguments and
clarified examples expressing ideas
fluently.
The Role of the Researcher.
The researcher is responsible for planning, organising and
researching all the things that will happen during the production,
whilst providing support to the producer and production team.
The researcher will pass on sources, contacts and ideas to the
production process and will be involved throughout the project.
Once the brief has been established, the researcher will gather
relevant information which will be used to construct the storyboard
and script. All information collected must be fact-checked with other
sources such as experts and scientists and then cross-referenced.
The researcher’s role is to work closely with the director and
producer to ensure any content is portrayed accurately. This may
range from the accuracy of the set to historical costume, archive
footage and natural events.
The researcher is responsible for liaising with all contributors to
the production. The director will have their vision of how they want
the film to look and the aspects which they would like to include. It is
the researcher’s job to gather the necessary information and to assess
if the director’s vision is achievable within the budget.
A researcher does not have to be an expert in a particular area,
but they must be good at finding the experts necessary for each
production. Researchers must know where to find information, and
make use of all available sources including the internet, scientific
journals, books and other publications.
Explanation of Main Purposes of Research – Market and
Production
Main Purposes of MARKET Research
Main Purposes of PRODUCTION Research
To gain a more detailed understanding of consumers’ needs – marketing
research can help discover consumers’ opinions on a huge range of issues, e.g.,
views on products’ prices, packaging, recent advertising campaigns
The purpose of production research is so that the producers are able to see
what the consumer is wanting and how you can offer that to them.
Reduce the risk of product/business failure – there is no guarantee that any
new idea will be a commercial success, but accurate and up-to-date
information on the market can help a business make informed decisions,
hopefully leading to products that consumers want in sufficient numbers to
achieve commercial success.
Production research is information that has been gathered from different
sources to help with a specific production process. This could be primary or
secondary research and the information gathered could help with the
making of the product.
Forecast future trends – marketing research can not only provide
information regarding the current state of the market but it can also be
used to anticipate future customer needs. Firms can then make the
necessary adjustments to their product portfolios and levels of output in
order to remain successful.
Production researchers would also have to find out why the business is
failing to make sure its something the company would be able to work on
to improve it.
http://www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/res
earch-need-purpose.html
http://troyduff.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/r
esearch-purposes-methods-and-types/
A full explanation of the services of research
organisations.
RAJAR:
In 1992, RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) was set up to be the official body in charge of measuring
radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the RadioCentre on behalf of the commercial
sector. The RAJAR company is responsible for setting the research specification, the awarding of the research
contracts to third party suppliers and the overall quality control , management and delivery of the service. The
day to day operations are overseen by the Chief Executive and Research Director. RAJAR have a survey process
that they stick to in order to gather their research, which looks something like this:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Once an individual has agreed to take part, the interviewer asks a series of questions related to the
respondent’s demographic details, household tenure, number of radio sets, access to digital
platforms (TV, internet, DAB) etc…
The respondent is then asked to keep a listening diary for one week, detailing for each quarter hour,
which station they listened to, where, and on which platform. Only live listening is measured.
The listening diary is recorded in online and paper form.
The interviewer conducts a procedure in which each respondent is asked to sort through a set of
cards with the names of radio stations available in the area. This is then used to personalise the
respondent’s diary.
The diary also comprises a self completion questionnaire which covers media consumption including
television viewing, newspaper readership, listening to podcasts and via mobile phone etc…
At the end of the diary week, the interviewer comes back to the respondent’s home to pick up the
diary.
http://www.rajar.co.uk/content.php?pag
e=about_organisation
A full explanation of the services of research
organisations.
NRS:
In 1956, The National Readership Survey was established and
suggestively provides the most authoritative and valued audience
research in use for print advertising trading in the UK. The survey
covers over 250 of Britain’s major newspapers and magazines,
showing the size and nature of the audiences that they engage. In a
dynamic and changing digital media age, NRS PADD was introduced
in September 2012 to provide a unique measure of combined print
and online audiences.
The surveys that NRS carry out are continuous, asking a large
sample of 36,000 interviews a year with adults ages 15+. The
interviews are only conducted at randomly selected addresses with
randomly selected individuals in their own homes. The respondents
are interviewed about their readership of a list of newspapers,
newspaper supplements and magazines, as well as their online
behaviour and information about themselves, which tends to last 27
minutes.
http://www.nrs.co.uk/readership/
A full explanation of the services of research
organisations.
In 100 countries around the world, Nielsen provides clients the most
complete understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen keep pace
with emerging market trends and the increasingly diverse, demanding and
connected consumer. After nearly a century, they are more focused and skilled
than ever at providing the complete view of what consumers watch and buy
through powerful insights that clarify the relationship between content and
commerce.
Whether their clients are in media, consumer packaged goods, telecom or
advertising, Nielsen’s expansive data and measurement capabilities provide
market context and confidence through their long history of innovation and
integrity.
Nielsen provides the most complete view of media, tactics and price points by
blending shopper data, Internet usage and television viewing; Nielsen’s services
include:
– Tracking consumer engagement and response to marketing programs
– Modeling with sophisticated simulation and planning applications
– Behaviour analysis of valuable consumer segments
– ROI assessment of historical marketing using proven statistical
modeling
– Recommendations and forward-looking action plans
– Consultation with experts in the industry
http://www.nielsen.com/uk/en/practices/marketing
-performance.html
Market Segmentation And How It Is Applies
To Media Products.
Market segmentation is a technique used to enable a business to target it’s products at the right
customers. Market segmentation is about identifying the specific needs and wants of customer groups and
then using those insights into providing products and services which meet customer needs.
Market segmentation is put into place because
customers tend to differ in many ways such as:
The benefits they want
Amount they are able to or willing to
pay
Media (e.g. television, newspapers,
and magazines) they see
Quantities they buy
Time and place that they buy
Segments are usually said to be
measured in terms of sales value or volume. In
the diagram below, segment B is twice the size
of segment C:
There are various methods (or “bases”) a
business can use to segment a market. Some of
the most popular are:
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/businessstudies/comments/qa-what-is-market-segmentation
The importance of advertising to media
production
Advertising is important for everyone who is involved in the product, this includes the audience watched or listening to the advertisement
and also the producers and company who are advertising. It affects the audience as they only usually become aware of the product once it is
made publically known and available in the market. Advertising also helps the audience consider which products benefit them and their
family, and are more effective once they become aware of the range of different products and are able to compare the products to the ones
that are best suited to the value of money in which they would pay for the product..
As well as the audience, advertising also affects the company owning the products as it helps increase sales once the product is made
known to the public. Advertising is also a good way to indicate to the producers and the company itself of any competitors and can then plan
to go above and beyond expectations to improve their product. Also, the demand for the product keeps on coming with the help of
advertising and, as a result of this, supplies become a never ending process.
Another importance of advertising is often overlooked, this is that advertising helps educate people. There are some social issues
which advertising deals with like child labour, liquor consumption, road awareness, smoking, family planning education, etc. therefore,
advertising plays a very important role in society.
There are 4 different objectives within advertising that enable the producer and company keep on track of how their product is
selling:
– Trial: the companies which are in their introduction stage generally work for this objective. The trial objective is the one which
involves convincing the customers to buy the new product introduced in the market. Here, the advertisers use flashy and
attractive ads to make customers take a look on the products and purchase for trials.
– Continuity: this objective is concerned about keeping the existing customers to stick on to the product. The advertisers here
generally keep on bringing something new in the product and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying
their products.
– Brand switch: this objective is basically for those companies who want to attract the customers of the competitors. Here, the
advertisers try to convince the customers to switch from the existing brand they are using to their product.
– Switching back: this objective is for the companies who want their previous customers back, who have switched to their
competitors. The advertisers use different ways to attract the customers back like discount sale, new advertise, some reworking
done on packaging, etc.
http://managementstudyguide.com/objectivesimportance-of-advertising.htm
Aspects of pre-production research and
planning
Pre-production refers to the tasks undertaken before
production begins. The content of pre-production depends
on the medium and situation. For example, for a small video
company, pre-production may refer to everything that
happens before shooting begins, such as meeting with the
client, research, storyboarding, location planning, etc.
Whereas, feature film pre-production is more specific and
only begins when other milestones have been met such as
financing, screenplay, casting and major staffing. In this case
pre-production includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Location scouting
Prop and wardrobe identification and preparation
Special effects identification and preparation
Production schedule
Set construction
Script-locking (semi-finalisation of the script)
Script read-through with cast, director and other
interested parties
http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/p/pre-production.html
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lJXzFqj3Ko/S_LgYbk5_wI/AAAAAAAAALE/FVqu3V5lvg/s1600/splashPreProduction.jpg
What copyright means and its connection to
research for media production
Copyright protects the physical expression of ideas. As soon as an idea is given physically such
as through a piece of writing, a photograph, music, a film, a web page, it is protected by copyright.
There is no need for registration or to claim copyright in some way, protection is automatic at the
point of creation. Both published and unpublished works are protected by copyright.
Copyright tends to be owned by the creator of the idea such as the artist or author etc.
Copyright is a property right and can be sold or transferred to others. Authors of articles in academic
journals, for example, frequently transfer the copyright in those articles to the journal's publisher.
Copyright is regulated by law, the main statute in the UK being the Copyright Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). This was amended in October 2003 by the Copyright and Related Rights
Regulations 2003.
Whilst doing any type of research, you will want to photocopy or download material e.g. book
chapters, journal articles, information or images from the web and so on, to support your research.
The material you use may be subject to UK Copyright law, which limits the amount of material that
you can legally copy.
As long as you state the material you have used so you cannot be accused of plagiarism, it is
acceptable to incorporate a limited amount of text into published research.
https://www.staffs.ac.uk/legal/copyright/what_is_copyright/
http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/for/researchers/copyright
Conclusion
•
•
•
•
•
I have learnt that the pre-production stage to a project
as a whole has many rules and regulations that have to
be obeyed through law.
The role of the researcher has a lot of responsibility to
get the right amount of information whilst still obeying
the copyright laws.
Advertising has more purposes than what is usually
perceived to the audience.
I have learnt the four main objectives within advertising.
The difference between market research and production
research and their main purposes.
http://blog.sysomos.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/05/question-mark.jpg