THE NATURE & PURPOSES OF
RESEARCH IN THE CREATIVE
MEDIA INDUSTRIES
BY GRACE EXLEY
METHODS OF RESEARCH;
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Primary research is where the researcher gathers information by themselves. This could be done by
providing surveys, questionnaires, experiments or even having an interview with someone to get
information from them. The advantage of using this method of research, is that the researcher gets a
better understanding of the information that you are gathering. However, a disadvantage is that it could
be time consuming and costly for the researcher to carry out this method. Primary research can be vital
in the media industry, getting peoples opinions and interests can help the media industry help get a
better understanding of what their target audience likes, dislike and want. For example, a magazine
might provide questionnaires to see what their target audience want to see in their magazine and also
what they don't want to see, so that the company can make improvements and making their audience
happier with what they're spending their money on.
Another example of how primary research might be carried out within the media industry is if was
creating a computer game, you would research information about the target audience, games market
and the production process. Using primary research, you could provide surveys/questionnaires and
have questions that will give you a better understanding of what interests your target audience. You
could also use this method of research to see what the target audience are wanting and what they don't
want. You would also research which games are currently popular/favorites of your target audience and
see if there's a particular genre that the audience like.
METHODS OF RESEARCH;
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Another method of primary research is a focus group. This is where the researcher asks a number of
random people to watch a movie or play a game for example and ask for their opinion to see if there
are any improvements the company can make the film/game (any media) better and perhaps appeal to a
wider audience. Another method is reviews from the audience. This can also be vital to the industry as
it gives the company a better understanding about what the audience like/dislike about their product.
The link below is a website that has information about the newly released movie this year called Lucy.
This website tells you which actors/actresses star in the film and what the plot is. But it also tells you
what the public think by giving a rate out of 5 stars on what they think about the film and also
publishing peoples reviews of the film by telling us what they enjoyed and didn't enjoy about the film.
This helps the film creators, production team, anyone involved in creating the movie understand what
viewers like to see and if their film went down well with their target audience.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/
METHODS OF RESEARCH;
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Secondary Research involves the summary, collation of existing research rather than
Primary Research, where data is collected by the researcher themselves. In other words,
accessing information that’s already gathered. In most cases this means finding
information from third-party sources, such as marketing research reports, company
websites, magazine articles and other sources. An example of using secondary
research is going on websites online. In the media industry, if you planning on creating
a new television programme, you may do some secondary research by going on the
BARB website and researching which programmes are currently popular, by choosing
top 10 category. This can allow you to research other programmes and see why they
are popular and why the public like it so much. By going on this research, this can
inspire the producer to have something slightly similar but still different.
METHODS OF RESEARCH:
SECONDARY RESEARCH
The advantage of using this method of research, is that there is ease of access, this
could be by visiting the library or waiting for reports to be shipped by mail. Now with
the availability of online access, secondary research is more openly accessed. Another
advantage is the low cost to acquire. Secondary Data allows researcher to access
information for little or no cost at all to acquire. Therefore secondary data is much less
expensive than if the researcher had to carry out research themselves by using Primary
Research methods.
A disadvantage of Secondary Research is the quality of research. The originators of
the primary research are largely controlled by the marketer. Therefore, the secondary
research used must be scrutinized closely since the origins of the information maybe
questionable.
Another disadvantage of using this method of research is the data may not be
presented in a form that’s exactly meets the researchers needs, meaning the researcher
needs to rely on secondary data that is presented and classified in a way that is similar
to their needs. In many cases, researchers find information that appears valuable and
promising. The researcher may not get the full version of the research to gain the full
value of the study.
TYPES OF RESEARCH;
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative data is research that is based on attitudes, opinions, preferences,
thoughts and feelings. This method investigates the why and how of decision
making. The advantages of this research is it answers exploratory ‘why’
questions and provides face to face/ non-verbal indicators.
This kind of data cannot be plotted on a graph or measured. There are many
data collection that An example of quantitative data is asking a number of
people where there is a variety of answers that can be given. One question
could be, 'What's your favorite scene from the Inbetweeners 2 movie?’
On the next slide is an example of Qualitative research.
TYPES OF RESEARCH:
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
TYPES OF RESEARCH;
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Quantitative data is research that is based on measurable facts & information
that can be counted, producing numerical and statistical data. This can be
produced by providing surveys and questionnaires and then working out the
statics. For example, you could give a questionnaire to 100 people and one
question was asking, 'Do you prefer horror movies or comedy movies?'. This
allows you to count how many people prefer which kind of movie and will be
able to work out a percentage or any numerical data.
TYPES OF RESEARCH;
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
On the next slide are some Quantitative Data that shows how many people,
weekly, watched the programmes that were viewing on these 2 channels. These
are the most popular programmes that people tuned into watch and it shows
you the time and how many thousands watched the programmes on a
particular channel. This could help people who are creating a new programme
by seeing what kind of programmes are popular and which programmes aren't
so popular. This could help the company to create a programme that is similar
or has a similar style so that there will be more viewers.
TYPES OF RESEARCH:
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
NRS
The National Readership Survey, otherwise known as NRS, is a joint company
in the UK between the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the
Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Periodical Publishers
Association (PPA). The National Readership Survey began in 1956 and today
provides the most authoritative and valued audience research in use for print
and digital advertising in the UK. The survey covers over 250 of Britain’s
major newsbrands and magazines, showing how popular they are and what
they achieve. The NRS help generate new ideas for the survey and to ensure it
is fit-for-purpose for users of the data in media planning and buying. The
NRS can help media producers to plan their products by being able to look at
the most popular magazines and top newsbrands, enabling the producers to be
inspired to create something similar and see what people (who are a similar
target audience) are/aren’t interested in.
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
NRS
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
BARB
The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board, known as BARB. Created in
1981 to replace a previous system; BARB provides official viewing figures for
UK television audiences. It commissions specialist research companies are,
Ipsos MORI, Kantar Media and RSMB. These companies collect data that
represent the television viewing behavior of the UK’s 26million TV
household. BARB is jointly owned by the BBC, the TP companies, Channel 4,
Channel 5, BSkyB and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. BARB
viewing data give broadcasters, advertisers a minute by minute breakdown of
viewing at regional and national levels. This is information is vital to any
media producer who are wanting to create a new TV programme, as they are
able to see from the information BARB provide which programmes have the
most views, monthly and weekly. This helps media producers get an idea why
they are so popular and hopefully create something that is similar and achieve
just as many views.
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
BARB
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
ABC
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) was found in 1931 by the ISBA
(Society of British Advertisers) to provide an independent verification of
circulation/data figures to facilitate the buying and selling of advertising space
within the UK national newspapers. The ABC also provides independents
verification of data for prints, lists, databases in the UK and Ireland. In
February 2014, Jerry Wright, chief executive of ABC announced that the
organization would begin combining print and digital figures for consumer
magazines. They help these people by monitoring the way advertising is traded
across the converging media landscape in the UK and beyond. They do this so
that things like advertisements are up to industry reporting standards so that it
reflects on your market proposition. A media producer would use this website
to make sure their advertisement are meeting reporting standards by using
ABC to monitor their media products.
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
ABC
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
RAJAR
RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is 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. RAJAR data is
the industry wide currency for planning, buying and selling advertising on
Commercial Radio. RAJAR has a continuous programme of innovation and
development to meet its market’s needs. Media producers might use this
information in the early stages of production to buy an advertising slot on the
radio to promote their own programmes and make it become popular on both
radio, online and television.
DATA GATHERING AGENCIES;
RAJAR
PURPOSES OF RESEARCH;
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
In the media producers classify industry audiences in order to construct their products
to appeal to them. Effective and successful media products target the right audience
and communicate them in an effective way. In the media industry, it becomes more
fragmented and competition for a share of the audience becomes more intense.
Audience research is about investigating;
• Statistical data about the size and profile of the audience for a particular media
product.
• The extent to which potential audience members are aware of a particular media
product.
• What members of the target audience think about particular products and services
and their patterns of behavior.
All commercial media texts are created with a specific audience in mind. Media
producers invest a lot of time, effort and money to find out what their target audience
want from them. They could do this by providing surveys and questionnaires, asking
specific questions about what their target audience are wanting. This method of
research is known as Primary Research.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH;
DEMOGRAPHIC
Demographics is the way in which an audience can be classified according to a
range of different socio-economic and personal factors. This could be, age,
gender, social class, level of education etc. Most companies involved in media
research and production pus people into different categories. This could be
according to what sort of job they do and what kind of income they have.
The scale makes some very broad assumptions.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH;
PSYCHOGRAPHIC
Psychographics is information about someone’s lifestyle. This is vital
information to advertisers and media producers, as it gives them important
information about what interests they have, how much disposable income they
are likely to be attracted to. For example, someone who has an active lifestyle
are likely to be interested in media products that reflect health and
sport/exercise/fitness.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH:
GEODEMOGRAPHIC
Geodemography includes application of geodemographic classifications for
business, social research and public policy but has a parallel history in
academic research, seeking to understand the processes by which settlements
evolve and neighborhoods are formed. It links with demography, the study of
human population dynamics, geography, the study of the locational variation
of both physical and human side and also includes sociology.
Geodemography is the study of people based on where they live. Systems
estimate the most probable characteristics of people bases on the profile of
all people living in a small area near a particular address.
PURPOSES OF RESEARCH;
MARKET RESEARCH
Media companies are interested in the market that their products will be sold
in and see if their product will survive or fail. This involves looking at what
competition has to offer and comparing similar media products already in the
market to see what the commercial opportunities are.
For example, if you were going to launch a new magazine, you will have to do
market research and look at what media products already exist. You will also
have to research what media products are currently popular in the market and
why. This will help media producers expand their ideas and hopefully create a
magazine that will get similar achievement and become just as popular in the
current market.
PURPOSES OF RESEARCH;
PRODUCTION RESEARCH
Media producers will often go to a media agency to recruit talent and
production personnel for a specific media project. Production research is
needed to:
• Provide content and gather material to allow a company to develop the
new product
• Research the viability of actually making the product
• Investigate the technology and personnel available
• Check out suitable recording and production locations
• Thoroughly research and plan production and post production stages to
ensure that it all runs smoothly as possible
PURPOSES OF RESEARCH;
PRODUCTION RESEARCH
This website below shows you the process of production research. You need
to research the budget of all the production and how much it will cost to pay
crew members. If you were going to create a film for example, you will have
to plan a budget and create a schedule so that things run smoothly. Also you
will have to research health and safety risks and how to avoid them. This
websites shows everything that is considered before creating a film (this is
similar for each kind of media product).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/production/cast-andcrew#roles