Farben Nikon AhamedUNIT 2, 3, 22TASK 1

Types of researchThere are 2 main types of research that can be conducted and these are fundamental in the making of a media product as they all have a target in the market.

The two types of research are Quantitative and Qualitative.

Quantitative is a research that is conducted based on actual numbers, statistics, quantity (as the word says), and analysis of data.

Qualitative instead is a research based on opinions and personal statements of others, there is no numerical data and can have more variety compared to quantitative research

Quantitative researchAs said before, quantitative research is all about researching based on actual data and statistic and a clear example could be a questionnaire done by a media producer company that wants to know from consumers how many of them liked the genre Horror, for example.Advantages of Quantitative research is that the results can be easily compared with other data, also it is really easy for people to answer them as the answers are straight forward without need of any specific explanation; this comes useful when for example a magazine company wants to know how much more popular or unpopular a competing magazine business is and because the research is statistically reliable it gives the company a good indication of whose selling the most.A problem that quantitative research might bring up is that there could be so much data collected that time will be wasted on calculating them, also it is just numerical and from it you are not going to know whether you targeted the people you wanted to.

Qualitative researchQualitative research instead focuses on personal opinions and it requires a more in depth response and it allows the “examiner” to ask personal question and collect more data on people, this is best used in T.V shows when they get the personal response from viewers. It is also useful to see what consumers think about a storyline of a film for example. A example of a qualitative research is when a newsletter producer is handing out a questionnaire where he asks how the quality of its product are their opinions on it and why.Advantages of qualitative research may be that it is easy and quick to access to and it works out really well for film industries especially as for them having viewers to enjoy their products is one of their main goal.In the other hand qualitative research is really hard to group up and define similarities and differences between the responses given by people as due to the fact that it is all based on opinions, it might have confused ideas to understand and also people might not know or say what they actually want to or believe in.

Methods of research

Other than types of research we also have different methods of research. These are primary and secondary and both of them can be either qualitative or quantitative.

Primary Research Secondary Research:

Primary research is a research that you conduct by yourself from basic scratch and it’ you the one who starts it and owns it.

Secondary research instead is a research based on other research that have been collected from others or exist already.

Types and methods of research

Primary research Quantitative

QualitativeSecondary research

Both primary and secondary research can be quantitative and qualitative

Primary researchAn example of a primary research could be you, as a newspaper writer, need to find some information on how to write newspaper and make a good layout for them, so what you do is go and ask directly to others maybe expert writers some advices and tips.Advantages of conducting primary research are that because you conducted it it’s reliable and it is actually what you want, there is also much more control on the information you want/need and unlike secondary research where the researcher may spend for information that is not needed, primary data collections’ focus on the researcher doing proper aimed information.A downturn of primary research would be that it consumes a lot of time and sometimes it can also get really expensive (questionnaires handout in paper) and other times you may require other people to help you which means that you may have to pay them.

Secondary ResearchAn example of secondary research instead would be having a magazine producer who wants to know how others produce, make and base their magazines on their target audience so the producer goes to look for reviews that other people have done on other magazines.Advantages of conducting secondary research instead are that it is way easier to find and costs less time and money compared to primary research, also secondary research means that you get work from other people, therefore you can compare them to your primary research.A negative side of this method of research is that it is not as reliable as your own research and although you can compare it with your own one, it still might be out of topic or it might not answer your questions to the fullest; also secondary research is not always reliable as it might be out of date and often times you don’ t even know how old the datas are (unless where you get the information from states the date it has been collected)

Purpose of research - audienceThe purpose of research includes important factors such as the audience which is the main thing a media producer should aim at when making a product as everything is based around it. When doing research about the audience there are 2 main things that should be considered: Demographic and psychographics.Demographic: this is a type of research based on age, gender, ethnicity religion and social class. This can be really useful to businesses and media producers as it can give them an idea of how much disposable income consumers may be able to spend on your good or servicePsychographics: this instead is a type of research based on opinions, attitudes and ideas of people.Researching by using both of these methods means that you are using the maximum potential of research leading to a good combination of knowledge of your target audience as you know both their background story as well as their details on their age, gender, ethnicity, and much more.

Purpose of research - marketAnother vital factor to take in consideration whilst researching is the market which is mainly about the economy and businesses around that are like you and they may be targeting your same audience as they produce the same product of you.As other media businesses may be targeting your same audience you have to consider them as rivals which means that they are potential competitors. Having competitors means that you have to either try your best to create a better product or just find a gap in the market to create a unique product.It is not all just about creating a better product than others in the market, but it is also about other factors such as advertising placement. As the word says, the place where you advertise matters as much as the other factors as advertising means that you are going to bring more consumers to your business.

Purpose of research - market

More consumers means more profit which means that your media product will succeed on its purpose.How do we find good places for adverts?It’s all about demographic research and knowing where your target audience lives and in what places they might be looking at; at home (on social media) or just randomly around (on bus stops – walls). Advertising serves to advertise and to let the target audience know and be aware of the existence of your product and then through use of colours, connotation and further details convince the viewer to buy your products.

Purpose of research - viability

When looking at viability which is the hardest bit to research there are 2 main key points to look at, costs and technological resources. Costs are about the amount of money that has to be spent in the manufacturing process, the main question the producer has to ask to himself is if he is going to make a profit at the end of it, considering that he needs to spend money to employees, manufacturers, advertisers, designers and much more he needs to see if it’s worth it spending that much time on creating a media good.As said before, another key issue to consider is the use and costs of technological resources as depending on them also the final quality of the product might change and by having a better quality it means that it will look more professional.