Nature and Purposes of Research

Research

Types:

Primary Research:

Primary research is research that you as an individual/group gather yourself. For example, interviews, surveys and questionnaires are forms of primary research.

In my 3-minute wonder project I created and distributed an online survey, this gave me data to analyse to put into the documentary.

Secondary Research:

Secondary research is research that you find from other sources, e.g. books, journals, the internet etc.

For the 3-minute wonder project we surfed the internet and found statistics on the topic along with blog posts of people’s opinions on the matter.

Quantitative Research:

Quantitative research is when a large quantity of numerical data is used to represent the average views of the public on the subject.Closed ended questions are usually used in order to get quantitative research as they supply short simple answers such as yes or no or statistics. For example Programme ratings, readership circulation figures, hits on a website, box office figures, sales of CDs and DVDs are all forms of quantitative research.

In my 3-minute wonder project I shared an online survey between a large number of friends and acquaintances of mine, this gave me data to analyse and put into my documentary.

Qualitative Research: Qualitative research is when a smaller number of people give more detailed, long-winded answers to questions. Open ended questions are ways in which qualitative research is gained as they supply more comprehensive answers. For example Film reviews, game reviews, fanzine websites, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage, responses to advertising campaigns, discussion and interviews are all forms of qualitative research.

In my 3-minute wonder project I interviewed a few of my friends and classmates on the topic of the documentary, this gave me in-detail viewpoints on the questions this documentary explored.

Data Gathering Agencies:

There are a number of data gathering agencies which supply both qualitative and quantitative research for the public to access and possibly use as secondary research. For example BARB, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, IGN and Metacritic are all ‘data gathering agencies’.

IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes are movie/TV show review websites in which you can see average ratings of TV shows and movies (quantitative research) and also individual critics’ reviews (qualitative research).

IGN and Metacritic are both video game review websites which serve the same purpose as the movie review sites however they provide research of video games rather than TV and movies.

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) is the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. This is a commonly used source of data which can be used as quantitative research.

Purposes of Research:

Audience and Market Research: this research is what shows the producers of a product what the consumers want and need from their product and how they should cater in different ways to certain groups of people. For example, the demographic is the target audience in which their product is aimed at. Using a demographic, they can create the product in a way that makes it more appropriate and appealing towards the target audience. This research also helps establish the best advertisement placement and timing in order to be seen by the target audience.

For my 3-minute wonder project I created an online survey in which I established an average age group, gender and how much time the average viewer of this documentary spends playing video games and how much money they spend on video games.

Production Research: This involves researching things such as filming locations, budget costs ,etc. This research makes the filming stage of the production easier if the research is done beforehand.

For my 3-minute wonder project I researched a few locations to film however some of them reject our request to film in their property. In terms of budget, we ended up not spending anything as all of the props seen in the documentary and all the locations we filmed in were owned by members of the production crew.