Whats is research

1. Methembe Darikwa Unit 54 LO1
What Is Research?
The purpose of research is to collect the necessary information on a particular case, study or
subject. The importance of research is so that the researchers can get an idea on the industry,
audience and how the audience consumes products.
Quantitative research is number based data​; this is normally seen as graph charts. This is
great for the media industry because this will allow them to decide what they can sell and who to
market it to. The quantitative research can show the demographic size and the geodemographic
size . Questionnaires (tick boxes, closed questions, likert questions) and surveys are commonly1
used to collect this type of data, these are also used by governing body to find out information.2
They do this because quantitative research is easier to get and easier to convert the information
into different formats such as Bar charts, pie charts etc… The disadvantage of doing this is that
you need a large amount of sample which could be very strenuous and time consuming
depending on the size of the sample; however the larger the sample the more credible the
research . The advantage of quantitative research is that it aims to be objective and not3
subjective as qualitative data, these will be used by executives and other to decide whether or
not it's worth it to sell the
Qualitative data ​is in depth data that contains ​opinions and facts​. These are useful because
participants can give their reasons on why they like or dislike a product. This allows the
researcher to make the necessary changes. However this type of data is harder to finalize
because it's time consuming to read out. Interviews which have a structured, semi structured or
unstructured purely collect qualitative data. However interviews can be hard to conduct because
finding participants can be difficult. Focus groups also help because you can get large scope of
participant's opinions and attitude about certain products. These are heavily used in the media
industry and other industry because it gives the researchers a rough prediction on how the
consumers would react, they will sometimes bring samples of their product to the group and ask
questions.4
Primary research​ is conducted by the researcher themselves through various methods such as
questionnaires and focus group to gain information on a topic or subject. This method is used5
by sociologist, scientist and marketing teams. The advantages of primary research is that it’s
1
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/09/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-quantitative-and-qualitative-r
esearch.php
2
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2012/09/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-quantitative-and-qualitative-r
esearch.php
3
http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8091178_advantages-disadvantages-qualitative-quantitative-research.html
4
http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-between-qualitative-research-and-quantitative-res
earch/
5
http://sociology.about.com/od/Research/Taylor.L, Viveash.B,Waterwoth.K,Roth.JJ (2009)OCR GCSE
Sociology Page 20-21

2. Methembe Darikwa Unit 54 LO1
more recent than secondary research and may not be as relevant as secondary research due to
the age and the purpose of the secondary research. Other advantages of using primary
research as that it’s owned by the researcher and they can choose whether or not to share it
with the public giving the company an advantage over their competition. The data can be
interpreted easily and it can be compared to the secondary research as a way to find
comparisons and contrast . Despite all this this can be time consuming and it can be costly6
because of the large sample and the resources used in the research. The feedback can be
inaccurate because the response can be biased or just given for the sake of the experiment this
can be seen in many psychology researchers.7
Secondary research​ is research that has been done before by other researchers. This can be
easily attained and other people can use it because most secondary research is in the domain,
however this may not be the case with sometimes it can be copyrighted and without permission
researchers can get into trouble. This can range from statistics, documentaries, websites, case
studies, personal documents, historical documents etc. The advantage of secondary research8
is that they can be used to make a hypothesis for the researchers primary research. It’s less
costly and less time consuming than secondary research. The problem with handling secondary
research is that they can be biased and it’s advised that the researchers take them with a grain
of salt and it’s not advised that they base their research solely on pre-existing research .9
Sometimes the research can be out of date and it may not apply to the current target market
because of the attitudes of society may have changed.
Market research​ helps the businesses to make decision on how they could market their
product. It’ll also give them insight on their market, rival businesses, recent marketing strategies
and their products. The definition of market research: ​"Marketing research is the systematic and
objective search for, and analysis of, information relevant to the identification and solution of any
problem in the field of marketing.” This means that the aim of it is to find ways of marketing10
their product,learn about the audiences and field their marketing in as well as solve problems
when a company is in danger of losing to the competitors.This can also be used to predict how
the company's product/project will do in terms of sales. Market research can also help the11
companies solve problems, find ways to meet the needs and standards of the target market.
Discover more about their target audience's, location, income and socio economic class etc.
Help find ways of introducing new products whilst finding other ways of keeping the current
products relevant. Search for new marketing opportunities e.g youtube advertisement. Find
new trends as well as invent new ways of marketing and carrying out researches more
6
http://www.write.com/writing-guides/research-writing/research-process/research-problems-associated-with-
using-primary-research/
7
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/02/primary-research-advantages-and.html#axzz4R0WStZbn
8
http://sociology.about.com/od/Research/Taylor.L, Viveash.B,Waterwoth.K,Roth.JJ (2009)OCR GCSE
Sociology Page 20-21
9
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/05/secondary-market-research-advantages.html#axzz4R0WStZbn
10
http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3241E/w3241e02.htm
11
https://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/market-research/overview

3. Methembe Darikwa Unit 54 LO1
effectively. It’s also used to predict how much profit will be generated as well as evaluate the12
company's current status in the market as a whole.
Audience research​ is information about the target audience. This is can range from the
demographic, geo-demographic, socio economic group and psychographics. This is useful as
they will learn many things about their target audience such as age, gender and their
consumption habits . It will also determine how successful their product will be and who will13
likely buy it. Companies can also see who else they buy their products from. In the 80’s Coca
Cola rebranded themselves as New Coke with a sweeter taste than the original, this was due to
Pepsi Generations success. However due to poor research when they asked about the focus
group questions about it; they didn’t reveal that it was going to be in sale. The results were bad
to the point that they lost millions of dollars and they had stop production and had to reproduce
the original Coca cola .14
How can these types of research be used to rebrand a company?
These types of research can help a company gain knowledge on their competition and the
audience. The advantage of research is that the company can know what works and what
doesn’t work in that industry. Media company would use this information and apply it to their
product so it can stand out and interpollate the audience's. For example the Canadian electronic
dance music record label MonsterCat . I would send a digital questionnaire and a survey to the15
fanbase as well as people who are not familiar with it as this will be less bias as the sample will
be large and it will give a different point of view because the people who don’t know the brand
might have a few suggestion. I wouldn’t use secondary research because this won’t apply to the
company as they have a niche audience is. However I would look at pre existing research that
the company has collected in the past (the secondary research would need to have an age of
five years) as it will be likely accurate, relevant and it will help create a base for a hypothesis.
This can be u I would ask questions about their demographic this will help me identify who is the
main target audience nice and who is the secondary audience is. Using this information
(qualitative and quantitative data) collected from the questionnaires and surveys online we can
find out what the audience’s thoughts about the current brand and how it can be changed.
Focus group would be the second method of research, I would first brief the participants that it
will be recorded (audio) and that the data collected from that session will only be used for
research and that their identities will be safe because this will be following the codes of ethics. I
will ask them ten planned questions and the session will be flexible because they participants
will bring up interesting points. The problem with the focus group is that the responses maybe
bias but offering the particapants the chance to leave if they wish will decrease the chance of
bias responses.
12
http://kalyan-city.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/explain-objectives-of-marketing-research.html
13
http://www.slideshare.net/AnnieRose95/audience-research-22808080
14
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-new-coke
15
https://www.monstercat.com/

4. Methembe Darikwa Unit 54 LO1