2. My target audience is 18-21 year olds therefore this is the age range I will question:
Direct audience research can be done in the form of a few things; such as questionnaires,
interviews, visits, observations or focus groups. I done 15 questionnaires and gathered the results
so that I could compare and contrast. I also did two interviews so I had another form of primary
research, but I specifically did two so that I could compare them to each other. The kind of research
I am undertaking is demographical in the sense that it is aimed at a particular age range, this is
done to make my research really focused on a particular target. Obviously my demographic is 18-21
year olds. It is also functional in that my research is designed specifically for my target audience,
therefore it fulfils its function. I will show these results later on.
Direct target audience research
Online based
Internet - Look into and research newsletters.
Questionnaires - Audience feedback.
Interviews - Visual feedback from the target audience.
Paper based
Questionnaires - Audience feedback.
Tables/charts - Collected results from questionnaires.
Graphs - Shows statistics from results.
Methods of research
3. Questions from the questionnaire
Q1: How old are you?
Q2: What gender are you?
Q3: What area do you live in?
Q4: What level of education are you in?
Q5: Have you ever wished there was a student newsletter?
Q6: Would you rather watch or read the news?
Q7: Please give a reason for your choice.
Q8: What would you prefer to read news on?
Q9: Do you think a student newsletter is a good idea?
Q10: How long do you think a newsletter should be?
Q11: How often do you read the news?
Q12: What do you want to see in a student newsletter?
Q13: Is there anyone in particular you would like to write in the newsletter?
Q14: Would you rather a student newsletter about world issues or local issues?
Q15: Would you rather it was a carbon copy or only available online to help the
environment?
5. Results continued........
Q8
Paper
Laptop
Kindle
Tablet
Other
Q9
Yes
No
Not bothered
either way
Q10 5 pages
Under 10 pages
15 pages
20 pages or
under
Over 20 pages
Q11
Everyday
Once a week
Once a month
Now and again
I don't
Q7:
• Takes too long to read.
• More interesting.
• I like to both watch and read the news.
• Mood varies.
• Can do it on the go.
• Like variation.
• I like both and like to keep up to date with
current affairs.
• Depends where I am.
• Too lazy to read.
• Spend a lot of time on computers.
• Environmentally friendly
• Whatever is easiest
• Lazy to read. Q12:
• Whatever really
• Issues
• Environment issues
• Changes to the establishment
• News
• Announcements
• Relevant news
• Teachers
• Don’t mind
• Community
• News that is important to students.
• Student issues
• Relevant issues to students
7. Analysis of results
• For Q1 the majority of people were 19 years old closely followed by 18 year olds.
• For Q2 is was extremely leant towards the female perspective but did include some males. This could effect my
results slightly.
• For Q3 a large amount was from Tadworth and lot of people from various areas individually.
• For Q4 nearly everyone did BTEC’s but some also did A-levels and some only did A-levels. As well as two responses
from university level to add variation.
• For Q5 almost everyone had never thought about there being a student newsletter, which shows there is room for
one.
• For Q6 most people said both in that they read and watch the news which gives me some hope.
• For Q7 there were many opinions but the general idea was that people liked both because they liked the variation.
• For Q8 most said laptop in terms of what they would watch news on but a lot of people actually had other ideas
like phone apps etc.
• For Q9 more people said that a student newsletter was a good idea but it was closely followed by not bothered
either way, so my mission may be short lived.
• For Q10 it was very evenly divided and quite controversial in what the length people thought it should be, but in
the end the most common answer was 20 pages or under.
• For Q11 surprisingly most people said they read the news everyday, personally I thought this would be a smaller
statistic.
• For Q12 what people wanted to see in the newsletter was really varied from environment to teachers there wasn’t
really too much of a common factor; other than it should be relevant to the students.
• For Q13 there was not really anyone specific that people wanted to write the articles, other than maybe a teacher
or student.
• For Q14 most people cared about local and world issues which is nice because it shows they are more well
rounded.
• For Q15 the general census was that online was better but a lot also said both.
8. Interview analysis
• Shaunice’s responses were helpful in some ways but not all
gave me much information. The feedback was generally
positive and she gave me some insight into what should be
included such as sport and entertainment. She talked about
how she did want news that includes world issues not just
stuff that effects her, this doesn’t fit as much with a student
newspaper. But it could be one that talks about global
student issues. She also mentioned she liked gossip which
is something that could be included depending on others
feedback as well. As I would want to make sure this is a
broad opinion. She also gave me an idea as to how often it
should be published and who by, this all helps me with my
planning process.
9. Evaluation
• From my research I have learnt that a student
newsletter is a good idea and it should be monthly. It
should also include a variety of issues that affect
students but include issues globally. A majority of
students have never even thought about a student
newsletter which means there is most likely a gap in
the market for one. The variety in devices that students
read the news on also gives me options as to what
format the newsletter should be done in, such as
carbon copy or online. Having now done all the
research I need to I can go on to do my overall
evaluation for this unit to some up what I know.
11. What am I doing?
• I am going to compare 4 newsletters to try
and analyse what are the strengths, and
weaknesses of each. This will help me to
compare them to my newsletter, so that I
know what my strengths and weaknesses
may be. I will use charts and data to
eventually come to a conclusion on which
show is the strongest, and compare it to
mine.
12. Product comparison
Beacon school newsletter – Uses a reasonable amount of colour, very professional
and formatted well. While formal it is easy to read and is suitable for the students
as well as their parents. On average it is about 20 pages long, the most recent
being 24. Other than the images it runs on the school’s theme of yellow and blue
with all the font in black. Their target audience are the parents but also the
students aged 11-18.
Sherwood school newsletter – It is very basic and is only 2 pages long. It uses very
little colour or graphics. There is only one proper image and the other is clipart.
Like Beacon they use black font for everything and try to use the school’s
colours, which are green, yellow and brown. Their target audience is slightly lower
in terms of the students as they are aged 3-11, but in this case most of them
wouldn’t read it so it is more for the parents.
Roehampton university newspaper – Due to having more funding this newspaper
is of a much higher quality and uses a lot of colour and style. This is one to aspire
to as it really has it all and covers so many areas that students are interested in.
They call it ‘Fresh’ newspaper as their tag. It is aimed only at the university
students so those aged 18-21 and also mature students.
Banstead junior newsletter – This one is very basic and boring but it is 6 pages
long, and is mostly just black text with very little pictures. It includes key dates and
few articles about what has been going on. It is targeted like Sherwood at 3-11 but
they are unlikely to read it, so it is more for the parents. There is no colour
scheme but they do include their logo.
13. Product comparison table
Colourfu
l
Original New Modern Factual Professional
Beacon
Sherwood
Roehampto
n
Banstead
junior
Qualitative table results for highest scoring
Title Fonts Writer
s
Amount of
Colour
Style Length Picture
quality
Variation
between text
and image
Colour
schem
e
Logo Total
Beacon 5/10 6/10 7/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 9/10 8/10 7/10 8/10 72/100
Sherwood 4/10 5/10 5/10 4/10 4/10 4/10 2/10 3/10 2/10 7/10 40/100
Roehampto
n
8/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 9/10 95/100
Banstead
junior
3/10 2/10 3/10 3/10 2/10 4/10 2/10 1/10 1/10 5/10 26/100
Quantitative table results
14. Conclusion
• Now that I have compared the newsletters, I
can say that Roehampton was generally the
most successful and Banstead junior was the
least. This does not mean that any of them
were bad, this is just how the scores tallied
overall. What I can take from these that I can
take to my own newsletter, is that font, colour
scheme, graphics and presentation are very
important. It is not only about the articles it is
also about how it is presented, as it seems
uninteresting if it is styled like a letter.
16. Talent/actors
• In a newsletter it is very important to include people and if you can
demonstrate talent and if possible important people. Like if someone
comes to the school that has a important role like a host or is a
governor. You also need the people writing it to have a certain style to
interest and captivate the readers. As my newsletter is for university
students, I will need to have articles about situations that are relevant
to them. However it is also an idea that students could play a role.
They will be more interested if it is actually about people they know
and stuff that effects them individually. One idea is that a different
lecturer could write an article each time the newsletter comes
out, taking it in turns so students feel like they can get to know them
better. They could write about any university issue they wish, or
something they want to discuss.
17. Demographic, geodemographic, psychographics, qualitative
and quantitative research, socio-economic status:
• Demographic: Means relating to the structure of populations, this is how
where my news show is aimed.
• Geodemographic - The attempt to understand the process of how
societies evolve, my news show will need to keep up to fit with the current
climate.
• Psychographics - The study of people's attitudes and other psychological
criteria, this is key in research when understanding my client.
• Qualitative research - Research into human behaviour that leads to a
better understanding of the client base, this again leads me to know more
about my target audience.
• Quantitative research - This is a statistical approach that deals with the
facts of audience research, this will be key in terms of ratings and
understanding the audience better.
• Socio-economic status - Sociological evaluation of a person's work and
economic status. This tells me about the client's we are appealing to.
19. Stimulus for ideas:
Newsletter
My own sixth
form runs a
newsletter so
inspiration from
that.
Logo inspiration
from the fact I
do art so I am
quite creative.
Graphics again in
terms of the
photos and titles I
can easily come up
with some, and I
have a decent
camera to take
good snapshots.
Colour schemes will
be stimulated by my
surroundings such as
clubs and things I
attend, as their
colour schemes from
logos and such will
most likely influence
my decisions.
