Session slides drawn from the workshop and the lecture looking at the turn towards 'ethnographic' audience research within Media & Cultural Studies

1. WHY STUDY AUDIENCES?
Some approaches
MAC201
Robert Jewitt
1

2. AUDIENCE CONSUMPTION
 Perhaps ‘the’ most important part of the process
for media producers
2

3. AUDIENCE CONSUMPTION
 Perhaps ‘the’ most important part of the process
for media producers
 Tailor products to audience preferences
 Identify suitable advertising space
 Technological improvements and usability
 Impression management
 Explore social trends for future policy
3

4. AUDIENCE CONSUMPTION
 Perhaps ‘the’ most important part of the process
for media producers
 Tailor products to audience preferences
 Identify suitable advertising space
 Technological improvements and usability
 Impression management
 Explore social trends for future policy
 Lots of myths exist regarding audience
relationships with the media
4

5. 5

6. AUDIENCE RESEARCH
2 APPROACHES
 Quantitative data
 Based on volume
 i.e., amount of people participated.
 Qualitative data
 Based on level of detail
 i.e., amount of data from individuals
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7. AUDIENCE RESEARCH
2 APPROACHES
 Quantitative data
 Based on volume
 i.e., amount of people participated
 Qualitative data
 Based on level of detail
 i.e., amount of data from individuals
7

8. AUDIENCE RESEARCH
2 APPROACHES
 Quantitative data
 Based on volume
 i.e., amount of people participated
 Qualitative data
 Based on level of detail
 i.e., amount of data from individuals
 Ethnography – starts with people first rather
than a hypothesis
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9. ETHNOGRAPHIC AUDIENCE
RESEARCH
 A way of conducting research into what is
occurring in the wider social world
Observation
Listening
Questioning
 Describes intimate human-social phenomena
 Draws from cultural anthropology
9

10. AUDIENCE TEST SCREENING
10
 Invented in 1919 by Harry Lloyd in order to
change a film before the final release to better
suit a mass audience
 Questionnaire based

11. AUDIENCE TEST SCREENING
11
 Invented in 1919 by Harry Lloyd in order to
change a film before the final release to better
suit a mass audience
 Questionnaire based

12. AUDIENCE TEST SCREENING
12
 Invented in 1919 by Harry Lloyd in order to
change a film before the final release to better
suit a mass audience
 Questionnaire based
 Darker ending removed
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch2vPwOlEX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx49d_GwskU

13. ETHNOGRAPHY AS ‘HANGING
OUT?’
 Machin (2002: p1):
 The role of the ethnographer is to be
‘finely tuned to the patterns and
processes that make up the social world’
 Key figures in anthropology:
 Bronisław Malinowski (1884-1942)
 Clifford Geertz (1926-2006)
 Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-?)
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http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pPY7EaSN9pA

14. AUDIENCE RESEARCH:
ETHNOGRAPHY
 ‘At the heart of ethnography is the act of
observing and listening to people as they go
about their everyday lives in order that we can
understand the way they behave or think on
their own terms’
 (Machin, 2002: 1)
 Apply ethos of the paradigm to media use
14

15. AUDIENCE RESEARCH:
ETHNOGRAPHY
 ‘This can be contrasted with the process of either
theorising about the reasons for a particular
behaviour or composing a questionnaire, and
therefore asking the subjects of our research to
respond to a set of assumptions that we have
already made about why they behave in a
particular way’
 (Machin, 2002: 1)
15

16. HSBC ‘LOCAL BANK’ ADS
 Important to know the local context of the
brand, or how it is being understood
 Launch:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_NinOmFWw
 Pets:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bVCj9Ayxc8
 Eels:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_WAmt3cMdk
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17. EVERYDAY LIFE IS
ARBITRARY
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Islamic prayer
Amsterdam
La Tomatina
Bigg Market

18. EXPLAIN BEHAVIOUR
 Everyday life appears natural
 Governed by socially constructed rules
 Majority of people abide by them
 Different (sub) cultures may function differently
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19. DIFFERENT TYPE OF RESEARCH
 Questionnaire survey
 Excellent for gathering socio-economic data
 Limited scope; ‘closed’ questions
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20. FRAMING THE QUESTIONS
 Responses to questions are often contextual
 How questions are framed can determine answer
 How responses are measured can also shape
results
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21. PROBLEMATIC FRAMING
 A set of assumptions that we’ve already
made?
 Typical questions asked can skew the results:
 Eg:
 “Do you support the attempt by the USA & UK to
bring freedom and democracy to other places in the
world?”
 Or
 “Do you support the unprovoked military action by
the USA?”
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22. DIFFERENT TYPE OF RESEARCH
 Open ended questions
 Interviewees expand on points
 Interviewees might not know reasons why they behave
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23. DIFFERENT TYPE OF RESEARCH
 Focus groups
 Group dynamic more ‘natural’
 Unnatural environment; contrived discussions; little
control
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24. CRITICISMS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
 Scientific or rigorous?
 Interpretive methodology (role of researcher)
 Natural sciences vs Social sciences
 Positivism via Descartes (see Ruddock, 2001)
 Variables identified > isolated > measured
 Standardized method of investigation
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25. 25Correlation does not imply causation

26. 26

27. COMPARE ATTITUDES TOWARDS
TV/RADIO PROGRAMME
 Identify audience variables
 Income?
 Attitudes?
 Geography?
 Age?
 Create questionnaire
 Collect responses
 Assess patterns
 All this assumes the veneer of distance and
scientific objectivity and neutrality. 27
- "Why are people going so crazy
over this, it's funny as hell”
- "It's boys being boys”
- “How can you possibly NOT find
this hilarious?”

28. GENERAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH ISSUES:
VALIDITY
 Why would people lie?
 Uncomfortable questions about personal life
 How people present themselves & reality
 Questionnaires = leap of faith
 Emile Durkheim (1952) on low incidences of suicide
in Catholic countries
 Ethnography paints a broader picture
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29. GENERAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH ISSUES:
REPRESENTATIVENESS
 Depends on when it is undertaken: sampling
 Random sampling; Strategic random sampling
 Targeted sampling; Quota sampling
 Size of group (is more better?)
 Large samples difficult to analyse (low validity)
 Presumptions of researcher?
 Broad samples not suited to specific tasks (eg.,
Star Trek fans)
 Ethnography is representative of those taking
part in study
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30. GENERAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH ISSUES:
RELIABILITY
 Should the research be repeatable?
 Rigid methodology
 Methods suited to individualistic responses?
 Ethnography is adaptive
 Ethnography as too interpretive?
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31.  Describes the quality of
phenomena
 Is primarily inductive –
builds theory
 Uses text based data
derived from observations,
interviews and elicitation
 Focus of study is localized
 Unit of analysis is usually
larger than the individual
 Usually uses universal or
selective sampling
 Emphasizes validity
 Uses case-
study/continuous
assessment design in
interventions
 Measures the quantity of
phenomena
 Is primary deductive –
tests theory
 Uses numerical data based
on quantification
 Focus of study is local,
national or international
 Unit of analysis is usually
the individual
 Randomizes sampling
procedures
 Emphasizes reliability and
generalizability
 Uses experimental or
quasi-experimental design
in a controlled settings
Qualitative Research Quantitative Research
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Source: Jean J. Schensul, 2005:
http://cira.med.yale.edu/events/mbseminars/mbs070705.pdf

32. CONCLUSION
 Heisenberg’s ‘Uncertainty principle’
 ‘What we observe is not nature itself, but nature
exposed to our method of questioning’
(1958, Physics and Philosophy)
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33. CONCLUSION
 Numerous reasons for audience research
 No approach is 100% accurate despite claims
 Quantitative (statistical) research is useful
starting point
 Qualitative (interpretive) research builds on this
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34.  Ideally, triangulation is sought from multiple
methods but not always obtainable.
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35. SOME VERY USEFUL BACKGROUND
TEXTS
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36. Researching online
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37. USEFUL READING
 Ien Ang, 1991, Desperately Seeking the Audience. London: Routledge.
 Werner Heisenberg, 1958, ‘Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in
Modern Science’, Lectures delivered at University of St. Andrews,
Scotland, Winter 1955-56, available
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/heisen
b3.htm
 Shaun Moores, 1993, Interpreting Audiences, London: Sage.
(recommended reading: full text)
 David Machin, 2002, Ethnographic Research for Media Studies,
London: Arnold (one chapter on WebCT)
 Virginia Nightingale & Karen Ross, 2004, Media and Audiences: New
Perspectives. Buckingham: Open University Press (chapter 2).
 Andy Ruddock, 2001, Understanding Audiences: Theory & Method,
London: Sage
 Sue Stoessl, 1998, “Audience feedback: administrative research of
audiences”, in A. Briggs and P. Cobley (eds.) The Media: An
Introduction. London: Longman. 37