This document provides definitions and explanations of key terms related to media research. It discusses the basic elements of the communication process and how media research aims to discover new knowledge and theories about media and audiences. The document outlines the differences between primary and secondary research, and defines other important research concepts like population, research design, variables, sampling, methodology, and data analysis. It also describes different research methods like surveys, interviews, focus groups, and case studies.

1. MEDIA RESEARCH
TERMS
SIMPLE AND SHORT ANSWERS©
SANDEEP T.K & Dr. N.V
SREEDHARAN

2. MEDIA RESEARCH
 Research involves finding out about things that no-
one else knew either. It is about advancing the
frontiers of knowledge.
 Media research is based on the basic elements of
communication process and it is a collection and
reassembling of information which facilitates in
discovering new knowledge, concept and theories
which based on various media and its target
audience.

3. PRIMARY RESEARCH
 Primary data is collected for a particular purpose
and is new information. This is conducted using
some means of questioning usually via a survey or
interviews, or the information can be gathered
through observation

4. SECONDARY RESEARCH
 Secondary research gathers information which has
already been collected
 Examples of secondary data include:
 published market research reports
 articles which can be downloaded from the
Internet
 publications in libraries including online libraries
company reports and data trend data

5. POPULATION / UNIVERSE
 Total number of respondents which we want to
study.
 FINITE & INFINITE
 FINITE: exact number of respondents in the
population is known and if the exact number is not
known then it is referred as INFINITE

6. RESEARCH DESIGN
 It is the arrangements of conditions for collection
and analysis of data ( information) in a manner that
aims to combine relevance to research purpose.
 3 stages
 1. Observational (Methods and tools)
 2.Statistical (Sampling, methodology, tests etc)
 3. Operational (execution)

7. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
 Quantitative Research uncovering facts about
social experiences , here the data representation
with numbers and percentage
 Qualitative Research is a field of social research
that is carried out naturalistic settings and
generates data mainly through observations and
interviews, here the focus is on describing small
samples in non statistical way

8. HYPOTHESIS
 It is a statement of assumption which is yet to be
tested
Hyper means Assumptions
Thesis means To be approved
Positive Hypothesis: When the hypothesis is proved
after analysis
Not proved or disapproved is termed as null
hypothesis

9. METHODOLOGY

 The strategic plan of action, process or design used
in a research study, e.g. experimental research,
ethnography.
 Paradigm: A paradigm is a way or framework of
looking at something.

10. PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES
 Primary source :
Scholarly publications written by those who
conducted the research. Generally published as
journal articles, books etc.
Secondary source:
Summaries of existing research, literature reviews,
analyses, commentaries, opinions, textbooks etc
written by those who did not carry out the original
research. Helps identify the key research studies,
theories and scholars in the area.

11. VARIABLES
 A variable is defined as anything that has a
quantity or quality that varies
 Very simply, it is a measurable characteristic that
varies. It may change from group to group, person
to person, or even within one person over time
 .

12. DEPENDENT &INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
 Dependent Variable
The variable that depends on other factors that are
measured. These variables are expected to change
as a result of an experimental manipulation of the
independent variable or variables. It is the
presumed effect.

13. INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
 Independent Variable
The variable that is stable and unaffected by the
other variables you are trying to measure. It refers
to the condition of an experiment that is
systematically manipulated by the investigator. It is
the presumed cause

14. FOCUS GROUPS
 An interview conducted with a small group of
people, all at one time, to explore ideas on a
particular topic. The goal of a focus group is to
uncover additional information through participants'
exchange of ideas.

15. FIELD RESEARCH
 Research conducted where research subjects live
or where the activities of interest take place.

16. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
 A research design used to establish cause-and-
effect relationships between the independent and
dependent variables by means of manipulation of
variables, control and randomization. A true
experiment involves the random allocation of
participants to experimental and control groups,
manipulation of the independent variable

17. CASE STUDIES
 A case study is an in-depth study of a particular
research problem rather than a sweeping statistical
survey or comprehensive comparative inquiry. It is
often used to narrow down a very broad field of
research into one or a few easily researchable
examples.

18. SURVEY
 Surveys are a popular method of collecting primary
data. The broad area of survey research
encompasses any measurement procedures that
involve asking questions of respondents. They are
a flexible tool, which can produce both qualitative
and quantitative information depending on how they
are structured and analysed.

19. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
 Statistical analysis is a mathematical method of
interrogating data. This is done by looking for
relationships between different sets of data

20. SAMPLING
 The sample is the section of the wider population
that will be engaged in the survey and sampling is
the process of identifying who you will aim to
contact from that population.

21. STATISTICAL TESTS
 PARAMETRIC & NON PARAMETRIC
 PARAMETRIC: Those tests where you have all
measurements or data available. the numerical
data can put into these various tests
 Z test
 X2 test
 F test
 T test

22. NON PARAMETRI
 NON PARAMETRIC
 These tests are based on the measurement
equivalent to at least an interval scale

23. METHODS OF RESEARCH
 The most common research methods are: literature
searches,
 talking with people,
 focus groups,
 questionnaire,
 personal interviews,
 telephone surveys,
 mail surveys,
 email surveys, and internet surveys.

24. LITERATURE SEARCH
 literature search involves reviewing all readily
available materials. These materials can include
internal company information, relevant trade
publications, newspapers, magazines, annual
reports, company literature, on-line data bases, and
any other published materials. It is a very
inexpensive method of gathering information

25. DISCUSSIONS
 Talking with people is a good way to get information
during the initial stages of a research project. It can
be used to gather information that is not publicly
available, or that is too new to be found in the
literature.

26. FOCUS GROUP
 A focus group is used as a preliminary research
technique to explore people’s ideas and attitudes. It
is often used to test new approaches such as
products or advertising, and to discover customer
concerns.

27. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
 Personal interviews are a way to get in-depth and
comprehensive information. They involve one
person interviewing another person for personal or
detailed information. Personal interviews are very
expensive because of the one-to-one nature of the
interview.

28. TELEPHONE SURVEYS
 Telephone surveys are the fastest method of
gathering information from a relatively large sample
 telephone survey allows the opportunity for some
opinion probing. Telephone surveys generally last
less than ten minutes.

29. MAIL SURVEYS
 Mail surveys are a cost effective method of
gathering information. They are ideal for large
sample sizes, or when the sample comes from a
wide geographic area.

30. EMAIL AND INTERNET SURVEYS
 Email and internet surveys are relatively new and
little is known about the effect of sampling bias in
internet surveys. While it is clearly the most cost
effective and fastest method of distributing a survey

31. QUESTIONNAIRE
 a good questionnaire:
 one in which every question is clear, can be
answered accurately, and has usable results.

32. SAMPLE
 One or more elements (individuals or households)
selected from a universe to represent that universe

33. SAMPLE SIZE
 The number of households or individuals selected
for a research sample

34. SURVEY AREA
 The geographic area from which a sample is
developed for a study.

35. RESEARCH VALIDITY
 basically validity boils down to whether the
research is really measuring what it claims to be
measuring

36. RESEARCH RELIABILITY
 This problem relates to whether research results
can be applied to a wider group than those who
took part in a study. In other words, would similar
results be obtained if another group containing
different respondents or a different set of data
points were used?

37. DATA
 Data is a large class of practically important
statements is measurements or observations of a
variable.
 The word data means "something given". Such
usage is the origin of data as a concept in computer
science: data are numbers, words, images, etc.,
accepted as they stand

38. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ANALYSIS
 includes the sets of methods that allow us to
measure the dimensions and dynamics of
populations. These methods have primarily been
developed to study human populations

39. PRE-TESTING
 is such research attempts to predict the
performance of specific advertisements/TV
programmes in terms of liking, motivation, etc. of
audience members.

40. POST TESTS
 Post tests attempts to measure the ‘actual effect of
real advertisements in real situations’. This is a
more practical approach to measure the
effectiveness of advertisements. Also, post-testing
measures total advertising effectiveness, while pre-
testing only measures the effectiveness of specific
aspects of advertisements

41. RESEARCH REPORT
 Successfully written research report presents the
concrete evidence of the research conducted

42. THANKS…….
SANDEEP TK
Faculty & Research Scholar
Dr.N.V.SREEDHARAN
Professor and Thesis advisor