Katie conducted research for a campaign by Mind, a mental health charity. She researched Mind's past projects and goals. She surveyed peers about stress, hobbies, and interest in an advert on mental health. Most feedback said her ideas were good and suitable. While her research was extensive, her audience profile could be more detailed. She rates herself between Merit and Distinction for her research.

1. Name: Katie McCirirck
Target Grade: D
Research Self Assessment
Criteria Feedback
AC1: Informing ideas
Use skills for informing ideas, interpreting
the brief and developing ideas and
outcomes as they progress.
How detailedisyourclientresearch? Have you
identifiedpreviousprojectsandincludedlinks
and screenshots?
My researchonthe client“Mind”is detailedas
I didresearchon theirideasandtheirgoalsas
well aslookingbackonother projectsthey
have createdwithlinksandscreenshots totheir
previouswork.
Have you conductedresearchintothe subject
matterof yourprojectarea?
I have done detailedresearchintothe subject
matterof stressitself andhow todeal withitas
thisisa large issue thatalsofitsintothe issues
I’mcoveringinmy ownwork.I alsodidsome
researchon how mental healthisbecominga
largerissue inschools(specificallyinmy
country) as my targetaudience islimiteddown
to those whoare in school, soI feltthiswas
importantto do.
Have you completedresearchinexisting
products?
I didresearchintoexistingproductsbyfinding
three differentkindsof advertsanddoinga
detailedanalysisof them.Ifeltthathavinga
range of differentkindsof productswouldhelp
whenitcame to takinginspirationfromother
adverts.Ialso thendidan additional analysisof
one of mind’sadvertsasI feltitwasimportant
to lookat the previousworkfromthe company,
I am makinga product for.
How have youconductedyouraudience
research usingsuitable surveys?
I conducteda surveywithsixteenquestionson
it andI askedmy peersaroundme to do itso
that I couldfindoutmore about my target
audience.Iaskedquestionsaboutmental
healthandstressand how theyrelieve these
issues(suchaswhat hobbiestheydoorwho
theytalkto about these issues) andthenI
continuedontoask about what/whomade
themsmile seeingasthe campaignfocuseson
the effectsthatsmilinghave onthose around
us.SeeingasI was askingaboutstress,Ialso
feltitwas importanttoask if the people taking
thissurveywere workingorineducationasI
foundthat these were twolarge contributorsto
stressingoutthe youngergeneration.Ifinished
the surveybyaskingif the audience wouldbe
interestedinapodcast/TV advertbasedon

2. mental healthasI feltitwasimportantto get
feedbackonthese kindsof products(seeingasI
will be makingone of eachfor thiscampaign.)
Have you includedscreenshotsandhave
annotatedthistosupportyour analysis?
I made a PowerPointpresentationtoanalyse
the resultsIgot from thissurveyincludinga
small descriptionof whyIaskedthe questionsI
asked.
Have you includedmediatermsandmedia
theory?
In myresearchon TV adverts, Ifeel Ihave
includedmediatermswhere necessarysuchas
differentkindsof anglesanddescriptionsof the
compositionof the sceneswithinthe adverts.
However, Ifeel thatIneedto domore research
intomediaterminologysothatinfuture pieces
of workI have a broadervocabularyto use
whenitcomesto the analysisof media.
Have you identifiedthe codesandconventions
usedinthe products?
I feel thatinmy analysisof previousproductsI
have identifiedthe codesandconventionsof
the productsto the bestof my ability.Idid
researchbeforehandintothe relevantcodes
and conventionsandmade sure tolookback at
themand include theminmyanalysisof the
variousadvertsIlookedinto.
Have you identifiedthe audience foreach
productand statedhowyou knowthis?
I made sure to identifythe audience foreach
advertI coveredasthisis an important part of
an analysis.Iknew how toidentifythe target
audience basedonthe contentof the advert
downto small detailslikethe musicplayingin
the background,the propsused,the colour
scheme etc.These were all definingfactorsof
figuringoutwhatthe audience wasforeach
advert.
Have you reflectedonyouraudience research
and identifiedhowthisresearchhashelped
you,and whatyou have learnedfromit?
I have createda short PowerPointpresentation
coveringthe resultsfrommyfeedbacksurvey
as I didwiththe resultsfromthe precious
surveythatI carried out,identifyingwhatIhave
learnedfromthe researchandhow I will use it
to bettermywork.
Are there screenshotsof your surveydata? I have includedscreenshotsof mysurveywithin
my pitchas thisisrelevantinformationandit is
importantformy pitchas it showsdefinitive
proof that I have done myresearchand know
how and whento use itin furtherpartsof the
pre-productionstage.
Have you createdan audience profile? I have createdan audience profile afterdoing
some researchintowhatan audience profile
actuallyisand how to create one.
Have you createda rationale/pitch? I have createda rationale/pitchwhichincludes
thingsrangingfrommy targetaudience all the
wayto what my ideasare forthis campaign(as
well ascolourschemesandfontsI woulduse.)

3. Doesyour pitchclearlyshowcase yourcreative
ideas,perhapswithsome visual representation
where suitable?
I feel thatmypitch showcases myideaswell as
theydon’thave a great amountof specificsto
themyethoweverIhave includedvisual
representationsof the hobbiesIwill use inmy
advertas I feel thatitis importanttovisually
show whatI want to include insteadof just
sayingitand leavingitat that.
Have you made it clearhowyour ideasworkfor
the client,the brief andthe audience?
I made it clearhow my ideasworkinregard to
the clientas I mentionedhow myideasfitin
withmindsoverall viewsandobjectiveswhich
are to informandcreate understanding.Ialso
made it clearhow my ideasfit intothe brief asI
have mentionedhow Iamshowingpeople
doingwhattheylove sothat theybeginto
smile whichwill thencreate adominoeffectof
people smiling.Ithenwentontomentionhow
my workissuitable forthe audience asI
mentionedhow Ihave done researchonstress
inkidsin school andhow I have chosenmy
audience basedonthisresearchandhow I feel
my workwouldbenefitthose Ichose towork
around.
Have you thoughtof suitable feedback
responsesandhowtocollectthese?
I createda surveywitheightquestionsranging
fromif theythinkmyideaandmy researchis
suitable forthe smile campaignitself anditalso
givespeople the opportunitytowrite theirown
answersforwhat theythinkIcouldimprove on
and whattheyfeel Ididwell inregardto my
pitchand the contenton it. From the four
people Ididmypitchin frontof I got a range of
responsesandIfeel these helpme whenit
comesto correctingmy workand makingit
more appropriate forthe audience.
Is there anaudiorecordingor filmedevidence
of yourfocusgroup or evidence of feedback
collected?
There isno audiorecordingsorfilmedevidence
of feedbackhoweverIhave createda survey
withquestionsthatIfeel are important.Ifelta
surveywasbetterinthiscase as there isless
pressure tobe nice for the camera, the
anonymitywill leadtomore accurate and
honestresponsesinmyopinion.
Have you reflectedonwhatyouhave learned
fromthis feedback andspecificallyhow ithelps
you?
I made a PowerPointaftergettingall the
responsesfromthe surveyreflectingonwhat
theyshowedme andwhatI could potentially
change.However,mostof the feedbackIgot
was tellingme thatIhad done well andIdon’t
have much to change so fromthisI don’tthink
there ismuch I needtochange whenitcomes
to the researchI didor the pitchitself.
Have you made any suitable adjustmentsto
your initial ideasanddocumentedthisbefore
youmove intopre-production?
I haven’tmade anychangesto my ideasseeing
as all of the responsesIgottoldme that my

4. ideaitself wasgood,suitableforthe target
audience andsuitable forthe client.
Learnerself-reflection
Identifywhatyouthinkyouhave done well in
your research andwhat youthinkyouneedto
improve?
What grade wouldyougive yourself andwhy?
Look at the assessmentcriteriabelowandthe
keycharacteristicsof eachgrade level.
I feel thatI have done extensiveand
appropriate researchforthiscampaign,
especiallywhenitcame intolookingintothe
clientandtheirpastprojects.I alsofeel that
whenitcame to findingoutmytarget
audience,Ifeel Inotonlydidwell whenitcame
to creatinga surveywithrelevantquestionsbut
alsomy analysisof the responses, Igotfrom
the surveyitself.Ifeel Icouldhave done better
whenitcomesto my audience profile asitwas
my firsttime creatinganythinglikeitand
because of thisitwasn’tas detailedasitcould
have been.Personally,if Iwastogive myself a
grade for the researchI didI wouldgive myself
a distinctionhoweverIambiasedtowardsmy
ownwork sotherefore Iwill sayIwill give
myself betweenaMeritanda Distinction.
Lecturerfeedback