BTEC Media Course work

1. Why would you complete research if you were creating a new media product?
 To find out if your target audience would buy your product
 To find out how much you could sell your product for
 To find out how to make your product more appealing to your target audience
 To find out how to market your product to your target audience
Find definitions of the 4 research methods and give your opinions as to
advantages/disadvantages for each one.
Method Definition Advantage Disadvantage
Primary
Primary research is
research done by the
researcher; an
example of this is a
questionnaire.
Primary research is
commonly used in TV
surveys when they are
trying to promote a
product.
You can address
specific research
issue, great control
over the research. It
also allows the
researcher to have
trust in the accuracy
of the information that
they’ve collected.
Expensive preparing,
longer to plan and
complete, low
response rate has to
be expected, by the
time the research is
complete the data
might be out of date?
Secondary
Secondary research,
also known as desk
research is when the
researcher collates the
information from other
sources for example
magazines and the
internet.
Save time and is
usually a lot quicker. It
also is typically
cheaper because the
resources and
information already
exist.
The data can be
outdated and
sometimes
untrustworthy. People
don’t always trust
these sources also.
Quantitative
Quantitative research
included surveys and a
questionnaire which
helps companies
improve their products
etcetera.
No strict design plan.
Freedom.
More details and rich
information. These
are also more specific.
Very time consuming.
You have to be heavily
involved in the
process.
Qualitative
Qualitative research is
designed to reveal a
target audience’s
range of behaviour. It
uses small groups.
it can be less
expensive than
quantitative research.
Can be small groups
unlike quantitative
which needs for us to
work in large groups
Qualitative research
methods collect data
about what your select
group of participants
feel or think.

2. What research techniques (e.g. using the library, the internet, watching videos,
reading info, recces, practises, plans etc.) did you use when completing
the assignments in year 10 for Unit 5 (Crime Drama and Music Videos) and Unit 7
(Festival Bags) ?
During the research process I used the official Isle of Wight merchandise and bags to
influence and inspire me in the design and production of my own bag. I also watched fellow
classmates produce their bags and took small ideas from them like the decision to print a
barcode to make the bag look more professional. For unit 5 I watched a wide variety of
YouTube videos and TV crime dramas to allow me to see everything from the detective to
the cold blood serial killer.
What research methods (e.g. primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative) did you
use when completing the assignments in year 10 for Unit 5 (Crime Drama and Music
Videos) and Unit 7 (Festival Bags)?
Most of the research from my project was secondary however it also included some primary
in which I asked my peers for ideas and features that they like in a bag and t-shirt.
I asked my friends what bags they like and looked on the internet so that their favourite bags
would influence mine.
If you didn’t use some of the methods in year 10, would use you them if you were to
do your projects again? How and why would you do this?
I would try to use some of the other methods in year 11 so that I can develop a better
understanding on how the other research methods work and I can use them alongside the
primary and secondary research.
How did you collate, store and use the information when researching for your year
10 units? (e.g. did you book mark key websites? Keep a list of websites used? Print
off or save any info for your folders?)
To collate and store information from year 10 I created a structured folder system in my user
area and started a blog with Google Blogger to allow me to save my projects into units.