The document defines various types of research used in media including primary, secondary, quantitative, qualitative, audience, market, and production research. It provides examples and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each type of research. Finally, it covers some key terminology used in research like objective, subjective, valid, and reliable.

1. Research
Simran Jabbal

2. Terminology
Circulation - How many copies of a print product that have been distributed
Hits - How many times a certain webpage had been viewed
Box Office Figures - How much money a film has made at the cinema
Ratings - How something had been rated (4/5, 5 stars, 95% etc)
Sales - How many products have been sold

3. Primary Research
Definition:
– Research you do yourself
– Where the audience and the researcher are in direct contact
Advantages:
– You can create your own research to get the information you need for your
work
– You could ask extra questions during and interview
Disadvantages:
– It can take a long time to set-up your research. You then have to gather your
results and then present them
– Finding the right people to ask can sometimes be a challenge
Example:
Questionnaires/Surveys, Interviews, Focus Groups, Vox Pops and Product Analysis.

4. Secondary Research
Definition:
– Studying previously undertaken research
– Using existing research in your own work
Advantages:
– The research has already been done for you. You just need to look at it and
then use it in your project.
– There can be a wide range of resources available
Disadvantages:
– The research may not be quite what you were looking for
– The research might not always be easy to find
– You have to rely on how well others have researched
Example:
– Internet research
– Library research
– Archive research

5. Quantitative Research
Definition:
– Expressed or expressible as a quantity
– Research that you can quantify/measure and put into percentages, fractions
and numbers
Advantages:
– Provides precise, quantitative, numerical data
– It is useful for studying large numbers of people
Disadvantages:
– Quantitative research does not study things in a natural setting or discuss the
meaning things have for different people as qualitative research does.
Example:
- Sales
- Box Office figures
- Website hits
- TV ratings https://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/j
ohnson/oh_master/Ch14/Tab14-01.pdf

6. Qualitative Research
Definition:
– Studying previously undertaken research
– Using existing research in your own work
Advantages:
- Issues and subjects covered can be evaluated in depth and in detail.
Disadvantages:
- Findings can be time consuming and difficult to present in visual ways.
Example:
– Internet research
– Library research
– Archive research
http://occupytheory.org/advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-qualitative-research/
(21 April 2014 – Occupy Theory)

7. Audience ResearchDefinition:
- Finding out about who consumes a product.
Advantages:
- You can target your product at the discovered customers
- Your future development and ideas can appeal to customers better.
Disadvantages:
- It can be time consuming
- Not all of the audience sample may reply.
Example:
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
- Surveys
- Online Forums
- Vox Pops
- Discussion Group

8. Market Research
Definition:
Finding out about the market place where a product is sold.
Advantages:
- You can gain the knowledge of how popular a particular type of product is
- The necessary changes can be made to the product to make it appeal to the trends
more
Disadvantages:
- It costs money
Example:
- Sales
- Purchase Behaviour

9. Production Research
Definition:
Finding information and resources required to produce a piece of media.
Advantages:
- It could give ideas about what to include in the product
- A wide audience will see the advertisements and it will increase public knowledge
and likeness of the product
Disadvantages:
- It is easy to over advertise, causing people to get bored of them
Example:
- Location Research
- Costume Research

10. Terminology
Objective:
– Research that is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions
Subjective:
– Research that has been influenced by personal feelings or opinions
Valid:
– Whether the research proposed is able to answer the intended
outcome/question
Reliable:
– Research that produces accurate and consistent results

11. Harvard Referencing
Name of the film being researched;
1. Film: Pretty Woman
Director. Garry Marshall (1 June 1990)
2. Book: Pretty Woman
Author Fern Michaels, 2005
3. Website: IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100405/
4. Magazine
http://www.vogue.com/12753771/pretty-woman-25th-anniversary-things-
you-never-knew/