This document defines and provides examples of various types of research used in media projects including primary research, secondary research, quantitative research, qualitative research, audience research, market research, production research, and terminology used in research such as objectives, subjective, valid, and reliable. It also provides an example of Harvard referencing for films.

1. Research
Chelsea Kierans

2. Terminology
• Circulation
– The amount of copies of a product that have been distributed. An
example of this, would be, if you sold newspapers, how many copies of
your newspaper is sold.
• Hits
– How many times a webpage or website has been viewed. An example
of this would be if you had a blog, you may have it so you can see how
many times someone has visited your page. These are ‘hits’.
• Box Office Figures
– How much money a film has made from the cinema.
• Ratings
– How something has been rated (stars, 2/5, percentages etc.)
• Sales
– How many of the products have been sold.

3. Primary Research
• Definition
Primary research is when you do your research yourself. You may do it so the
audience and you have direct contact.
• Advantages
You can make your own research (surveys etc.) and use it to get the information
you want. You could also ask more questions or add to it if you’re at a direct point
of contact.
• Disadvantages
It could take a long time for you to set up the research you want to use,
finding the right people to ask questions can also be a hard task as people
may not want to answer your questions.
• Example
– Questionnaires/Surveys
– Interviews
– Focus groups
– Product analysais

4. Secondary Research
• Definition
This is where you study previously undertaken research, like from a library. You can use
the existing research to inspire future projects, or the project you’re working on.
• Advantages
The research has already been done fro you, you just need to read it and put it onto
your project. There can also be a wide range of resources available to use, to make
sure you get the one you want or you are looking for.
• Disadvantages
Even though there is a wide range of research, you still may not find what you are
looking for. The research you are looking for may not always be very easy to find, as it
may be a rare piece of writing you are looking for, or a popular book at the library. You
also have to rely on how well other people have researched, instead of doing it
yourself.
• Example
– Internet research
– Library research
– Archive research

5. Quantitative Research
• Definition
Expressed and expressible as quantity, which is numbers. This is research you
can measure and put into percentages, fractions and numbers to get a figure.
• Advantages
You can see if people like something before you even bring it out, so then you
know if your product is going to work well or not. You could also find your
target audience from quantitative research as it will show you who likes
what, and who will be more likely to buy or want your product.
• Disadvantages
Collecting the answers given, and turning it onto numbers can be quite time
consuming, so you could run out of time to actually do the project you’re
wanting to do.
• Example
An example of this is making something into a pie chart, like if you ask
someone if they like coke, you want a yes or no answer so you can make a pie
chart so you have figures.

6. Qualitative Research
• Definition
Research that goes more in depth to find out the opinions, beliefs and the
reasoning behind it. This is presented as full text or discussions. This also
makes the person answering have to reflect and think about their answer.
• Advantages
You get the answer from the person you have asked, and then why they
have answered what they have answered. You just get an explanation and
you can use it to improve your product.
• Disadvantages
You may not get the answers you want to get, and it could take a while to
read through everything.
• Example
Why do you like/dislike coke?

7. Audience Research
• Definition
Finding out who looks at or views a product.
• Advantages
You can find out who is looking at your product.
• Disadvantages
You don’t know what they think about your product
and why they do or don’t like it.
• Example
collecting data about the people that comsume the
product.

8. Market Research
• Definition
Finding out about the market place where a product is sold.
• Advantages
You can see what your target audience think, then change the
product to suit them if needed. You can also see what your
competitors are doing so you can beat them.
• Disadvantages
It takes time, resources and money to do. Printing off surveys
will take time and money as well, and you don’t want to take
loads of time on the research as you need to use a decent
amount of time on your product.
• Example
Surveys, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

9. Production Research
• Definition
Finding information and resources required to produce a piece of media.
• Advantages
The advantages include the gain of knowledge of how much everything is
going to cost and where to get all the main resources from. It will help to
avoid copyright infringement to prevent buyers from being confused.
• Disadvantages
The disadvantages include unreliable sources like with market research
and unreliable people and suppliers which can affect the deadline date.
• Example
carrying out research to gather information of a target audience
Companies always aim to see what age and sex their consumers are so
they can tailor the ad’s to be aimed at the people that want the product.

10. Terminology
• Objective
– Research that is not influenced by anyone's personal
feelings or opinions.
• Subjective
– Research that has been influenced by someone's personal
feelings and opinions.
• Valid
– Whether the research given can answers the
question/outcome.
• Reliable
– Research that produces accurate and consistent results.

11. Harvard Referencing
Name of the film being researched;
1. Vaughn, M (2014) Kingsman: The Secret
Service
2. Martin, GRR (1996) A Game Of Thrones
3. Zuckerburg, M (2004) Facebook
4. Junco, ES (1988) Hello! Magazine