This document discusses research methods for creating new media products. It defines primary, secondary, quantitative, and qualitative research methods and provides examples of advantages and disadvantages of each. The document also discusses the specific research methods and techniques used for assignments in Year 10, including watching videos, internet research, questionnaires, and planning sheets. Primary and secondary research methods were used, with secondary being most common. Qualitative research through surveys was also utilized. Information was stored and organized through bookmarks, folders, and printed materials.

1. Unit 1: P1, M1, D1
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 information
that is collected first-hand to
answer specific questions and
issues.
 Addresses specific issues.
You could find out what your
target audience expected from
your product rather than
relying on what competitors
have concluded.
 Data is recent.
The data they gather from
primary research will be more
accurate than secondary
research methods as it is
recent.
 More resources are
required.
Not only does it cost a lot of
money along with time it also
requires other resources
such as human resources
and materials for the surveys
etc.
 Is time consuming.
Primary research isn’t instant
and as easy accessible as
secondary research and
requires a lot of time to
collate data.
Secondary
Secondary research is the
method of collecting existing
data that has previously been
produced.
 It is easy to access.
It is convenient and instant to
acquire, with the resource of
the internet you can get
valuable data without having
to make questionnaires and
get them completed.
 Low cost to gain data.
Primary research is expensive
because researchers have to
carry out the research
themselves whereas with
secondary research the cost
of resources etc. have already
been paid by the original
 Is not specific to the
researches questions and
issues.
The data found through
secondary research may suit
a different purpose, this
could alter the conclusion of
your research.
 Poor quality of research.
The data could be biased as
it could have been edited by
the providers of the
information. Also it could be
out of date.

2. Unit 1: P1, M1, D1
researcher.
Quantitative
Quantitative research is
research that includes factual
information such as numerical
values.
 Easier to visually
represent.
Quantitative date is statistic
driven this means that it is
easier to putt the data onto a
graph or chart etc.
 Can be analysed in detail.
The researcher can see the
relationship between an
independent and dependent
variable to conclude their
findings.
 It requires a large sample
of people to be accurate.
To get more accurate results
quantitative research
requires a larger amount of
statistics.
Qualitative
Qualitative research is
information collected about
people’s views and opinions.
 Helps the researcher
decide what to focus on for
potential quantitative
research.
 The data collected is more
detailed.
The data the researcher
collects is
 It’s hard to draw
numerical statistics from
findings.
 The results found are only
specific to the group that
were asked rather than a
wider scale (because it
includes opinions).
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) ?
Unit 5- Crime Drama and Music Video
For the crime drama task we used an array of research techniques throughout the initial research stage, the main
technique used was the internet as if offered us the most information to gain a better insight of what our crime dramas
needed to include and make the audience feel. We also developed a clear understanding of key features a crime drama
should include by watching videos of existing shows like CSI.
Likewise with the music videos, a useful technique was watching a range of di fferent music videos that all included
different structures and features to see what we needed to do to create our own video. We also made a pre-production
plan for our music video, this included recce photos so we knew what sort of locations we would need for the filming the
final result.
Unit 7- Festival Bags
In this unit I used a wider range of research techniques as I had no previous knowledge about designing and creating a
festival bag. Firstly I had to choose a festival to design the festival bag around, I used the internet to about some music

3. Unit 1: P1, M1, D1
festivals and after reading about a few I chose the Isle of Wight festival. I carried out further internet research to gain an
insight about the history of the festival and what their aims and mottos were, this helped me to suit my festival bag to the
chosen festival. I also used planning sheets in this unit to help me have a clear idea of what the layout and sizing of my
bag should be, this was very helpful throughout both the designing and the printing stages.
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)?
The main research method I used while completing these tasks was secondary, this is because the information is easy to
access and helped me to understand more about the involvements of the tasks set. Also in the crime drama task I used
my own primary and quantitative research by getting people in the class to fill out a questionnaire which concluded many
things including what crime conventions they would expect to see, this data was then analysed to see the most popular
answers.
The most effective research method in the festival bag task was secondary research as it offered the biggest range of information
that I required to develop my understanding of my chosen festival.
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?
Yes, I think that if I had to do the projects again I would definitely use the primary research method across each unit more
as it provides a more accurate information which is specific to the projects that were set to me rather than relying on
secondary research to find everything out. Also I think that using qualitative research would help my projects to be more
successful, if I interpret people’s views and opinions into my project it may help me be more creative and original.
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?)
In particularly for the festival bag project I kept a list of key websites used, this help me keep track of where I had got the
research from and also helped me decide whether it was valid (sourced from a legitimate website).
I saved photos that were useful into a specific folder so that I knew where they were when needed, this was also a good
way of saving written information that was useful (mainly used in Unit 5).
For the music video we printed of the lyrics to the song so that they were easier to annotate, this was then kept in a group
member’s folder.