A2 Media Studies

1. Primary Research Results
Feargus Bracken – 4009
Centre Number - 64135
Software used -
SurveyMonkey

2. Question 1 – Which gender do soap operas appeal to?
The survey denotes the
dominant opinion that soap
operas are appealing to
females and therefore soap
opera’s should be targeted to
that demographic. Arguably,
this could be a stereotype or
view of a individual.
This question could be
improved by asking the
participants gender and as a
Director for our soap opera
trailer I need to consider the
ways in which we can appeal
to the male gender, along
with female.

3. Question 2 - Which age group do you think Soap
Operas appeal to?
Results show that common
opinion is that soap operas
appeal to adults. Only 2
participants in the survey
were adults. This could
either be a matter of
personal of opinion, or
experience. Though, I do
know that the majority of
my participant’s were in
their late teens.

4. Question 3 - Do you personally enjoy Soap Operas?
None of the results
denote that those
interviewed fully enjoyed
soap operas.
This could mean a
potential bias to all
questions answered, but
also can act as
representation of a young
audience towards a media
project traditionally
consumed by other
groups.

5. Question 4 - Do you think that there are situations that
Soap Operas should not dramatise?
Results are on the majority a no,
which connotes that some have
become de-sensitised to soap
opera themes. There were three
responses, one disagreeing with
the question and two relating to
the question. As a Director, the
top response is the one that
provides the most advice – which
is to show all situations but to
deal with them sensitively to
avoid alienating the audience.
The other responses could be
related to individual experience ,
and not able to represent the
wider audience.

6. Question 5 - What setting Soap Opera is more
appealing?
None of the survey participants
agreed that rural was a suitable
setting, as Urban is ultimately the
strongest with over 70% of the
results. This parallels to popular
soaps in the current day. The
Soap opera trailer I am directing
exists in a urban space, a pub and
then the interior and exterior of a
house. It will not offer an
element of difference in its
setting and will offer repetition,
on the other hand it will offer
difference from normal issues
presented in Soap Operas
(Repetition and Difference -
Neale 1980)

7. Question 6 - Are you in Education?
80% of participants were
still in full time education,
opposed to the 20% who
were not. This creates
differing amounts of
downtime to be able to
watch shows such as soap
operas amongst the
audience. This question is
relevant as it shows the
proportion of a younger
audience , and allows me
to target themes towards
them. My show needs to
offer a form of intellectual
stimulation, to match the
intellectual audience.

8. Question 7 - Are you employed or unemployed?
The majority of respondents were
part time workers, with the second
largest being full time employed,
while 25% are un-employed.
This gives variable levels of
disposable income. With this
knowledge in mind, I can create
representation for these characters
to match with the audience socially
and economically of how they
perceive themselves (Louis
Althusser - 1971). I asked this
question as it allowed me to place
my audience into demographics,
which further allows me to target
my trailer specifically.

9. Question 8 - Which classes are Soap Operas aimed
towards?
The results connote that most
participants view soap operas as a
working class past time.
To further support this question, It
would have assisted results to ask
which class a participant would
place themselves in.
This question was important to
investigate as it shows what my
audience views as a soap opera
audience, and to me this shows
what they think of current soap
operas and who they are aimed
towards.

10. Question 9 - Do you think there is equal representation
of Queer characters in soap opera?
This question has evenly
split results from
participants, and is
dependant on the views that
exist outside of the
dramatised soap opera
conditions.
This was important to
investigate as it allows for a
accurate characterisation of
characters, and it will allow
me to appeal to their
personal identity.

11. Conclusion
In conclusion, my primary research has allowed me to obtain information on attitudes
from a potentially younger audience to existing pieces of soap opera media, which will
allow me, as a director, to make use of this information when creating a soap opera
trailer with my group. The information gathered from this primary research will allow
me to appeal to a new audience demographic that may not traditionally consume
soap opera.