Research Methods

Research Methods

There are a number of different uses and methods for researching. In this assignment I will be talking about the different uses for research and why it is necessary before you start any project. The reason you should research a subject before trying to talk about it is to not sound ignorant and produce false information.

Different types of research 

There are several different types of research including quantitative and qualitative. While the variations of research are for the same purpose they are both different in the information they give and the way of obtaining them. 

Quantitative research 

Quantitative research is researching facts and figures. This type of research is objective as opposed to subjective which is qualitative research. examples of quantitative research would be things like album sales or box office figures. Quantitative research is good because it gives you a clear answer to a question it also show how many people are interested in one subject. A lot of quantitative research is used in news broadcasts so they can present the viewers with facts, whether it be the level of unemployment or the number of cuts being made.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avengers2.htm
Here are some box office figures for the latest avengers film.

Qualitative research 

Qualitative research consists of peoples opinions which you can find in interviews or in a lot of qualitative research is usually presented in a quote form which allows people to consume small bits of information at a time. A lot of qualitative research is used in the news and documentaries as they ask a range of people for more information on the subject, whether it be a professional on the subject or bystander who has an opinion on the subject.  qualitative research is good for getting professional opinions on subjects.

Here is an example of some qualitative research. It is a review of age of Ultron filled with the reviewers opinions on different aspects of the film.

Primary research 

Primary research is when you go out and ask questions and get information for yourself. you can collect both qualitative research by asking peoples opinions and collecting quantitative research through gathering information for surveys. The good thing about primary research is that you know that it is legitimate information and hasn't been twisted in any way. 

Secondary research 

Secondary research is when you find someone else's research and use it to benefit yourself this can also be applied to both qualitative and quantitative research. You can usually find surveys and opinions of famous people on the internet. The benefit of secondary research is that you can find information that would've been out of your area of reach.  A lot of information can be found from internet forums questionnaires.

Purposes of research 

While all research serves to inform you more on a subject there are different areas to research to make sure relative content is made and it will attract an audience. The three main things to research before making your content is audience research, market research and production research. 

Audience research

Audience research is when you find out what demographic  you are aiming at and how to peek their interest and keep them entertained in your content. Audience research usually involves examining the audiences viewing preferences, what time they watch tv and how much free time they have. Its important to know what audience you are targeting at so you can cater your content to them and make it appealing. 

Market research

Market research is when you look for what type of content is popular right now in the market. This is useful because it allows you to decide what kind of programming will get the most views. Market research is mainly used by big companies to decide what will make the most money and what will attract the biggest audience. Sometimes people will do market research to find something that hasn't been done and could become a potential gap in the market.

Come dine with me became quiet popular as day time television because it had a sought of reality tv/competition cooking show. A similar kind of show is three in a bed which is a show about a group of BnB owners staying and rating each others BnB's, it still has the reality tv aspect with the drama put into the show and a focus on the quests personalities.

Production research

Production research is all about researching the practicality and costs of the making of content. Production research includes business fees, viability, resources and distribution. The purpose of production research is to make sure how much money you are spending and how you will distribute your content to an audience. It is very important to do production research so you don't go over your budget or mess up the business side of making content.