The Nature and Purposes of Research

Primary research is when someone is personally collecting data and research, this can be done by interviews, surveys, records or questionnaires. An example of primary research that I have done is when I interviewed Emma Rees for my 3-minute wonder documentary, where I asked her about K-Pop. An example of primary research in the media is when the film is based on a real event the filmmakers will conduct interviews with the actual people involved and get real moments from that point in history. Also before filming 127 Hours (2010) both James Franco and Danny Boyle were allowed to watch the footage that Aron Ralston filmed while trapped in the canyon - this is so they were able to get a more accurate portrayal of the events.


Secondary research is when you use research that you found elsewhere, for example from books, documentaries or the internet. Examples of secondary research that I used is in the 3-minute wonder documentary that I made I looked up some information about K-Pop beforehand on the internet. An example of the media using secondary research is during the making of How To Train Your Dragon the animators went through a workshop called "Flight-School"  where they had to watch videos of birds in order to work out how to animate the dragon's wings realistically.

Both primary and secondary research has its pros and cons, for example with primary research, if you interview someone you can quote them word for word, whereas if it were from the internet they might have changed the wording and so you can't fully trust it. However, a con is that they might be mis-remembering a fact and so if you put that into your film you might anger some people for getting the facts wrong. As for secondary research, a pro is that you can use the internet to look for what you want or use a book and so it wouldn't take up much of your time and so will leave you plenty of time doing something else. However, a con would be that the place from which you're getting your information from is wrong and so you might be misinforming your audience.

Quantitative research is where you collect data in the form of numbers, for example, how many people watched a certain film in one year. An example of quantitative research I did was I asked a couple of people what their favourite K-Pop band was which could easily be made into a chart. An example of this used in the media is that often different websites allow people to vote film on a scale of one to ten or out of 100%. For example, Rotten Tomatoes gives Toy Story 4 98%. The reason for quantitative research is so the companies and other people can easily see what people think of the films as well as see what films have done better than other.


Qualitative research is opinionated and it goes with quantitative research. An example of qualitative research I did was I asked people what specific K-Pop band was their favourite and what is their favourite K-Pop song, etc. Examples of qualitative research used in the media are people using the website IMDB to write reviews of different films. The reason for qualitative research is so people can write what they think in detail - so if someone gives a film 4/10 they can write why they think that, this is also so other people can read what they think. - I chose to show a review that someone made for the TV show Stranger Things, where they rated the show 10/10 and gave their reasons why they liked it so much.


Both quantitative research and qualitative research have their pros and cons, for example, with quantitative research, you can see how many people think/agree on one thing, however its a very closed question and you can't go into detail as to why you chose it. however, with qualitative research, you can write whole essays on what you think and why and so can help the person making the questions understand what their audience want and don't want.

Data Gathering Agencies include Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) and Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd (RAJAR). BARB is responsible for gathering different data on different things, for example, who is watching, what are they watching and when are they watching. RAJAR is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK

Audience and Market Research is important when making a product in media due to the fact that if you target the wrong audience then you could lose a lot of profit. An example of my audience and market research is that when I did my Unilever advert I had to do a lot of research about a Unilever product - I chose Magnum and so had to find out about who the target for Magnums was so that I could figure out how to re-brand it. Examples of audience and market research in the media are how Magnum would've had to do research on who likes ice cream and chocolate and then decide that its best if it is aimed towards everyone as not one group of people prefer it significantly more than another.

Product research refers to all of the research that is done before production. This includes talent releases, location, budget sheet and more, the reason this is done beforehand is so the production team knows that they are allowed to film where they plan and also that they won't go over budget. Examples of when I have done product research is when I did a shot list, talent releases, storyboards and more for my short film. Examples of this done in the media is when casting directors will scout for people who fit the description of the character given to them by the filmmakers, also when location scouts go and look for the best location to film on.

Scources:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
https://www.barb.co.uk/about-us/how-we-do-what-we-do/
https://www.rajar.co.uk/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/127_Hours
https://www.amazon.com/Train-Your-Dragon-Movie-Poster/dp/B003G8C1BO
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574334/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1