Harry Cowley

Unit 6 Critical Approaches LO1

The following will be in regard to the recent film, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a more logical and data-led approach which provides a measure of what
people think from a statistical and numerical point of view. Quantitative research typically includes
customer surveys and questionnaires with set questions and answers that respondents tick from a
predefined selection. These can be conducted face-to-face with a clipboard and pen, over the
telephone, via post or email, online or via a website. Quantitative research can gather a large
amount of data that can be easily organised and manipulated into reports for analysis.
Qualitative Research

Unlike quantitative research which relies on numbers and data, qualitative research is more focused
on how people feel, what they think and why they make certain choices. Qualitative research is
designed to reveal a target audiences range of behaviour and the perceptions that drive it with
reference to specific topics or issues. It uses in-depth studies of small groups of people to guide and
support the construction of hypotheses. The results of qualitative research are much more
descriptive rather than predictive. Qualitative research is typically in the form of in-depth interviews
with individuals, group discussions, diary and journal exercises; and in-context observations.
Which method works better?

Debates have been ongoing, deciding which method is better than the other. The reason why this
remains unresolved is that, each has its own strengths and weaknesses which actually vary
depending upon the topic the researcher wants to discuss. Combining these two sets of information
can prove insightful. For example, before issuing a survey to gather quantitative results you will first
want to find out more about what your customers consider to be important or vice versa. Ideally, if
budget allows it, both qualitative and quantitative research should be used since they provide
different perspectives and usually complement each other.



Harry Cowley
Pros and Cons

Qualitative Research
Pros
Qualitative research allows one to explore topics in more depth and detail than quantitative
research. Also, qualitative research is often less expensive than quantitative research, because you
don't need to recruit as many participants or use extensive methods. Another pro of qualitative
research is that it offers flexibility as far as locations and timing because you don't need to interview
a large number of people at once.
Cons
One major disadvantage of qualitative research is that it cannot quantify how many of your audience
answer one way or another. This makes it extremely difficult to create any type of solid statistic.
Another con is that you cannot generalise your findings. As opposed to quantitative surveys,
qualitative research does not allow you to use your findings as a basis for a broader audience or the
public in general.

Quantitative Research
Pros
One of the pros to quantitative research involves the fast speed that data can be collected. This data
can also be analysed fairly quickly. In addition, using statistically valid random samples, a survey can
quickly be generalised to the entire population. Another advantage involves the planning process for
programs and messages. With the reliable, repeatable information that quantitative surveys can
provide, a trusted set of statistics can give confidence when making future plans. Quantitative
research can also be anonymous, which is useful when dealing with sensitive topics. Another major
pro of quantitative research is that it allows you to generalise your findings beyond the participant
group.
Cons
One con of quantitative research is the limited ability to probe answers. Also, people who are willing
to respond may share characteristics that don't apply to the audience as a whole, creating a
potential bias in the study. In addition, quantitative research experiments can be costly.





Harry Cowley
The Film X-Men: Days of Future Past

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/
Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM




Harry Cowley
Using the website Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review site, I was able to deduce that the predominant
gender of the people that watch X-Men: Days of Future Past is male. However, this information is
severely limited in the fact that I am unable to see the reviewers ages. There is also a difference
between those that will watch the film and those that will actively visit websites in order to review
the film. Therefore, with this taken into account, it is safe to say that the most committed viewers of
X-Men: Days of Future Past are predominantly male; however this does not account for those that
watch the film but dont review it.
The screenshots below shows the public review section and the professional review section of the
film on Rotten Tomatoes. It is clear that the top 4 reviewers are all male in the public review section
and that the critical reviews are also primarily male.



Harry Cowley
Target Audience Questionnaire


1) What is your gender?*
Male
Female

2) What is your age?*
________________
3) What is your sexual orientation? (This question is optional)
________________
4) What is your occupation?*
________________________________
5) In which region do you live?*
North East
North West
Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East of England
London
South East
South West

6) How many films do you watch a week?*
1
2
3
4
5
6
7+

7) When you previously visited the cinema, which film did you watch? (Please list as many as
you can recall)*


Harry Cowley
8) What are you favourite films released this year? (As many as you feel appropriate)*





9) What genre of film do you prefer? (Tick as many as appropriate)*
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Crime
Drama
Historical
Horror
Musical
Sci-Fi
War
Western
Fantasy
Romance
Thriller
Anime

10) What are your favourite films? (As many as you feel appropriate)*









*All questions marked with an asterisk are obligatory.

Harry Cowley
Audience Profile

Gender
According to my research, the prominent audience for this film is male. However, this is not to say
that the only viewers of the film are male, there is just a larger male to female ration within the
audience.
Age
From the research I conducted, I can say that a dedicated part of the audience are aged between 20
35. However, using the surveys that I handed out, I was able to deduce that there is also a younger
audience which ranges between 15 and 19.
Sexual Orientation
All of my research was either carried out on those who were straight or who did not choose to
disclose their sexual orientation. From this I was able to deduce that the main audience for the film
is straight but this does not rule out people of other sexual orientations from watching the film.
Socio-economic Status
The majority of my research was conducted on other students and also on movie reviewers but
because of the wide age range of the target audience, the social economic status of the
predominant audience could be unknown. However, the research that I have conducted shows that
the predominant social-economic status of the audience is as a student.
Psychographics
Using the results obtained from my surveys, I can see that the majority of the people who watched
this film have seen and enjoyed 1 or more of the previous X-Men films. It also shows that most of
the audience preferred the genre of action and/or sci-fi to the other genres. The predominant
audience for the film also watched a lot of films weekly and go to the cinema frequently.
Geo-demographics
Students
Regional Identity
The Regional Identity will be anywhere that there is a cinema or a location in which to be able to
watch the film.