INDEPENENT RESEACRH

TASK
UNIT 3 LO1:
UNDERSTANDING THE
NATURE AND PURPOSES OF
RESEARCH IN THE CREATIVE
MEDIA INDUSTRIES
By:
Charlotte Westall

CONTENTS:
1.

Types of Research

Quantitative Research
Qualitative Research

2.

Methods of Research

3.

Purpose of Research

4.

Bibliography

Secondary Research
Primary Research
Data Gathering Agencies
Self-Generated Research
Audience Research
Market Research
Production Research

TYPES OF RESEARCH
QUANTITATIVE:
Quantitative research is type of research that consists of creating
questionnaires, surveys and reviews which helps the companies in order
for them to improve as a company and also gain constructive criticism on
how they would be able to improve upon their products they produce for
the market place. Gaining these information from the public enables the
company to able to make a decision of how they would be able to improve
upon their product. Also this allows the company to be make informed and
backed up decisions on how they are able to tweak their products when in
development from feedback they received when sending out
questionnaires, surveys etc.
This type of research is very effective in terms of being able to find out
popular and the highest CD sales as well as the publics opinions on the
companies products they produce. Many companies would use
quantitative research in order to help them make collective choices about
how they would market their music video, so they would use quantitative
data to find out the number of CD sales that the artist gained. After
collecting the data they would put the data into a table or a graph.
Quantitative research is mainly focused on asking peoples opinions
through constructive surveys and questionnaires. Also this type of
research allows you to use accurate statistics and facts to guide you in to
making constructive decisions on how to improve their product to
continue pleasing their customers. If you want to get reliable statistics and
not have a biased source is to survey a huge number of people from
different age and class demographic so the sample you receive is ranged
and more reliable as it is taken from all kinds of people in either age
demographic or class demographic and also be representative of you
target audience as well.
An example of quantitative research being used is through a survey which
can be completed either online or in person. Both of these consists of the
same or similar questions being asked a mass amount of people and rely
on those results when an appropriate number of people completing the
survey. When those results have been obtained and put in to somewhat
graph which will show how people have responded to the survey that the
company has sent out. This type of research is very effective and less
time consuming as the process of sending and obtaining the results is
done quickly as it has effectively been done online.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of quantitative research.
The advantages of this type of research is that it allows that researcher to
measure and analyse the data in detail in terms of the relationship
between independent and dependant variables shown in the results given.

The disadvantage of quantitative research is that a large sample of the

population must be used to get statistically accurate results dependant on
the whole population. Quantitative research is always analysed in
statistical and numerical methods only as without analysing the results
received from surveys, questionnaires etc. then it wouldnt be a
quantitative research.
Quantitative research will be data that could reveal the trends in the
music industry such as the music video types or styles and also it could
reveal the most viewed and streamed music video, the most popular artist
in the industry.
http://www.ehow.co.uk/info_8091178_advantages-disadvantagesqualitative-quantitative-research.html
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/quantitative-and-qualitative.html

QUALITATIVE:
Qualitative research is research that involves language, visual
presentations like photographs and observations. Qualitative reveals the
reasons for the statistics found in quantitative research. This type of
research uses the method of face-to-face interviews in order for the
results to be accurate and most reliable as if you are doing face-to-face
interviews it makes the interviewee able to ask for opinions in depth as
people they interview will less likely to lie in a face-to-face interview basis
compared to questionnaires asked online. Qualitative research is used in
order to uncover similar trends and opinions on a particular topic you are
collecting results as part of research also it is used to give the researcher
more of insight of the why they think the certain why on the particular
topic.
Examples of sources of qualitative research is through the forms of
interviews, focus groups, observations and secondary data such as written
accounts of the past, diaries. The form of face-to-face interviews allows
the researcher to receive genuine in depth answers as they can focus on
the questions asked and explain their answers clearer as the interviewee
is not multi-tasking. An example of using qualitative research is if a record
label or an artist wanted the public opinions on music video or idea if they
were representing it to a small group or an individual. This meant that it
leaves the questions asked on the music video idea or the first draft open
and non-restrict the type of opinions received, this is useful as they can
modify and test out the idea depending on the opinions received.
It is argued that observations are the best and the most reliable type of
qualitative research as the record labels and artists can make
observations without revealing themselves to the people being observed.
Observations reveal to record labels and artists what people actually
people think on the music video shown to them, this is more reliable

compared to face-to-face interviews as the results can be more to what

they think what the research may want to hear. When the music video is
released the first time online people can review and comment on the
music video
The advantages of qualitative research is that it is very useful to the
researcher, if they are unsure about what particular area they should
focus on when gaining their results. Another advantage is that there isnt
a strict format and gives the researcher the freedom to enforce in depth
answers on particular topics or areas. Disadvantages of qualitative
research is that the process of receiving the results is time consuming as
you have to ask everyone you use in the sample in detail in face-to-face
interviews just so you can get enough results to gain a biased sample.
Also another disadvantage is that the process gives the researcher a
subjective view as the results can be one sided not objective.
http://study-skills-js.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/advantages-anddisadvantages-of.html
http://www.snapsurveys.com/blog/what-is-the-difference-betweenqualitative-research-and-quantitative-research/
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/quantitative-and-qualitative.html

METHODS OF RESEARCH:
SECONDARY RESEARCH:
Secondary research is research that is gathered from multiple other
sources such as books, internet, magazines and other works of similar
form or style. Record labels and artists look for their inspiration for their
upcoming new music video or create a similar style or form of music
video.
The main advantages of secondary research is that it isnt time consuming
at all as you are gaining research/ results from sources that have already
exist. Record labels would use secondary research to find out information
on trends that are popular in music videos as the topic is very broad.
The disadvantages of secondary research is that not all information
gathered may be from reliable sources as not all information found on the
internet arent all referenced and may be biased. Also there might be
issues with the time that the information was collected such as books,
historical surveys which arent always in sync with the times that the
event happened and over time the information might be slightly
exaggerated. There arent many sources that arent reliable such as
looking for information on the chosen topic you are going to research
about as if you are looking in tabloids as part of research because in these

forms of information are used in the purposes of making money and sell
the story rather than actually informing people of the story with facts
rather than it being exaggerated. Research gathered from secondary
research could be out of date as if you are looking in to getting
information on the trends in music videos as you could find information
that was written in the 80s meaning that the trends are out of date with
the times.
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/05/secondary-market-researchadvantages.html#axzz40p57crrN

PRIMARY RESEARCH:
Primary research is research that is completed by yourself as for example
to find out the main popular trends in music videos today you could
release out surveys or conduct interviews or focus groups in order to gain
the answers you need. Using this type of research technique doesnt
restrict you of what you are allowed to ask or not allowed to ask when
carrying out the research. Primary research allows you to gain the
information how you want to find them out and also how you are going to
analyse the results gained from your research.
Primary research is much more reliable than the secondary research
because with primary research you can organise and carry out the
research on your terms and also you can do the research exactly how you
want to meaning that you can control what aspect of the topic you are
targeting the research to. If you do the research by yourself then it means
that you know exactly where you will be getting the sources from. If you
had to use secondary research you wouldnt know where all of the
information was taken from and it wouldnt be as reliable as primary
research.
Although primary research is more time consuming than secondary
research. As for example if you are using the form of interviews for your
research you would need to spend time interviewing each person. Primary
research methods arent always as reliable as people might lie in front of
the interviewers face as they may think it is what they want to hear rather
than revealing their true opinion. An example of this put in play is that if
you are interviewing someone about a song that may not like so they may
hide the truth and say what they think what the interviewer wants to hear.
Therefore suggesting in the data that the song may be more popular than
it actually is causing the record label to make no alterations to the song
and release it meaning that these people wont purchase the song.
http://www.ianswer4u.com/2012/02/primary-research-advantagesand.html#axzz40p57crrN

DATA GATHERING AGENCIES:

Data gathering agencies are essentially agencies that gather data and
store it in data banks that can be available to the public to use for
educational or research purposes such as finding out TV
ratings/viewership. Data gathering agencies are very useful for
broadcasters especially because these information enables them to
compare against competition and see how they can catch up to their
competition in the market place. Data gathering agencies simply gather
up data that can help to measure popularity and trends.
RAJAR is an example of a data gathering agency which stands for Radio
Joint Audience Research which measures radio audiences for 310 radio
stations. They measure the audiences for these radio stations so they
know what is popular within the market place in the music industry and
also when they play songs that appeal to the

audience that are listening at the time. RAJAR release these results four
times per year. An example of a data gathering agency that is very
appropriate for measuring the popular trends in the music industry is
RAJAR, which records as well as gather the radio ratings in terms of what
radio station is popular to promote their latest album or song. RAJAR
collects data from every radio station/ signal in the UK and put it all into a
table like the one below. They record how many people who listen to each
radio station to per 1000. The data gathering agency like the RAJAR are in
a collaboration with the BBC, IPA and ISBA.
http://www.slideshare.net/09SC1/data-gathering-agencies
http://www.rajar.co.uk/content.php?page=listen_market_trends

SELF GENERATED:
Self-generated research is research done independently that is produced
outside of an agent. The information gained from self-generated research

are less reliable compared to the information gathered from data

gathering agencies. People that would create self-generated research in
order for them to gain answers they need or answer questions they had.
People that create self-generated research through the forms of recording
events, observations and videos these forms of research that you create
as part of self-generated research can turn in to another persons
research.
http://varshini99yoga.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/self-generated-researchmade-without.html

PURPOSE OF RESEARCH:
AUDIENCE RESEARCH:
Audience research is research that is conducted on specific audiences
segments in order to gather information about the audiences attitudes,
knowledge, interest, preferences and behaviours. It is research that finds
out the habits and behaviours of the audience of a particular television
show or radio station.
The purpose of audience research is that it gives the producer an insight
of the target audience of the music video, so they could create something
that would appeal to the specific target audience that they want to target
their music video. Doing audience research is very essential to the preproduction stage of the production as it would help the producers to
create something that would appeal to the target audience. By knowing
the target audience you want to target would create a variety of ways that
you could advertise the product or music video to the audiences. The
purpose of audience research is when a media company in the music
industry find the specific target audience range for their production, this
means that they would look at the certificate ratings for your productions
just so that you know what type of people that want to watch your
production. They would use surveys, questionnaires as part of their
research on the audiences for the production they want to release.
Audience research can be use in order to establish the codes and the
conventions of a certain programme against how the audiences react to it.
This type of research is good at collecting information to determine the
demographics for your production and it helps greatly to market the
product or song you are trying to sell.
In the music it is essential to know the target audience that you are
targeting the music video at so the artist and the label can effectively
make a music video to target that audience they want to reach. For
example if the music video is targeted at children meaning that you have
to specifically use the codes and conventions of the age demographic into
the music video such as making the music child friendly, bubbly and

happy type of music. So that the label can make sure that their music
video specifically appealed to children.
As part of audience research you will need to research the codes and
conventions of each age rating and class demographics. One example
where the researcher would research about the audience they are trying
to target towards by finding out what the codes and the conventions of
the classification of the targeted audience you are trying to achieve, they
can research this information through the BBFC official website which
explains in full detail what is appropriate to each age demographic. For
example if you are targeting people age 12 plus then the codes and
conventions according to the BBFC is that it can have moderate language,
moderate violence that shouldnt be dwelled on detail and moderate sex
references to be featured in the production you are trying to create for
that particular audience.
Also when you are researching about the audience you are trying to
specifically target your production you will need to consider researching
on the age and class demographic overall preferences on things like
popular songs/music, hobbies, types of films they like to watch etc. it is
essential that you research in detail of the buying patterns that your
target audience does so you can market an place your production in to
those places where your target audience will see it during their luxury
times shopping.
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/audience-research
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7tAGyQK62Zg&list=RD7tAGyQK62Zghttps://kingb94.wordpress.com/2012/

03/06/the-purpose-of-audience-research-market-research-and-productionresearch/
http://www.slideshare.net/AnnieRose95/audience-research-22808080
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/12a-and-12

MARKET RESEARCH:
Market research is research that allows the producer to gather information
about the consumers needs and preferences of the target audience.
Record labels would conduct market research to obtain the information
they need in order to effectively market their production or song that they
are releasing. The marketers of the production would then analyse the
information that they received in order to further develop their marketing
strategies.
The marketers would do their market research through focus groups, oneto-one interviews, phone surveys for example.

The purpose of market research is that it would allow the researcher /

marketer to research whether a certain song or artist or music video has a
demand. It allows you find in detail of how you would market the
production that you are making. In low budgeted companies in the music
industry they would conduct the market research through questionnaires,
surveys and also they would look in to the relationships between business
partners.
In the music industry it is very essential that you would evaluate the
songs competitions, in terms of other songs in the genre, the charts and
downloads that it gets. In this type of research, the marketers could use
quantitative data to complete the research which is by gathering statistics
from the sales and downloads that the song gained.
An example of market research is a questionnaire that could be either
done on paper, in person or online. The questionnaires are an attempt to
understand the viewers/ audiences of a production as the questions asked
are based on genre preferences and how often they would watch the
video online. This helps the marketers to gain knowledge of what the
masses of audience want from a video and also the way they want the
video to be represented.
The marketers would analyse the data gained in order to decide the
preferred format that the audience want to consume/ view the video. So
before carefully deciding what media format they will market their
production they would ask the recipients of the questionnaire their
preferred format for them to view the video e.g. YouTube, Vevo, and DVD.
Market research reveals all of the essential information on the trends in
the music industry market so it means that the record label can know if
the artists that they have signed to their label fits perfectly with the latest
trends. So for example if indie rock was the most popular trends in the
music industry at the time it would mean that the record label would sign
on more indie rock artists as it would make huge profits for the record
label.
Also you can research statistics on where you can place your production if
an advert such as before a film starts in a cinema so you could research
what type of audiences it will attract as different age, gender, ethnicity
demographics like the statistics below which is from the MPAA theatrical
market statistics.

http://www.slideshare.net/MrMightyMcD/research-unit-booklet
https://kingb94.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/the-purpose-of-audienceresearch-market-research-and-production-research/
http://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-TheatricalMarket-Statistics-2014.pdf

PRODUCTION RESEARCH:
Production research is research that is needed for developing a new
product. Production research is research that helps the researchers gain
information on the features of the products. This type of research focuses
on how the production/ video is made.
An example of production research is when adverts are specially made to
sell to the audiences so it is up to the producers of the advert to use the
information gained from production research to decide on what type of
characteristics of adverts to use.

In order to do production research for the production, the producer would

hire a fully trained researcher to gather the suitable information needed
for the production such as financially or locations. Production research
also includes information that is gathered for advertising and audience
reactions aspect as well.
The purpose of production research in the music / media industry is to
make sure that financially that you save money for the company for
production projects as it will cost to make. When you are researching for
the production it is important that you need to research aspects of Staff,
Cast, Equipment, Location, Risk Assessment, Copyright, Marketing,
Advertising and Props.
Production research is very essential because for every production you will
need to research the resources you will need in order to complete the
production professionally. As you will need to research what type of
locations you will be able to use for the production and ask for permission
to use that type of location also you will need to research the costs for
hire for equipment and the hire of a studio if needing one. It is essential
as part of the production research is that you check the viability of all of
the actors and studio hire availability.
Production research is essential for the record label by researching the
audience in terms of the profit on what is needed to spent on the
production of the music video and the research would make the label able
to receive peoples views on the content of the music video before
actually making the music video. Also knowing the budget/ cost of the
production allows the production company to carefully put the money into
the right places such as hiring locations or studios, buying equipment
which enables the production to be made.
During production research you will need to research where you will be
placing your production once it is released to the public to consume so
you will need to place the finished product in places where the targeted
audience will be able to access such as YouTube, VEVO etc. another way
that you will need to use the production research to find out where
specifically you will be placing your production such as putting the advert
spot plan before a film starts in a cinema, radio also on a webcast online.
When you are doing the production research it is essential that you
carefully and excessively plan in detail of what the content of the
production will be so it will appeal towards the audience you are
specifically targeting. Such as dealing with topics like drugs, sex which
needs to be appropriate for the target audience and connects it with the
age group that may be dealing with the tricky subject.
http://www.slideshare.net/marleylong/audience-27055236

Unknown. (2014). Theatrical Statistics. Available: http://www.mpaa.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2014.pdf. Last

accessed 16/03/2016.
Jonathan Williams. (Thursday, 20 October 2011). Market and Production
Research. Available:
http://marketandproductionresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/market-andproduction-research.html. Last accessed 03/03/2016.
Unknown. (6/03/2016). The purpose of audience research, market research and
production research. Available: https://kingb94.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/thepurpose-of-audience-research-market-research-and-production-research/. Last
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