GCSE MEDIA WEBSITE- RESEARCH
Research:
Research is the investigation into either new or existing ideas or concepts and drawing new conclusions or results from them. Research in the media industry can be split into types of research (Quantitive, Qualitative), Methods of research (Primary, Secondary and Production) and purposes of research (target audience, market trends, production research).
Example of Quantitative data. A numerical score for "The Godfather". From Rotten Tomatoes Website.
Types of Research:
Quantitative- Quantitative research is research that is numerical based. In the media, this could be viewer ratings, box office figures and sales figures. Quantitive research is important because it can take data and generalise it into a percentage or number that is a representative of the overall population. This allows the media industry to easily see if a product or idea is profitable and sits well with audiences so they can do more of the same in the future.
An example of quantitative research is the Rotten Tomatoes review website which rounds up audiences and critics scores to an average number or score. Another example is the website boxofficemojo.com which shows the how much money each film makes and how profitable it is.
Qualitative- Qualitative research is research which goes into detail on the subject of research. In the media industry, this could be written/verbal reviews for shows or films, articles, interviews and news coverage. Qualitative research is important because it shows what the general audience think of a film/show in more detail. It shows the things people liked and what could be improved. From this, the media industry can improve their products.
An example of qualitative research is the website amazon.co.uk which has users publish reviews on shows or films. It shows a rating (quantitative) but provides a written review below which often has detailed information about the film/show. Another example of qualitative research is the website gamesradar/com/totalfilm which shows news coverage on films/TV as well as publishes reviews.
Introduction:
This website aims to show you what research for film and TV is, the different types of research, methods, and purposes of research. It will also provide examples of each one.
Example of Qualitative data. An Amazon.co.uk review of TV show "An Idiot Abroad".
Methods of Research:
Primary- Primary research is research that you do yourself. You organise any interviews or surveys you intend on doing to find out more about your topic. It is important because you are able to have more control over finding information that is relevant to your topic, it is your own work which means it will make it easier to put into a report or findings and you will be able to understand everything you find since you find it yourself. An example of primary research is you conduct a survey with 500 people regarding their favourite sport.
Secondary- Secondary research is research done by someone else. You find and use somebody else’s work and credit them for doing so. It is important because it can help save time allowing other people to research for you so that you can use the time to do other tasks, it helps to have an expert do effective research for you and it helps you with deciding what is relevant as well as helping you provide an internal analysis of the research. An example of secondary research is an article someone else has written based on your topic of research such as finding out about what films audiences are watching on IMDB.
Organisations- This is when a third party is hired to do the research for you that you will later use to find out what the target market want to see. An example of a UK company that researches for other people is BARB. BARB stands for The Broadcasters Audio Research Board. They capture TV viewing ratings through TV, tablets, smartphones and PCs as well as via online based platforms such as BBC iPlayer and All 4. Another example is RAJAR which stands for Radio Joint Audience Research. RAJAR was created by the BBC and is in charge of finding out radio ratings. What audiences listen to, when they listen to it and where they listen to it.
This type of research is important because it shows a generalised overview of current audience trends which is useful to know how audiences watch shows or films so that they could potentially take advantage of that such as Netflix has become popular for online streaming so they make Netflix Original films or TV.
Example of Primary research. Pie chart of favourite sports.
Example of Secondary research. IMDB of top comedy titles.
Example of Organisation research. Broadcasters Audio Research Board website.
Purposes of Research:
Target Audience- The target audience is the group of people your product or show is made for. It can be split into demographics (age, gender socio-economic group, race, occupation), psychographics (lifestyle, personality) and geographic’s (country, climate). An example of organising a product into a target audience is the market segmentation on the right.
Finding out who your target audience is, is important because that way, you know what type of product or show you want to make and whether it will make a profit or not.
Market Trends- A market trend is the direction of the financial market over time. In simple terms, this means; what TV show or film is selling or being viewed the most or, what the majority of audiences are watching. It is important because knowing what is popular with audiences will help the media industry make informed decisions as to what to make on TV or film that will make a profit in return. If their show won’t make a profit there is no point wasting time and money on it. An example of a market trend is the recent increase in horror TV shows with hardly any in the 1940s and 1950s to well over a hundred by the 2010s. Another example of market trends is there is an increase in the amount of streaming content such as Netflix and Amazon creating their own shows. More time, effort and money has been put into the streaming services because they are popular with audiences.
Production Research- Production research is research that helps give information on the production of a show or film, in other words, it is research on how a show or film is made and the factors that will affect the creation of the product. For example, a company will need to take into account the shooting location, budgeting, cast and crew and what audiences think of the product. An example of this is During filming of Kingsman The Golden Circle, the set visited London to find out the best locations to film the opening taxi scene. This will help shape your TV show and make it as realistic or unrealistic as you wish, depending on who it is aimed at.
Market Segmentation. Example of breaking down the target audience.
“Name of Product; iPhone X
Demographics
Age; 17 and up.
Income; High income.
Socio-economic group: Middle to upper class.
Gender: The gender is both genders, male and female.
Occupation: Tertiary and Quaternary sector jobs.
Race/religion: Any race or religion can use this product.
Education: Anybody no matter their education.
Psychographics
Personality: People who are efficient and organised.
Lifestyle: People with a very busy lifestyle.
Geographics
Country/Region: Worldwide.
Climate: Worldwide.”
Example of the recent trends in horror TV shows on Netflix.
Kingsman The Golden Circle. Filming in London. Example of production research as potential filming location.
(Image taken from: http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2017/10/4/the-king-makers)
This shows the stages of filming production and where research comes in. As you can see, it comes in at the start and end.
What stages of the filming process require research. Taken from https://www.slideshare.net/MissConnell/film-development-pre-production-production