LO1: Research Techniques

-->

Research Techniques

Hennah Ashraf

Introduction

Research can be defined as systematical or practical work, undertaken to increase an individual or groups understanding. It can be carried out to investigate and test the validity of things such as instruments, experiments and procedures. Research can be carried out to duplicate previously demonstrated practices and to prove reliability, validity and representativeness. There are various types of research techniques. For example, the main types of research methods include, primary, secondary, qualitative and quantitative ways, to deduce data from. Following from this, I will be discussing the forms of research that creative media industries use.

Research Used in Creative Media Industries

Creative media industries use the following forms of research; audience research, market research and product research. Industries use a systematic and a scientific approach to retrieve worthy information.

The purpose of audience research is so that the industry can find out things about the target audience. For this, they survey individuals to inquire about things such as age, gender, interests, hobbies and their socioeconomic statuses, by doing companies can see the different types of people watching their programmes and more so.

Whereas, market research, allows the companies to learn about what the audience prefers to watch and what they do watch. This type of research allows the companies to produce ideas, which will influence their own broadcasting channel. However it is also beneficial for companies, which are opening new, or have been broadcasting for a while. This is because they can develop and improve their channels so that they entice a larger audience.

On the contrast, product research can be different, depending on what the programme is. The production research is to keep the shows to a high quality. For example, on a show such as the Jeremy Kyle show, the interviewer (Jeremy) has all the product research of their interviewee. This research will include the do's and don't of the show, and what questions are allowed to be asked and which are not.

Type of Research

Within the creative media industry, companies use various forms of research techniques, such as primary, secondary, qualitative and even quantitative methods of research. Each form of research has it strength and limitations, and there are multiple kinds of research procedures within them. Following from this, will be the definitions of each type of research, examples of them and the advantages and disadvantages that they pose.

Primary research can be defined as data obtained from first hand research, like from a focus group. This is usually, studies and investigations carried out by and individual or group, to retrieve results for their chosen area of research.

On the other hand secondary research is data, which has already been collected by other groups, and organisations, which can be accessed from external sources such as the Internet, library books and government websites.

Some examples of primary research are interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. Each of these examples, have their individual strengths and limitations. These are all examples of research, which can be carried out by and individual or group, to collect information related to their area of research.

Primary Methods – Interviews

Interviews are a form of face-to-face communication, which is direct. They can be instructed in groups or individually and there are two types of interviews; structured and unstructured interviews. Structured interviews, is where the interviewer has had training and is given a set of questions which need to be asked. This type of interview does not allow the interviewer to build a rapport with the interviewee.

Also it will cost the media company, which is directing this research, as they will have to train a lot of employers to be able to carry out this interview in the genuine manner. Therefore it will be quiet costly for the company, as they have to pay for the interviewers training session as well as a fixed hourly pay rate.

On the other hand, structured interviews can be an efficient and a tidier way of gathering data. This is because the questions, which that interviewer asks, have a limited answer or is a closed question. On collecting the data from the interview, the company can generate official statistics, which they can use to compare and contrast the data. Another advantage of using structured interviews is that the company can also generalise their results and obtain a secure conclusion, which will reflect the public interest and interpretation of the media.

In contrast, structured interviews can also prose some limitations. One example of such is that the interviewee being interviewed may feel uncomfortable and sensitive, either talking within a group or individually. A topic about terror may arise during the interview and the respondent may hesitate in giving an honest answer. But if it is a group interview, the respondent may be less confident to speak up and there may be an instance where there is a dominant speaker, which restricts other users from speaking. If this is the case then the research is not valid, because it reflects the experience of one user, clearly, and not the other respondent, making it an invalid and unrepresentative sample, which will have an effect on the interpretations of the company.

Another limitation of using this technique is that it is time consuming. Having to train then practise the procedure is time consuming, costly and some users may have difficulty interpreting the questions. It can also be argued that some interviewers may also find it difficult to communicate with respondent whose first language is not English.

In comparison to this, it can be argued that using an individual/ group unstructured interview is much better, for this scenario, than using structured interviews. Unstructured have many more advantages in this case. One major, which proves as a strong advantage while using this technique, is that the interviewer is free to open discussion, allowing them to build rapport with the respondent. Building a rapport, allows the interviewer to ask questions, which are sensitive to the interviewee and gaining their trust, so that they can understand the true picture.

Also, the interviewer is also capable of asking other questions, which allow the interviewee to understand the respondent better. It allows errors to be clarified and a better understanding to be developed, also having a better response rate.

Questionnaires

A second example of research method is questionnaires. As like interviews, questionnaires also prose strengths and limitations when being used. Moving on from interviews, I will be evaluating the pros and cons of using this concept.

Firstly, questionnaires contain the same questions for all audiences and the options are limited as they are closed answer questions, or simply a short open answer question. This allows the creative media industry, to convert this data and generalise it. From this they can create official statistics, which represent the data obtained.

Secondly, questionnaires are representative as they can be given out to a large sample group, increasing the reliability and effectiveness of the data. A larger sample group allows the users to make a better generalisation as it includes majority of the page, not just a small sector. 

However, some people may argue that this is not the case with questionnaires. They may argue that in fact questionnaires do not give a fair proportional sample of the audience, but in fact a small, invalid and unrepresentative sample. Postal surveys (questionnaires) have a lower response rate and therefore you only receive about half of the questionnaires given, as people do not seem to give it importance. This means that the sample group is even smaller than it originally started and hence it will not give a representative interpretation.

Someone, who it is not sent out for, can complete postal questionnaires. An example of this could be a child filling out the questionnaire, when it was sent to the parent/guardian, who is illiterate. Rather than the parent completing the questionnaire out, the child may be forced to therefore the answers may reflect their experience not the parents, who it was meant for. If this occurs then this means that is not giving a true picture.

Another disadvantage is that the respondents may not tell the truth in their answers, as they fear that it does not abide by the general public thoughts and interest. They would not want to regard themselves as outsiders; hence they may give answers, which will not seem abnormal.

Unstructured interviews also give long answers, which take a long time to process and it is harder to generalise and as questionnaires tend to refer to past events, some respondents may find it difficult to remember previous events.

A final disadvantage in using questionnaires to obtain research is that it has a low response rate. Possibilities may include the fact that some respondents may bin the questionnaire, it may get lost in post or there might be a delay in its return, which may exclude it from the research itself, if it arrives too late.

Focus Groups

Focus groups allow researchers to ask people about their opinions, interests, beliefs and attitudes about a particular topic. Focus groups allow the respondents to interact with one another and being able to discuss things as an open debate. They allow the researcher to develop and understand the respondent’s opinions, feelings and personal views about certain topics. Most important focus groups allow the researcher to clarify any problems, whereas by using questionnaires and structured interviews, it would be highly unlikely.

Another advantage of using focus groups is that it saves time, as researchers can carry out a group interview within the time limit for an individual interview. In the long run, it saves money and time as the companies do not have to pay a lot to the researcher, as they are likely to get the job done, quicker and more efficiently. In-group discussions people are more likely to open up, and fewer people are likely to prove less confident. Therefore it would be a good technique for industries to use.

On the other hand, despite being quite a few advantages for using focus groups, there are also some limitations. Some of the problems which may occur during group discussions will be happen due to conflict of ideas, hard to control the group, some people may be less confident in the group discussion and it could be difficult to get people to actually participate.

Firstly, one of the main issues as written about was the conflict between ideas. As it is a group discussion, there is a high chance that not all the speakers actually have the same beliefs and values as others; therefore some people may reject this and therefore not be willing to accept it. If this is the case, then the users will get diverted; off topic and hence it will become chaotic.

On reflecting from this, it can be argued that if it does become hard to control the group, it may appear difficult for the researcher to get their point across, which may cause them to lose their entire control making them unable to handle the situation.

Another disadvantage would be that there might be a specific person, who has been dominating the group; therefore this will actually affect the other speakers, as they may not feel so confident and therefore may not want to speak up in the group discussion. Domination of a speaker would mean that the users may not want to participate and hence this means that the interpretations of this would only reflect the main speaker’s opinions and not everyone else.

Bringing this all together, one of the biggest factors, which influence the discussion, would be the amount of participants. It is difficult for the researcher to be able to entice people to come and join the discussion. If hardly, anyone is willing to participate in the discussion then the discussion becomes useless and not representative, reliable or valid.

Secondary Research –Books

A first example of secondary research is books. Books can be used to research about certain aspects of media industry, although it has strengths and limitations like almost any other research technique does. An advantage for using books would be that they have been around for a long time, and still exist. They are a more accurate way of researching things.

Nevertheless, there are many more problems with using books, than any other technique. Most reference books used need to be updated, as they are out of date and hence this will invalidate the research findings and also make it unreliable. Not only are books boring, but unappealing, it is difficult to find the right book, which contains the relevant information you need. Continuously, searching through the incorrect books would mean that the research is wasting its time.

Books make it difficult for researchers to use as it has heavy content and it requires too much time. They are also boring and are not visually bright. Regarding this, books also used complex text and people with a low reading age, will find it difficult to understand and interpret the information.

Magazines

On the other hand, magazines are also another type of secondary source. Magazines contain information about people's experiences and opinions. Magazines unlike online articles, does not require any downloading time, therefore it means it is easy to access. However despite saying this magazine would cost slightly more than the ordinary newspaper because it contains colour and information, which appeals to a larger target audience, also it is interesting and captivating.

Other similar advantages of using magazines for research would be that there is no waiting download time, suitable for the public. As the researcher can buy the magazine of the shelf, it saves them time and money, rather than waiting for articles to download off the Internet. However, on saying this I do realise that magazines and articles can also be viewed online as well, but most materials need to be downloaded. Some downloads are completed within seconds, whereas some takes numerous days to complete. This proves useless for the researcher.

Nevertheless, there are also two disadvantages of using magazines to help a research, search for the relevant information, regarding creative media industries. For example, a magazine has a narrower target audience, unlike newspapers, which have a large audience outreach. Majority of the content within magazines is usually gossip and rather less of factual information. Therefore, this can be excluded from an investigation, as it would be untrustworthy and unreliable. Hence, this may not be one of the best ways for a creative media industry to use for their research.

Internet

Similarly, creative media industries can also use the Internet search engine to obtain results, as appropriate to their research. However, there are advantages and disadvantages of using Internet for research use. Furthermore, I will be discussing the practical issues for using Internet search.

A major advantage, to the creative media industry would be that a large amount of secondary information is available on the Internet, which makes it easy and efficient to access. As information can easily be accessed, it saves the researcher work, as they do not have to carry out the investigation from scratch. The time taken for the research to carry out the test and then produce results from it can then be applied to looking for the answer instead.

Also, there are tonnes of information sources, from where the researcher can collect data from, which contains qualitative and quantitative data. Following this, researchers can also use social networking sites, a form of media, to learn about people's opinions, views and attitudes towards things. For example, Facebook and Twitter have a high percentage of users, and people have set up pages, and others have written about their interests on their information page. So, researchers can use this by interpreting it and using it for their work. Despite saying this, not everyone's profile allows other users to access their information, unless they are friends etc., depending on their privacy settings.

Finally, researchers can also use feed backs on websites, to learn and use the improvements/suggestions of others within their work. This can be particularly useful, as media groups are not usually able to pick up their own errors, whereas using feed backs from other pages, and then can relate it to their work, to then be able to evaluate and improve their production.

Nevertheless, Internet also has some disadvantages for its use. Formerly, some information, which is available on the Internet, may not be reliable. One such example of this is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is open to public editing; therefore anyone with Internet connection can access and edit the information on Wikipedia, despite having no knowledge of it. As Wikipedia usually, appears within the first top ten lists of Google results, it is possible that researchers may also use it for their research; however it is an unreliable source to use.

Similarly, too many results can also prove a nuisance for researchers, as it is quite difficult to locate relevant searches, when there infinite pages of results. Researchers tend to look through the first few pages and then give up, which could invalidate the research altogether. As researchers would be looking for in depth information, it would be possible that each result they find may contain large amount of content, which could slow the downloading time of the website. Time taken up in this process would affect the conclusion, towards the end.

A last advantage of using Internet would be that most sites, which contain important data, could be hard to access. If a researcher wants to use the information available, they may have to ask for permissions, as most information is copyright protected. Copyright permissions are usually asked through email and the respondent may ignore or reject the researcher from being able to use their data. But, if the user does agree to let the researcher use its research, it may be too late, as slow responses may mean that the research has been completed without the help of the information.

Qualitative Research - Observations

Observations are also another form of qualitative research, along with interviews and focus groups, as discussed earlier. Previously, I have mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of interviews and focus groups and now I will be assessing the advantages and disadvantages of using observations within research.

The most common advantage for any media industry would be that the results obtained through observation gives the real picture of the event; the researchers are trying to study. Hence, if the researcher was in depth, informative and descriptive results, it will be best for them to observe the situation. Observation can be quite difficult, as you have to be able to find a correct group to observe, either overtly or covertly. The information obtained through observations is very accurate, reliable and true of nature. As the data is a type of primary research, which is first hand, it is more likely to be true.

Despite a couple of advantages, there are many more disadvantages. Naming a few of the disadvantages, I would reckon that it is time consuming, from which information that is produced cannot be generalised, it may also cause the Hawthorne effect and it requires a skilled labourer to construct it.

The observer has to carry out its observation, within a given time, this is so that they can analyse it and produce interpretations. However, this takes time and also the will need to have a good memory, as most aspects of an observation have to be visualised. With age and time, the information stored in the observer’s brain may begin to fade; therefore their summary may have things, which are vital, missing.

Also, this is a professional job, which therefore needs a skilled observer to construct it. The necessity of having a skilled observer would mean that the company would have to pay out more money, than they are producing, at the current time to construct the observation and to pay the wage of the worker.

Similarly, as a vast majority of the results are in depth, opinions and views, it makes it harder for the observer or the company to analyse this, whereas quantitative data can be generalised to create more factual, understandable and representable information.

This brings to me my final point following the other previous points. Most studies show that overt observations can influence the Hawthorne effect. Therefore if the observer/company does decide to use overt observation, they may find that some people's behaviour changes so that it flows with the main norms and values, of others in society. If the Hawthorne effect does occur, then it can invalidate the results, as it will not be classed as the true nature of individuals, hence making it a useless piece within the research.

Quantitative Research - Statistics

Quantitative methods of research produce numerical data, which can easily be interpreted and understood by almost anyone. Some forms of qualitative research include, statistics and surveys. These are the up most favoured methods of quantitative research.

Presently, statistics are used almost everywhere, as they are favoured by many institutions, preferably because it has visible patterns for over short and longitudinal studies. Therefore, they can help the media industry draw a pattern between different aspects of media, like showing usage to seeing access patterns. Statistics are very factual and are used to support data like qualitative. The percentage shows how well or poor a substance has been used and therefore can be used as evidence to strengthen points made within analysis.

On the other hand, some researchers may argue that statistics are simple numerical data, which cannot track quick changes.

As statistics are generally numerical data, it becomes meaningless when it stands alone. This is because numerical data, on its own cannot be interpreted, as it is not in depth, unlike qualitative produce methods of research. This disadvantages the company as they then have to be able to produce qualitative and quantitative results, to be able to use statistics, in able to strengthen their case.

Also, statistics can be manipulated, for example, in a study of a hundred people where only eight agree, companies will play smart with statistics and tell their audiences that every eight out of ten studied, agreed. The audience will then get tricked into believing that a particular thing is good for them, whereas it may not be as good as they believe.

Finally, the trends in patterns may fall and rise very quickly, and it will be harder for the researcher to track these patterns as they chance. Hence, it will not be fair and representative, affecting the overall analysis. An example of such may be, a soap, which starts of really well, and has a climax, which is really well built, then suddenly becomes uninteresting towards the end, and the number of viewers drops instantly. These types of changes can be quite hard to track and therefore alter the actual data completely.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to all the research techniques available, a creative media industry may choose to use primary, qualitative methods of research, such as questionnaires, to study their audience’s interests, because it is the most suitable way of obtaining information, which is easily analytical, which can also give in depth interpretation. Also the results obtained from methods like questionnaires can be categorised and converted to numerical statistics, which can support the evidence found.