Research Techniques :P

PRIMARY RESEARCH!

There are many types of research I could carry out for my A2 project, the two most common would be primary and secondary. The primary research I will complete for each of my initial ideas include: questionnaires and surveys, conduct focus groups, photography and film short scenes, content and textual analysis, and look into commercial viability of the ideas.

 

The primary research technique that applies to all of my ideas is Focus Groups and questionnaires, this is because I need to figure out if my intended audience will actually read my magazine or watch the documentaries. For the focus group the ages will range from retired to teenagers to children just entering school. Focus groups involve getting a small group of my intended target audience together to discuss opinions and give detailed and focused answers on aspects and content of the ideas.

The advantage of having a focus group is that I could talk to them face to face and keep them interested and focused through the session. Another advantage would that the group could ask more detailed and lengthy questions and I could answer them in the same format, with follow-up questions. This would allow me to fully understand what my target audience would like to see in either a magazine or documentary.

However, the disadvantage of trying to organize a focus group is that many people might not have the spare time to participate or even want to participate. In addition, because I would be in the room with the group they might not give me honest answers; this might be as they want to be polite by giving me answers I want to hear. Also there will dominant personalities which will influence the opinion of the group; therefore I wouldn't get a wide range of honest opinions.

For my primary research I might use focus groups, however, if they are unsuccessful in the first try then I will discount the research on the grounds of biased information.

Another form of primary that applies to all of my ideas in Questionnaires and Surveys, this is because they are short, precise and don’t take long to complete. I would mainly use the questionnaire to decide what content to include in the projects. Questionnaires will also help me to conduct a demographic and psychographic profile analysis of my potential target market. This is because I will be finding out what they are like, what their interests and hobbies are and potentially their jobs-if they are willing to disclose this information.

There are many advantages of questionnaires for example they will allow me to get quick and easy answers to certain parts of my ideas, which won’t take up to much time or effort. Another advantage of questionnaires is that I can get a wide range of honest opinions as it is anonymous, and won’t be influenced by my presence. The questions I will ask will be a mixture of open and closed ended questions, this way I receive direct answers as well as individual opinions on each of my ideas.

However, there are some downsides to using questionnaires such as the answers can be simple and not descriptive enough for them to be useful. This is because people don’t often want to spend the time or effort to write detailed answers. For some of my ideas the target audience is young so they might be confused by some of the questions and answer them in the wrong way. I shall be using questionnaires and surveys in my initial primary research. As I believe it is the most effective way for me to receive honest opinions from my target audience.

Interviews are a great way to have a one on one conversation with a member of my target audience. This is because I can get detailed honest opinions from someone who has purposely made the time and effort to speak to me. I could also use it for the large majority of my ideas.

The advantages of conducting interviews are that the interviewee will give me accurate information that will not be influenced by any dominant personalities. I can also ask more open ended questions that are more direct and personalized to the person I’m interviewing.

On the other hand there are disadvantages for interviews which include; the possibility of the interviewee could give me answers which I’m looking for instead of giving areas of improvement or constructive criticisms. This could definitely be a problem especially if I personal connection or relationship with the person I was interviewing. Another disadvantage would be that because the interview isn’t anonymous and the fact that it would be face-to-face could be off putting therefore the interviewee wouldn’t give completely honest answers.

I will be using this method of primary research for a few of my ideas, as I think it would beneficial for the target audience of idea 1 to have a one on one, so I can really understand their needs and opinions.

The final piece of primary research I could conduct would be an Observation of Reactions. This would be watching my target audience reading a magazine or watching a TV show.

The advantage of using this method would be that the target audience wouldn’t be aware of the observation taking place, therefore wouldn’t be able to have a biased opinion that could be influenced. It would be a completely natural and honest form of research.

Nevertheless, there would be some major consequences and disadvantages such as; getting caught and someone taking offence. It is not necessarily reliable as there may be any reactions to observe. I think I might use this form of research for idea 5, this is because my target audience is very young and have exaggerated reactions to small things, and I believe that I could obtain a reasonable amount of results from this form of research.