Examples of media production research

In research there are numerous ways to collect the data and information you require. Some examples are:

Quantitative - Quantitative research is collected using short questions that gather data in numbers and statistics. It is used to get people's opinions without having to sort through multiple long answered questions by being sorted into charts such as pie charts or graphs. Some examples of why quantitative research is used are to collect viewing ratings or see if the demographic audience would watch the media production.

Qualitative - Qualitative research is collecting people's opinions but unlike quantitative research that collects it in charts qualitative collects the long answers. Interviews and questionnaires that have broader questions rather than multiple choice are some examples of qualitative research. Film reviews, audience attitudes to media products and responses to advertising are other sources of qualitative research.

Audience - Audience research is when you collect information from your demographic audience to see how they would react to your product and to see if they are the correct target audience. It is largely used by production companies to help them see what their productions audience sector is and how to market to them. Audience research is also used to not just see who the demographic audience would be but whether there is a slot in the market for the production and if there already is one similar what their customers buying patterns are. There are many factors to consider when categorizing audiences. Age, gender, geodemographics, demographics, hobbies, social-economic classification and and ethnographic are just some examples. Separating the audience into different categories makes it easier for production companies to establish and target their demographic audience. Quantitative and qualitative research are both largely used to collect the data.

Production - Production research is about the media production itself. Finding out whether the productions future income is going to be greater than its creations outcome and if it is viable. As well as the creations costs production research is also used to see which advertising events would be suitable and budgeting the costs of pre-production, production and post-production. Secondary, primary, market and audience research are all great ways to collect the information needed. For example market research would be suitable to find out if there is a slot in the market for the production which relates to the future income by suggesting how popular it would be. 

Market - Market research is used to help a media productions company discover whether or not their production would be popular and receive a strong reception in the current industry. Similar to production research secondary, primary and audience research are usefully methods of research to use to collect the data. For example presenting the media production idea to a focus group of your demographic audience would help the production company gather the information they need.

Secondary - Secondary research is when you gather information from already existing research or products. For example a production company would look at the reception and box office ratings to a similar production. Research boards are another source of collecting secondary research. For example if a production company was creating a TV show they called use boards such as BARB to see how similar shows viewing figures are that are being viewed on BBC, ITV and BSKYB. This is also an example of primary research.

Primary - Primary research is similar to self-generated research. This is when you gather the information directly and not from existing research. Examples of primary research are interviews or questionnaires as well as personally collecting video, photographs or audio.

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Bibliography:
Image taken from - http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/researchterm.htm 
Information taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_research_methods_and_disciplines
http://www.slideshare.net/AnnieRose95/audience-research-22808080
http://marketandproductionresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/market-and-production-research.html

Media Production Research methods

There are many ways media researchers find the information they need. The first stage of research is knowing what the purpose of your research is. For media productions the purpose of the research could be to find out information for the production for example if there is a scientific programme being made the researcher would be asked to double check if the information in the script is correct or where some great locations are. Another reason media productions need a researcher is to conduct audience research for example to find out the demographic audience for their production and whether it would get a good reception. As well as comparing these results to production and market research ways, such as where would be ideal places to promote the production and will the income costs out way the outcome. Once the researcher knows the purpose of their research they then have to pick which method either primary or secondary research would be suitable.  

Primary research:

Primary research is where you personally collect the information. Some examples of primary research that could be used to gather the information required are questionnaires, focus groups, internet forum groups, audience panels and interviews. There are also other primary research techniques such as finding information from data gathering agencies such as BARB and self-generating research for example collecting video, audio or photographic evidence from events.  

Secondary research:

Secondary research is when you find information from existing research. Film archieves, books, newspapers, searching the internet, journals and audio material are some examples of secondary research.

Researcher's also use an hourglass structure to research. The stages purpose is to help the researcher use a constructed list to find the information as easy as possible. The stages are:

1. Identification of research 
2. Literature review 
3. Specifying the purpose of research 
4. Determining specific research questions 
5. Choosing methodology 
6. Data collection 
7. Analyzing and interpreting the data
8. Reporting and evaluating research 
9. Communicating the research and, possibly, recommendations 

Research also has three main categories to help researchers pick which type of researching is best.
The three categories are:

Scientific research - Using experiments and theories to collect data and information about a specific topic.

Research in the humanities - Exploring details, issues and opinions about a subject. An example of humanities research is history research. History research is where you use primary sources, something from the time period you are researching to collect information.

Artistic research - Artistic research is when an artist researches about the creative process of art work.

However media researchers don't typically do the research for these categories. Instead they find the results and information already collected and use the secondary data to find out about the topic. Researcher's find the information from multiple places, such as archives, journals, photo libraries and the internet.

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Bibliography: 

Image taken from: http://rebeccalieb.com/tags/research 
Information taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research

Role of a researcher

Job title: Media Researcher 

Salary: £19,000+

Company or freelance: Usually freelance 

Job description: 

A media researcher only typically works on historical films or programmes or ones that need real factual information in them such as Sci-fi's. However a researcher could be employed to work on sports, soaps and dramas, children's and situation comedies. Documentaries are the main common area for a media researcher to work in. They are usually hired on a freelance bases however some companies, mainly ones that only produce one type of films such as documentaries will hire some researchers on a permanent bases.

A researchers job starts in the early stages of pre-production. They will either be given a script to add to or an idea that they have to develop. Once they have received the topic they are instructed to find reliable and correct information. To do this they will search the internet, look through archives, photographs, video and any other films or programmes that are about the same topic that have already been produced. As some information or footage that may be incorporate into the film or programme might be protected by copyright licences you will need to find out how to get permission and correct clearances for them to be included. If there is a location that might be private or off-bounds due to historical reason the researcher will be in charge of finding out how to gain access to them. As well as these responsibilities the researcher will most likely be in charge of the financial aspects of the copyright clearances, information and location. Once all the information is collected it will then be put into a production booklet.

When it comes to the production stage a researcher's job doesn't finish there. Regularly a researcher will be held on so they can work with the set designers to make sure any visual aspects line up with the information they collected. A researcher is also in charge of the transport to the location/s. As well as arranging transport they will also be on set throughout the production stage to make sure nothing gets damaged if it's a historical building as well as showing directors and camera operators the best places to go and confirming any information that was put into the script. After the production stage the researcher's job is to make sure the location is left in the exact way before the crew arrived and transports everyone from the location. 

Requirements:

To become a media researcher you don't need any specific educational qualifications. However most companies prefer that you do. A degree in Art history, film, media or general history are some popular degrees researchers hold. As well as a degree it's good to have some experience in either research, film or TV or media. Many media researchers start as art assistance, working in libraries or collecting archives. Another way to become a researcher is by picking a specialism for example if you want to work or nature documentaries getting a degree and/or experience in natural history, biology or geology would be an advantage. 

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Bibliography: 

Image taken from https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=documentary+researcher+job+description&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=971&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj15MHk0uDJAhUGuBQKHRA2CQQQ_AUICCgD#tbm=isch&q=documentary+researcher+job&imgrc=_1AcBNLiFC8kmM%3A 

Information taken from: 

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/MediaResearcher.aspx 

http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles_and_stories/job_roles/3811_specialist_researcher

http://www.media-match.com/usa/media/jobtypes/researcher-jobs-402767.php

Deductive and inductive research

(Image taken from google images) 

"A deductive approach is concerned with developing a hypothesis (or hypotheses) based on existing theory, and the desugning a research strategy to test the hypothesis" (Wilson,2010,p.7) 

"Inductive research involves the search for pattern observation and the development of explanations - theories - for those patterns through series of hypotheses" (Bernard, 2011,p.7) 

Deductive research is where you start with some information/research that already exists which you then would test to see if it is correct and reliable. An example of deductive research would be an already written article, secondary research. 

 Inductive research is where you don't use someone else's research to see if it reliable you develop your own ideas and research. For example you could collect information from questionnaires or surveys, both primary research. 

The differences between deductive research and inductive research is that deductive usually uses quantitative research whereas inductive uses qualitative research.  Another difference is that inductive research is trying to find new data and theories but deductive research tests already existing research to see if it is dependable. 









Information taken from:
http://deborahgabriel.com/2013/03/17/inductive-and-deductive-approaches-to-research/ 
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/sociological-inquiry-principles-qualitative-and-quantitative-methods/s05-03-inductive-or-deductive-two-dif.html