1. The Nature and Purposes of Research in the Creative Media Industries
Courtney Stogden

2. Primary Research
Primary research is something which is found by the researcher themselves. Primary research involves the researcher getting the information which can be done in various different ways:
surveys
games testing
questionnaires
interviews
forums
These all give the researcher an outlook onto the games industry and a better look at what they need to consider when creating their game.

3. Surveys!
Surveys will help the researcher know what their personal audience want, they can find out the age ranges of their audience. What makes games interesting? and average prices. It also gives the researcher an insight of what gaps in the market there are. Here is an example of an online survey which allows the researcher to find out the preferred software by a group of people, the preferred genre and age ranges of gamers. However surveys sometimes involve only closed questions which doesn’t allow room for opinions and views. ewVIaV60iA_3d_3d

4. Games Testing!
Games testing will give the researcher a more practical way of finding out their audiences interests, and opinions it can also help compare competing games and software's to find out the most suitable which may be Xbox, PlayStation etc. Doing both surveys and game tests mean that the researcher has two different views of their audience meaning they can compare the results of actually playing the game and hearing about the game. Games testing is good for the producer to watch and judge if people enjoy the game but then this also means the information has to be collected by another form of primary research such as an interview. An example of this is:

5. Interviews.
Interviews are more personal to the public and the questions can be more specific it also means the person being interviewed can be more opinionated meaning the results are more accurate and personal to that person. here is an example of teenagers reacting to a viral game. Interviews are sometimes difficult to record the data in an organized way this is be because they are longer answers and more opinions other than just yes or no answers. Interviews also allow room for open questions.

6. Questionnaires.
Questionnaires do a similar job as surveys however they are more specific and can be narrower answers meaning it is more accurate when looking at the results. An example of a questionnaire is this online one which allows people to give opinion and reviews on recent or old games. Questionnaires are very similar to surveys however their answers are pretty much always closed with multiple choice this however makes it easy to organize and over look when all research has been collected. online-gaming-questionnaire/

7. Forums
Forums involve people and groups giving them opportunities to discuss and debate about the games and recent games this allows the researcher to gain a range of opinions and be able to compare. here is an example of a forum which allows groups of people to discuss which software is better to play a game on. Forums are good except they don’t narrow down the audience meaning that the information isn't as specific.
/will-you-be-buying-minecraft-on-ps4-or-xbox- one /#48

8. Advantages of primary research
The information is specific to the needs of the researcher as they are able to collect it personally.
It may be cheaper than secondary research as that can sometimes be quite costly when buying books etc.

9. Disadvantages of primary research
It takes a lot longer time to collect the information.
The data might not be fully accurate as a professional hasn’t checked it or may not have checked it
When information is taken from secondary research this means the research may be more extensive and checked by more people whereas primary research is more likely to have just been checked by the researcher.

10. Secondary research
what is secondary research? secondary research is found by someone else and then reused. This may be found from
the internet
books

11. Books
These involve other peoples research, the books may have multiple writers whom then combine their own research and write it making it easier for people to find. Advantages of this is, all the information is in one place meaning the researcher doesn’t have to find it, however a disadvantage may be it takes a long time to find and the researcher may have to find and highlight all the key points which are relevant to their work.

12. Internet
The internet is another method of secondary subject this could include search engines, websites or Wikipedia all of which are controlled by a member of the public meaning that the information which you find may not be reliable or key information. An advantage to this is you can search specifically for what you need which is cutting corners leading to the researcher finding the information more efficiently.

13. Government statistics
Government statistics is one of the more reliable forms of secondary research as it is coming from a source which is trust worthy whereas journals the researcher doesn’t necessarily know where the information is coming from. A disadvantage to government statistics is the statistics may not be as specific to one subject as the researcher may need whereas with primary research all information can be taken specific for the needs of the researcher.

14. Advantages of secondary research
Usually time and cost required to collect secondary data is less than what is required to collect primary data. Although it doesn’t cost much the costs can sometimes be high when using secondary research due to book costs although these can sometimes be avoided.
Secondary data may backup primary data it could be used as a way to double check the research which has been taken so far.
Research taken by professionals will be very extensive and thorough making it more reliable.

15. Disadvantages of secondary research
Sometimes between the timings of the secondary research being published and the research been read it may have changed or varied slightly.
As we have not gathered our own information, first-hand, this means we are totally dependent on someone else's research. The researcher may have been biased or may have used questionable methods to collect data meaning it isn't always reliable.
The detail of such information is its benefit as well as drawback. Some secondary research may not be as detailed as first hoped for. Which may mean some information may be lacking detail.
Some of the secondary sources might have copyrighted their information and using them without permission can lead to various legal complications.

16. Quantitative research
Quantitative data is the research which is based on measurable facts and information which can then be produced using numerical and statistical data, these are highly likely to be closed questions, e.g “do you prefer horror movies or comedy movies?” giving the person a specific answer as it is a 50/50 chance of either. 

17. Primary research – qualitative data
Group discussions are an example of qualitative data these are similar to focus groups but give the researcher chance to over view debates whereas focus groups are more like interviews with groups of people. These are helpful when collecting data because they allow the researcher to gain lots of varied opinions from people of different backgrounds.

18. BARB.co.uk example
Here is an example of the research which a producer might analyze before creating a new TV show. This could be found on Barb.co.uk so if creating a new children’s TV show this research is perfect showing CBBC and the shows what is popular and the different types of TV shows trending right now. This is Quantitative data through secondary research.

19. BARB.co.uk example 2
Here is another example off BARB.co.uk which may help a producer making a tv show to make a decision on which tv channel is most popular and suitable for the show. This will also help him decide what time of the week or day is more suitable for the show due to regulations the show may legally have to be shown at a later time however if otherwise the producer can decide by looking at the peak times.

20. Qualitative data
Qualitative data is research done which is based on a persons: attitudes, opinions and preferences. Qualitative data cannot be produced in a graph. E.g “Why do you prefer horror movies over comedies?” which is an open question allowing the person to answer with opinions.

21. EXAMPLE 1
Social media and the internet is a great way to find opinions and qualitative data which can be analyse and looked at by the researcher so before creating a tv show the producer may want to find online reviews he could do this by looking at social media which will give him an idea of the audience as well. Rotten tomatoes is also a way to find qualitative data which also reviews tv shows. this information cannot be shown in a graph.

22. Primary research – quantitative data
if i was to conduct primary research in order to find quantitative data i would create a survey which was multiple choice this means that people have to give specific answers which allows me to create a graph. i could ask questions such as “what age did you start playing games – ” “do you prefer football games or war games?”

23. EXAMPLE 3
Box office statistics give the researcher an idea of the amount of people who enjoy different genres this can help them make the decision about which genre is more suitable for the movie and which time of year for example quantitative data shows more people watch horror movies at the cinema near Halloween in October.

24. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF QUALITITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA
Advantages of qualitative data:    
This gives the person taking the questionnaire more freedom to answer. 
it allows the person taking the questionnaire to show their opinions
Disadvantages of qualitative data:
It takes more time
data cannot be recorded as easily
Advantages of quantitative data:
you get the answers you want, without “fishing for them”
it is easy to analyze
data can be more organized 
it is quicker than qualitative data
disadvantages of quantitive data:
the person taking the survey cannot give opinions as much
the person taking the survey has to answer specifically 

25. Medias use of agencies. The National Readership Survey (NRS)
The national readership survey or NRS since 1956 they have monitored, analyzed the statistics of who buys the product in order to provide estimates on the number of people who read Britain’s newspapers, news brands and consumer magazines. The National Readership Survey provides audience research for any print advertising trading which takes place in the UK. People who are in the media industry may use the NRS in order to check statistics when publishing a new magazine of newspaper. it can also help a company to compare pricing in order to ensure their product.
Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB)
This stands for Broadcasters Audience Research Board which is an organization that provides data such as audience numbers and television ratings in the United Kingdom. Someone in the media industry may use this information in order to check the ratings of other television shows this may help if they are producing a new tv show as they could replicate a tv show already made or if a TV show has bad ratings the producer can change their concept of the show the ensure it is unique and will be successful.
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) 
This is system which measures the audience and ratings for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. A media producer could use this if they wanted to create a radio show they can see what time of day is peak time and also what shows are most popular they may also use this for advertisement purposes by looking which adverts are most successful and replicating it.

26. How are media agencies helpful?
These are all agencies which produce secondary research which may help producers when creating a tv show or radio show. These agencies may also produce statistics which help the producer gather information about the most popular concepts to tv shows for example he may look at great British bakeoff and master chef both cooking competitions but also both produced in a different way, looking at ratings will give them an idea of which is the most popular allowing them to develop an idea from this.

27. Audience profiling.
Audience profiling is categorizing the public, producers do this in order to aim advertisements at certain groups of people or to decide when to air a TV show or radio show. For example coronation street is at 7:30 which is a time when most mothers or older people are home from work and have already or are cooking tea allowing them to watch the show the adverts between are usually cleaning products or cooking product adverts all of which are tailored to attract the audience of middle-aged/elderly women. These categories are usually very stereotypical. Sometimes people will not fit into these profiles however the majority of the time they do.

28. Demographics
Demographics is the categorizing of the audience this is slightly simpler than psychographic tables. Demographics are things which ever person has such as age, height, gender or income. This allows producers to advertise to certain audiences for example a TV show such as how to look good naked aims mostly at women obviously this isn't always the case however usually they are correct.

29. Geodemographics
Geodemographics is the research which includes grouping people into the areas in which they live. For example this may help with advertising so people who live in cities may be attracted to different products when it comes to advertisements. Also more people in cities may enjoy a certain genre rather than another this can be found out by looking at ratings. A producer will use this by looking at the areas or regions this could be “game of thrones” is more popular in Yorkshire due to the accents and how it is associated with it. This also may be associated with the income differences of people in rural areas or urban areas.

30. psychographics
Psychographics are similar to demographics however these are more detailed and more specific to the different audiences. This makes it easier for producers to categorize people when creating a TV show they can find these out by market research for example a survey asking people How old they are, or Their gender? and then finding out their favourite TV show for example teenagers enjoy family guy and it would be rare to find a middle ages house wife who enjoys this show this also determines the time of day that the show is played therefore family guy is aired after 10 o clock which also meets TV regulations.

31. Market and audience research
Market research is finding out what is popular at the time of creating a product. This can be found by looking at BARBS.co.uk or looking at forums the majority of this is qualitative primary research. This differs from audience research as this is research based entirely on the audience and who may enjoy the product. To find out this information statistics would be helpful or questionnaires. The results found from these will be quantitative data as it is mostly numbers. Market research also compares competing business’ for example if a producer was creating a TV show it would be essential to find out what is popular at the moment and then finding out the competing TV shows whom they may fight for ratings with for example before The Voice was created it was common knowledge it would be compared with The Xfactor therefore they needed to find a unique selling point to attract people. Both research methods work hand in hand when creating a product as the audience is essential to know who the TV show is aimed at whereas the market research is needed to ensure the tv show survives.

32. Production and market research
Production research is essential for people in the media industry so once the initial idea has been thought of for a TV show or something it is important to do production research which allows the producer to find out all the key information which is needed to create the TV show this may be the set, costs of props, costumes or casting this is different from market research as even though they work hand in hand market research is looking at the competitors whereas production research Is essential to create the show. Market research helps concentrate more on the success of the show whereas the show couldn’t be made without production research.