1. What is audience research?

This book is designed for people working in communications organizations: radio

and TV stations, newspapers and other print media, arts companies, orchestras -

any group that communicates with the public. Whenever I refer to "publishers,"

"media," or "stations" I mean all of these. And no matter what you call your

audience - listeners, viewers, readers, visitors, subscribers, passengers, or users

- the book is about all of these.

Audience research is a systematic and accurate way of finding out about your

audience. There are two main things that audience research can do:

(1) estimate audience sizes, and

(2) discover audience preferences.

Radio and TV stations are unique in having a special need for audience research:

this is the only industry that cannot accurately count its audience. A factory will

always count the number of products it sells. A newspaper will (or could) always

know its paid circulation. An organization that provides services rather than

products (e.g. a hospital) is able to accurately count the number of people who

walk through its doors. But radio and television programs are given away free to

their audiences, and there is no way of measuring how many people tune into a

program - without audience research.

For this reason, audience research was one of the first forms of market research.

When radio became popular in rich countries in the 1920s, audience research

followed soon afterwards. In countries where broadcasters depended on

commercial revenue, such as the USA, audience surveys were done to find out

how many people would hear a particular advertisement.

In countries with public radio, such as Britain and New Zealand, audience

research began in the 1930s, seeking information from listeners. New Zealand’s

first audience survey was in 1932. Postcard questionnaires were sent out to

households with radio licenses, asking questions such as "Do you listen on a

crystal set or a valve set?" and "Do you dance to broadcast dance music?"

Since those days, audience research has moved far beyond radio and television.

The current growth area is internet audience research. And, though printed

publications have readers rather than audiences, the same methods apply.

Methods of audience research

The most common method of audience research is the survey: a group of people

is selected, they are all asked the same questions, and their answers are

counted. But as well as surveys, there are many other methods of audience

research, including observation, mechanical measurement (people-meters) and

qualitative research. The first part of this book deals with surveys, and the

second part covers most of the other methods.

Audience research methods can be applied for any activity with audiences: not

only radio and television stations, but also print media, artistic activities, and

(most recently) the internet. The methods described in this book apply to all of

these, as well as to the study of societies (social research) and economic

behaviour (market research).

Audience research, social research,and market research

Audience research, social research, and market research share a common body

of methods, with slight variations. So when you know how to do audience

research, you will also know how to carry out many types of market research and

social research.

2.Audience research and management systems

The importance of feedback

For any activity to be carried out well, some form of feedback is needed. Try

walking with your eyes shut, and you will soon bump into something. Even

without your thinking about it, the feedback from your eyes is used to correct

your steps. In the same way, any organization that does not keep its eyes open

is likely to meet with an accident.

In the media industries, the equivalent to walking is broadcasting the programs.

The equivalent of watching where you are going is audience research.

But when you are walking, you are doing more than simply move your legs, and

watch where you are going. You will also have decided where you are walking to.

Depending on what you see, you will adjust your steps in the desired direction.

And of course, at any time you may change your direction of walking.

Whether the activity is walking or broadcasting, you can draw a diagram of a

"feedback loop", like this:

In recent years, the study of management methods has produced a system

known as "strategic management." It follows the principles shown in the above

diagram. Notice the bottom box, labelled "Get information on results of action".

Audience research is part of that box.

The importance of knowing what you're doing, and why

you're doing it

Around the 1970s, some international aid programs had problems knowing

exactly why they were doing some projects. Though a project might seem like a

good idea, what was it actually achieving? To help answer this question, many

aid agencies adopted a system called the Logical Framework, or a similar system

called Object-Oriented Project Planning (ZOPP, in German).

The Logical Framework

The Logical Framework method (Log Frame for short) begins by creating a

hierarchy of goals. It works like this:

1. State the main goal that you want the project to accomplish.

For example, to eliminate malaria in a region.

2. Then consider what other goals will need to be achieved to meet the first goal.

In the case of the anti-malaria project, the three objectives could be:

a. to encourage people to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes;

b. to make anti-malarial drugs readily available

c. to eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

3. Now consider what must to be achieved to meet each of those goals…and so

on. To continue the anti-malaria example, the goals for 2a could include

a1. making anti-mosquito equipment widely available

a2. encouraging people to wear enough clothing at times when

mosquitoes are feeding

a3. advising people on how to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

The process continues, adding more and more levels. The highest levels are part

of the initial plan. The lower levels are activities rather than goals. At the lowest

possible level, a worker on the project might work towards goal a1 by visiting a

particular school on a particular day, and giving the teachers information that

could be used in lessons..

The whole structure can be drawn like a tree, with the single main goal at the

bottom, and each branch dividing into more and more goals, objectives,

strategies, aims, purposes, or activities. No matter what these are labelled, they

are all a type of plan. (With the tree analogy, notice that the trunk is what you'd

call the highest level - it's really an upside-down tree.)

This tree-like approach works well for a project with a very specific goal, such as

the anti-malaria campaign. But organizations with audiences usually don't have a

single main purpose. Many of them have several purposes, which are not clearly

defined: nothing as simple and as measurable as "reduce the level of malaria in

this region." For public companies, it's a little easier: in many countries their

stated goal is to maximize the value of their shares. At least, that's what they

say: but in many cases their shareholders could do better if the organization was

closed down and the money invested in a more profitable concern. My own

theory, after observing what really happens, is that the primary purpose of any

organization is to survive.

And for an organization with audiences, its primary purpose (after survival) is to

be creative: to provide enough entertaining, inspiring, informative, and

educational material that its audience will stay with it - and the organization will

survive..

For example, a radio station may decide to broadcast a program about how to

avoid catching malaria. The program's purpose for the anti-malaria campaign is

clear, but what purpose does it serve for the station? The station could say "we

are broadcasting this program because we like to spend an hour a week on

public health" - but why is that? In fact, broadcasting a program will probably

serve a number of different purposes, because organizations with audiences

usually have multiple, fuzzy, and overlapping goals.

To check that the tree-hierarchy makes sense, you can create an intent

structure. This is done in the opposite way from forming the hierarchy of goals.

You begin at the top level of the tree (the leaves, not the trunk). For each

activity, consider "Why should we do this? What will it achieve?"

For most organizations with audiences, their logical framework diagrams won't

look like trees, because each activity (program, article, etc) will serve several

purposes. A tree covered in cobwebs might be a better example.

To complete the Logical Framework, several questions have to be answered for

each goal and sub-goal:

- What resources are required to achieve this purpose?

- What constraints may prevent it; under what conditions will it succeed?

- How will its success be evaluated?

This last question is where audience research comes in. Most activities of an

organization with an audience can't be evaluated without doing audience

research.

The need for audience research

If you have an audience, and you don’t do audience research, this is equivalent

to walking with your eyes shut. But many organizations (even those with

audiences) survive without doing audience research. How do they survive?