Unit 1: P1, M1, D1

Why would you complete research if you were creating a new media product?

To find out if your target audience would buy your product

To find out how much you could sell your product for

To find out how to make your product more appealing to your target audience

To find out how to market your product to your target audience Find definitions of the 4 research methods and give your opinions as to advantages/disadvantages for each one.

Method Definition Advantage Disadvantage

Primary

Primary research is information

that is collected first-hand to answer specific questions and

issues.

Addresses specific issues.

You could find out what your target audience expected from

your product rather than relying on what competitors have concluded.

Data is recent. The data they gather from

primary research will be more accurate than secondary

research methods as it is recent.

More resources are

required. Not only does it cost a lot of

money along with time it also requires other resources such as human resources

and materials for the surveys etc.

Is time consuming.

Primary research isn’t instant and as easy accessible as secondary research and

requires a lot of time to collate data.

Secondary

Secondary research is the method of collecting existing data that has previously been

produced.

It is easy to access. It is convenient and instant to acquire, with the resource of

the internet you can get valuable data without having

to make questionnaires and get them completed.

Low cost to gain data.

Primary research is expensive because researchers have to

carry out the research themselves whereas with

secondary research the cost of resources etc. have already been paid by the original

Is not specific to the researches questions and issues.

The data found through secondary research may suit

a different purpose, this could alter the conclusion of your research.

Poor quality of research. The data could be biased as

it could have been edited by the providers of the

information. Also it could be out of date.

Unit 1: P1, M1, D1

researcher.

Quantitative

Quantitative research is research that includes factual

information such as numerical values.

Easier to visually represent.

Quantitative date is statistic driven this means that it is

easier to putt the data onto a graph or chart etc.

Can be analysed in detail.

The researcher can see the relationship between an

independent and dependent variable to conclude their findings.

It requires a large sample of people to be accurate.

To get more accurate results quantitative research

requires a larger amount of statistics.

Qualitative

Qualitative research is information collected about people’s views and opinions.

Helps the researcher decide what to focus on for potential quantitative

research.

The data collected is more

detailed. The data the researcher collects is

It’s hard to draw numerical statistics from findings.

The results found are only specific to the group that

were asked rather than a wider scale (because it includes opinions).

What research techniques (e.g. using the library, the internet, watching videos, reading info, recces, practises,

plans etc.) did you use when completing the assignments in year 10 for Unit 5 (Crime Drama and Music Videos) and Unit 7 (Festival Bags) ?

Unit 5- Crime Drama and Music Video

For the crime drama task we used an array of research techniques throughout the initial research stage, the main technique used was the internet as if offered us the most information to gain a better insight of what our crime dramas needed to include and make the audience feel. We also developed a clear understanding of key features a crime drama

should include by watching videos of existing shows like CSI. Likewise with the music videos, a useful technique was watching a range of di fferent music videos that all included

different structures and features to see what we needed to do to create our own video. We also made a pre-production plan for our music video, this included recce photos so we knew what sort of locations we would need for the filming the final result. Unit 7- Festival Bags

In this unit I used a wider range of research techniques as I had no previous knowledge about designing and creating a

festival bag. Firstly I had to choose a festival to design the festival bag around, I used the internet to about some music

Unit 1: P1, M1, D1

What research methods (e.g. primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative) did you use when completing the assignments in year 10 for Unit 5 (Crime Drama and Music Videos) and Unit 7 (Festival Bags)?

The main research method I used while completing these tasks was secondary, this is because the information is easy to

access and helped me to understand more about the involvements of the tasks set. Also in the crime drama task I used my own primary and quantitative research by getting people in the class to fill out a questionnaire which concluded many things including what crime conventions they would expect to see, this data was then analysed to see the most popular

answers. The most effective research method in the festival bag task was secondary research as it offered the biggest range of information that I required to develop my understanding of my chosen festival.

How did you collate, store and use the information when researching for your year 10 units? (E.g. did you book mark key websites? Keep a list of websites used? Print off or save any info for your folders?)

In particularly for the festival bag project I kept a list of key websites used, this help me keep track of where I had got the

research from and also helped me decide whether it was valid (sourced from a legitimate website). I saved photos that were useful into a specific folder so that I knew where they were when needed, this was also a good

way of saving written information that was useful (mainly used in Unit 5). For the music video we printed of the lyrics to the song so that they were easier to annotate, this was then kept in a group member’s folder.

festivals and after reading about a few I chose the Isle of Wight festival. I carried out further internet research to gain an insight about the history of the festival and what their aims and mottos were, this helped me to suit my festival bag to the

chosen festival. I also used planning sheets in this unit to help me have a clear idea of what the layout and sizing of my bag should be, this was very helpful throughout both the designing and the printing stages.

If you didn’t use some of the methods in year 10, would use you them if you were to do your projects again? How

and why would you do this?

Yes, I think that if I had to do the projects again I would definitely use the primary research method across each unit more as it provides a more accurate information which is specific to the projects that were set to me rather than relying on

secondary research to find everything out. Also I think that using qualitative research would help my projects to be more successful, if I interpret people’s views and opinions into my project it may help me be more creative and original.