Research types/methods
Qualitative research:
Qualitative research is a research method that finds information from first hand experiences. It is used to understand experiences, concepts, ideas and thoughts. Data collection examples of qualitative research would be: surveys, interviews asking open ended questions and focus group discussions. Focus group discussions give the researcher an opportunity to hear real life experiences and absorb the detail and information. This type of research is less structured and more flexible so that people can observe and get a more in depth understanding of the topic they are researching. It focuses on the 'what' as well as the 'why'. Qualitative research is analysed by tracking the occurrence and meanings of words as well as examining the most common themes and patterns.
Quantitative research:
Quantitative research focuses on testing theories and hypotheses. This method is less flexible in the way the data is collected, as it tends to keep the information straight forward and to the point. Surveys of multiple choice and experiments with controlled variables (which can be manipulated in order to gain different outcomes) are some of the data collection techniques of this method. Quantitative research is analysed by working out the average scores, the number of times a certain answer was given and the reliability/validity of results (was the experiment carried out fairly? was it tested more than once? etc).
Primary research:
Primary research is when the original data was collected by you or someone you work with, it is first hand research. Primary research is unique to your company's needs. Researchers can ask outsiders and focus groups what they would want as a customer/audience and what could be done to make it more suitable for the target audience. Asking open ended questions about what the company can improve on/what it needs less or more of, gives people the opportunity to expand on their answers in detail so that the feedback given is specific.
Secondary research:
Secondary research is when researchers find information and studies that already exist, whether that's online, in movies, magazines etc. and apply it to their situation. An example of this could be searching for a survey of most popular ice cream flavours and applying the data you found when deciding what ice creams your shop will sell. This method is quick and cheap to use, although it is useful data, it is generalized and not unique to your company and target audience,. This means you may miss important and specific feedback that would meet the customers needs, in the way that primary research would.
Audience research:
Audience research is a research method that aims to find out what the opinions, thoughts and interests of the target audience are, so that your project will catch their eye. First you must work out your preferred demographic. Audience research can involve using primary research to delve deeper into what appeals to your demographic, another method would be social listening and monitoring what is trending on social media/brands or what reviews say. This gives you a chance to create a market and appeal to what people really want and avoid what they don't like. Surveys are extremely useful in finding out what answer appears most and what you should aim for.
Market Research:
Market research is a way of determining the viability of a new product or service by directly interacting with the potential customer demographic. It gives you the chance to figure out who your service will appeal to most. Market research can be done conducted with surveys, product testing and focus groups, meaning they receive feedback there and then. I have partaken in a market research study before. My experience was with testing food products and then filling in a survey about how the food tastes. We were not told the brand of each product. The goal was for the company to find out which product tasted the best and therefore which would sell better, without bias.
Production research:
Production research is a way of gathering information about the content of the production and also the cost. In media this applies to working out the cost of to hire people for each job sector in the production, how much extra material and technology will cost, securing funding, and the cost of post productions advertising, trailers, posters etc. They may need to find out if the project will be successful, an estimate of how much it will gross and in-depth research on their target audience. Production research is also used to find the suitable locations of filming, planning the entire production (and what could go wrong), to make sure things run smoothly.