1. 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
Method Definition Advantage Disadvantage
Primary
Going out and physically collecting
the data yourself for a specific
purpose. This can be done through
questionnaires, focus groups
etc……
You can gather specific information
through specifically chosen questions
Data will be accurate and up-to-date
Time consuming
People might not
answer the questions
honestly – inaccurate
data.
Secondary
Gathering data that has already
been collected for another purpose
(by somebody else). This can be
done through the internet,
magazines etc…….
This is a quick process to obtain data
Usually cheaper – (not paying anybody
to collect the data)
Wide choice of data – more information
Can be really expensive
to pay for such data
May be biased
Outdated
Inaccurate
Quantitative
Quantitative research is a logical
approach which is a method that is
used to determine and generalize
the results from a large sample
audience. It quantifies people’s
opinions, reviews, attitudes and
behaviours using measurable data,
making it easier to spot patterns in
data. This can be obtained through,
internet surveys and questionnaires.
It is easy to spot patterns in the data by
looking at the mode of numbers and
positions of data.
It averages the feelings of candidates,
making it easier to analyse the results
and create data groups.
Results are limited as
they provide numerical
descriptions rather than
detailed analysis and
human perception.
Can be expensive and
not suited to the type of
information required
Has to be conducted
frequently as numbers
changed often
Qualitative
Qualitative research is a type of market
research that aims to find out people’s
opinions and feelings rather than a
rating of numerical value. A deeper
insight into the results.
Looks deeper into the results with ‘why’
and ‘how’ the results have been obtained
by recording attitudes, feelings and
behaviours.
Collection of qualitative data
is generally more time
consuming so is necessary
to include a smaller sample
size.

2. Unit 1: P1, M1, D1
It can be joined with quantitative data
collection and therefore explain in more detail
why a particular response was given.
Because fewer people are
studied, it is difficult to
generalise the results.
It can be difficult to compare
results as responses differ.
What research methods did you use when completing the assignments in year 10 for Unit 9: Photography
Techniques – Portrait and Magazine covers? (e.g. primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative)
For my Year 10 photography research I used secondary research a lot of the time when researching existing magazines,
common styles, content and fonts and when deciding which magazine to re-create. This was mainly through the use of the
internet. However I did use primary research occasionally when annotating my own magazines. I mainly used qualitative
research as I need the depth of perception when deciding about colouring and imagery so the use of numerical collection
was unnecessary.
What research techniques did you use when completing the assignments in year 10 for Unit 9: Photography
Techniques – Portrait and Magazine covers? (e.g. using the library, the internet, watching videos, reading info,
recces, practises, plans etc)
Again when researching my style, content and features of my portrait and magazine cover I used the internet all the time. I
read information such as ‘colour connotations’ on web pages and many other helpful tips when designing a magazine
cover. Occasionally I would watch videos. I would do this when I needed to learn how to construct something on
Photoshop. I would then practice a skill that I had just watched or read to see whether it would work, so it was a case of
trial and improvement most of the way through.
How did you collate, store and use the information trail for Unit 9 ? (e.g. did you book mark key websites? Keep a
list of websites used? Print off or save any info for your folders?)
When I had found or annotated a magazine cover I would save that cover (into my documents) to refer to if I thought I
could replicate any of the features in my own cover. Occasionally if I had found a detailed web page that had answers to

3. Unit 1: P1, M1, D1
my questions I would often just copy and save the link on a word document ready to access quickly for the next time
How and why might you use the four research methods in a real life situation? For example if you worked for the
BBC and were tasked with creating a new reality TV show how might you use the four research methods to help?
I would use primary research methods to specifically design a questionnaire or conduct a focus group on the thoughts and
feelings of a similar reality TV show. This would also link in with the use of qualitative research by obtaining deep
attitudes, thoughts and feelings of each audience member and try and adapt my product according to these feelings and
cater for all audience members.
I would also use secondary research when creating a new reality TV show. I would use the internet to look at reality TV
show reviews and maybe even iconic scenes and plots that run throughout a reality show.
Finally I would use quantitative research methods, for example BARB’s audience research website, to gain numerical
results. I would need to know the number of people and at what time they would watch a similar TV show. I could then
easily group this data and compare it to other channels or programme times. It could then be joined with qualitative
research to explain why a certain number of people and of what gender watch a type of programme.
All methods would have to be used to accurately obtain all thoughts and feelings of my potential audience members and
estimate the likely demand and the level of success that my TV show would receive.