Audience Research

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Preliminary Research: This is research undertaken before a project has begun. This means that the filmmaker will fully understand the themes of what they will be portraying in their work.  This includes things such as researching the market (what already exists), audiences’ feelings towards these products (consumer behaviour) and various other options the producers might want to consider in response to audiences’ reactions.

Post-Production Research: Sometimes the audience research is undertaken after the production in order to find out how well it might be received, and to make any changes before it is released to the public. This is often done with films to ensure that the audiences are going to like it, and can often make the difference between a happy and sad ending.

Primary Research: Research that is conducted by oneself- which is original research. This includes surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups or own observation/ analysis.

Secondary Research: This is data that already exists that someone else has found, rather than one’s self. This is also known as a secondary source such as scholarship (books, articles) or statistics produced by charities, organisations or the government – any information that the researcher has found and brought together to support their analysis.

Theoretical Research: This is the use of research completed by others – their theories and ideas. It can include: reading books, articles, papers, watching documentaries, visiting websites etc.

Empirical Research: This is provable data – the use of observations or experiments to prove a theory.

Ethnographic Research: Ethnography means writing about the way of life, or culture of social groups. In terms of research, it usually features the researcher getting involved in the natural setting of the social group being studied, participating in and observing daily activities.

Quantitative Research: Getting an overview from a large number of people (quantity) – based on numbers and stats. It is the quantity of answers that is important and you want a lot of responses from a lot of people so you only desire short answers. For example, questionnaires, surveys, statistics, ratings, circulation figures, web-hits. Quantitative audience research would be gathering a large amount of varied data to make conclusions that answers questions such as ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘where’. It includes such things as using data gathering agencies like BARB and RAJAR to generate an overview of information. The information will most likely not be detailed and specific, but it is a great starting point.

Qualitative Research: Getting in-depth, detailed information (quality) from a small number of individuals – it is the quality of the answer that is important so you will ask only a small number of questions and give the respondent time to give a detailed answer – interviews, observations, focus groups etc.

Qualitative audience research would be gathering a large amount of specific data to make conclusions that answers questions such as ‘how’, and ‘why’. This is usually done as a follow-up to quantitative audience research to determine how to act on the previous research. It includes such things.

Positivistic Research: This is a type of research that looks for patterns and trends (for generalisability). It is based on objective, numerical/statistical data (Quantitative Data). Research methods here might include: Use of official statistics; Questionnaires; Structured Interviews; and Structured Observations.

Interpretivist Research: This is based more on meanings and experience; subjective information (quantitative). Research methods here might include: Unstructured / Semi Structured Interviews; Open Questionnaires; Participant Observations; Content Analysis; Diaries; Ethnographic information.