Unit 1, 2 and 3 Assignment 1

In this assignment I will be talking about the different types and methods of researching, how and why we research and comparing the differences between techniques to help decide which one is best to use to make the documentary.

There are two types of of research, Qualitative Research and Quantitative Research. They both produce different types of data which helps in the production of a piece of media. Qualitative gathers audience opinions and reactions to a film. Whereas Quantitative is all about the numbers and sales, giving producers box office sales and viewing figures. Both types provide information that can be used accordingly, it all depends on how the workers want to make their documentary.
Quantitative is easy to analyse with clear results but Qualitative can aid future research being a rich source of information. Qualitative and Quantitative are both the result of audience and market research. In our production we will use a hybrid of the two types of researching, we will need statistics and public opinion to aid one another whilst informing and interesting the target audience.

In our production we will use the method Primary Research mainly. This is where we will go out on the field ourselves gathering the information first hand. This will be done by interviewing, surveying and putting people into focus groups to get a reliable up to date source that's specific. Primary Research is better in comparison to Secondary Research as secondary research can be quickly out of date and although it is easier to access it requires lots of time to search for specific details rather than getting the details you want immediately like Primary Research offers. However we will need to use Secondary Research to give percentages and factual information.

To get the content for our documentary and any ideas on information we might need we would use secondary research resulting in qualitative data. This is the same for hiring cast. Audience Research is all about Quantitative data. Audience Profiling is where the audience are broken up into different groups based on assumptions about their preferences and their social and economic status. Producers base these groups on gender, sexuality, race or ethnicity, age, region and nationality. They are then split up into different psycho graphics by what they personally class themselves as e.g. mainstreamers, explorers, niche. Audience profiling is important for marketing because audiences are the ones buying into it so they are the ones who create profit for the companies, appealing to the correct target audience is the most important thing throughout the production.

Market research is a mixture between Qualitative and Quantitative data. It focuses on Competitors and advertising placement. Looking at the competition can really help, analysing it and looking for good techniques they used or where they went wrong. Analysing where they did well, looking at the styling, formatting or whether they had a presenter/filmmaker are always good things to do when readying to make your own documentary. How advertising should be placed is another key point in the pre-production process. The way it is advertising has got to appeal to the target audience you are aiming your production for. For example making it a viral video or advertising on social networking sites would be good for a target audience of teenagers whereas billboards or information bulletins would be more suitable for an older audience. A documentary that is similar to how I want mine is 'Don't Call Me Crazy' it is based in The Mcguiness Unit which is a mental health hospital, it deals with people with different issues such as Bipolar or an Eating Disorder. It interviews the teenagers in the unit which is how I want to base my documentary, having it in an observational mode like the documentary.

In conclusion I will use both types of research and advertise in a variety of different ways to appeal to different types of audiences. As my documentary is based on teenagers then I will use Qualitative data to gather their opinions and quantitative data to gather the factual evidence to back up their opinions.