The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

Primary research/self-generated research

Primary research is data or information you have collected yourself. This could include anything from questionnaires, interviews, observational studies, focus groups, etc. In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artefact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study [1] In the professional industry, primary research can be done through promotional advertising for the film, seeking interviews and press conferences. Anything which involves the scout for promotion would be classed as primary research.

An example of my own conducted primary research:

Another example of primary research comes from my survey statistics for the impact of lockdown, this style is conducted by me and is my own sourced research:

Secondary research

Secondary research is data or information which you have taken from another researcher or source. The data has been collected from someone else, which could include materials published online, reports and public documents. Secondary sources are reports that draw on research and other references to make interpretive, analytical or synthesized claims. Depending on the field, secondary sources may include textbooks, review articles, and peer-reviewed articles publishing original research [2] Secondary research in the film industry can come through second-hand scripts, someone else's ideas and thoughts and even online research into film adaptations which you may want to produce.

An example of secondary research can be conducted from my analysis of the Depict entries which are sourced from another website, and produced by other people. I then have summarised the videos as taken from the publication of someone else:

Primary research can be a good way to personally understand the concept of the film you want to produce and the way you publish that to the world is done off your own back. You are able to share your ideas personally and not from a second-hand point of view. It's a good way to start if your ideas are good enough, but it can be difficult to get those views across if your name or film is not great enough, you run the risk of scrapping your ideas because it's from your own mind and may not be up to Hollywood's standards in competition.

Secondary research can be seen as an effective and overall safer way to produce within the media industry. The use of using research and information (scripts) as a new adaptation or even as an interpretation can be a safer way and more effective way. You already have the source and information from books, already produced films, reports and scripts which makes your understanding of the adaptation more efficient than if you were to use your own ideas. But this can come at risk as the pressure of matching the storyline and not going off the plot completely can be the make or break of your production. Accuracy is key so it's important for that to come as the main priority and will determine your overall profit in the box office due to the research conducted.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research focuses on the process of collecting data in a numerical way which could be done through statistics or mathematical related research methods. This could be through anything which numbers are present, programme ratings, readership circulation figures, hits on a website, box office figures, sales of CDs and DVDs. Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where the emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philosophies [3] As quantitative research is research measured in numbers, you can find that the most effective way to collect data is usually through questionnaires. A questionnaire may ask if people prefer to watch for the purpose of taking notes on popularity. E.g do people prefer to watch horror or action

An example of my own Quantitative research:

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is a word-based data collection rather than numerical. It involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. This could be anything from observations, interviews, film reviews, game reviews, fanzine websites, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage, responses to advertising campaigns and discussions. Qualitative research relies on data obtained by the researcher from first-hand observation, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant-observation, recordings made in natural settings, documents, and artefacts. The data are generally nonnumerical [4] In qualitative research, you may go out and start discussions or focus groups with your specific audience to get a one on one personal experience into the type of genres, ideas and thoughts they may have in relation to your piece of media. The source is written and taken through a word-based response rather than numerical.

Quantitative research is good for gathering and providing reliable data revolving around your film in a numerical way which can be translated straight onto a document without the need for scanning through unnecessary notes. It's high in reliability, representativeness and generalisability, which helps the data to be extremely precise and good for production. The only downside is you are only gathering a numerical group of results from the public rather than thoughts and opinions which could alter their overall view of the film. You won't be able to gather the one on one thoughts of the public, only the survey-based ones.

Qualitative research is a personal way of gathering information. It's gaining an understanding of the participants, being empathetic towards their thoughts and feelings. It's allowing someone to speak from the mind in an interview-based scenario rather than a quick survey. But this method tends to be of a much smaller scale and not representative of as many people. It's difficult to research many people in an interview-based scenario.

Data gathering agencies

BARB is responsible for delivering the UK's television audience measurement currency. They commission research companies Ipsos MORI, Kantar Media and RSMB to collect data that represent the viewing behaviour of the UK's 28 million TV and broadband-only households [5] Mostly Media “As the media marketplace has changed with the growth of digital media we too have evolved with expertise in TV advertising to Google and anything in between. Mostly Media has an industry-wide reputation for ensuring maximum return from advertising investment. We work closely with creative agencies ensuring your advertising is delivered seamlessly. We don’t draw the pictures – we leave that to the clever creative folk – but we know all there is to know about putting your ad in front of as many potential customers as possible, as cost-effectively as possible” [6]

Audience and Market research

Audience/Market research is data gathered from consumers/public to identify their specific needs and preferences. General examples include; audience data, audience profiling, demographics, geodemographics, consumer behaviour, consumer attitudes, audience awareness; product market, competition, competitor analysis, advertising placement, advertising effects Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is a very important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness [7] Marketing research has continued to be used to determine if scripts are profitable, rate the market attractiveness of the actors and actresses, profile the movie-going market segments, determine the effectiveness of advertising, and determine which type of movie ending the audience most prefers.

Production research

Production research is used as a way to assess the issues revolving around the production and gather the necessary content in order to move forward with that production. Examples include Content, viability, placement media, finance, costs, technological resources, personnel, locations. The purpose of production research is to gather information on the content of production-related issues. The methods of production research could be primary research; this means researching via books and setting up focus groups to gather people's opinions [8] Production research from the professional industry can include things like, pre-production paperwork which is highly important to be filled out and gain permission from owners to use locations and contracts for people to work on set. This helps plan the production process and allows paperwork like talent/location releases, location recces, shot lists and production schedules to be distributed among members. But before this can be finalised, the crew must first scout these locations and people they intend to use in their media. It’s important to note that this must be done month’s prior to plan the schedule as availability, weather, space and use of location all play a part into the planning of filming.

for our own production research, our group conducted pre-production paperwork in order to plan and schedule our work efficiently. A location release is just one example of the paperwork we had to fill out: