The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries 

Production research

Production research is the collection and analysis of information for the content and production of a media product. (Ismail, 2014)

They research into things such as:

• Content, 

• Viability, 

• Placement media, 

• Finance, 

• Costs,

• Technological resources, 

• Personnel, 

• Locations,

Within the professional industry, all forms of production research are vitally important. This is so that their product successfully meets their target audience. Some examples of this are:

• Quantitative,

• Qualitative,

• Audience,

• Production,

• Market,

• Secondary,

• Primary,

 

This is an example of a location recce, this document looks at the capabilities of the location and sees if it is fit for purpose to film there.

This is an example of a talent release, this document is designed to prevent you from getting sued for the unauthorized use of someone's image or voice, as it gains their permission to do so.

  

This is an example of a risk assessment, this document is designed to identify what could cause injury or hazard, decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously that harm could be, it also judges what actions can be taken to eliminate or make this risk smaller.

 Types/methods of research:

Primary research/self-generated research

Primary research is used to collect data directly, rather than depending on data collected from research that has previously been done. Some examples of primary research include:

• Questionnaires, 

• Surveys, 

• Audience panels, 

• Self-generated e.g., own video, audio or photographic records of events.

An example of Primary Research being used in the professional industry is the documentary “Three Identical Strangers.” (2018) The documentary shows self-generated videos from the children’s childhood, as well as photos and audios. However, the documentary faced some legal and ethical issues. As the children where adopted from the “Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services”, the backlash they received made them try to sue Netflix, however this failed and never went to court. (‘Three Identical Strangers’: It’s not too late to address the ethical violations, 2019)

The University of Southampton says, “Primary research involves gathering data that has not been collected before.” (University of Southhampton, 2021). I have had to conduct primary research such as questionnaires and surveys for my past work. 

I’ve conducted many primary research in my studies, for example, questionnaires when proposing a script idea. 

This task was conducting research into weather this idea would be something that the target audience want.  I collected this information through a questionnaire so that I could visually see all the information in a picture form with graphs and percentages. I believe this information to be very successful as I got a range of results, however they all agree that this would be a good idea for a screenplay. 

Secondary research 

Secondary Research is the complete opposite to Primary Research. It instead relies on research and data that has already been complied. Some examples of secondary research include:

• Books,

• Journals,

• Newspapers,

• Film Archives,

• Photo Libraries,

• The internet,

• Government statistics,

An example of where this has been used in the professional industry is the film “The Pianist” (2002). The film is based on the 1946 memoir of Szpilman by writer Jerzy Waldorff, who first met the composer in 1938. As the memoir is written by another person and mot a first-hand account, it is easy to believe that some of the facts may not be totally true. Also, as it has been turned into a film, some of the details may have been changed in order to make it more exciting for viewers.
(Family of man who inspired The Pianist film win defamation appeal, 2016) Because of this, the film has received some backlash; for example, the family won an appeal in 2016 against a claim that Władysław Szpilman collaborated with the Nazi’s. The initial defamation hearing was in 2013.

 Oxford Reference states that Secondary Research is “Research using information that has already been compiled and formatted.” (Oxford Reference, n.d.) 

I have had to conduct secondary research such as film archives, government statistics and photo archives for my previous work. 

This secondary research was conducted when I was researching a script proposal, I needed to look at similar ideas and see if they have positive reviews to get a basis of if my screenplay would sell and get a positive review.

Pros and Cons

Primary and Secondary Research are equally as important, but both do have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, Primary Research guarantees that the information collected is up-to-date and relevant. (Smart Survey, n.d.), this means that secondary research is often outdated and may no longer be accurate for the market the researcher is trying to target.

However, there are some disadvantages, such as the Price. Conducting primary research can be very costly, whereas Secondary research can often be collected without cost. Primary research can also be time consuming to carry out. Plus, when doing primary research such as a survey, the responder may be biased based on their own previous experiences or may not fully understand a question, leading to misleading or inaccurate responses.

Both primary and secondary research are as useful and purposeful as each other. They each have their disadvantages and advantages, meaning that one is not better than the other. Depending on what data is needed, depends on whether primary or secondary research is more useful.

Time period does matter, for example, a historic event that happened 100 years ago would be difficult to find a primary source on. One example of this is the film 1917 written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, is inspired by “fragments” of stories from Mendes’ grandfather. However, as it is only based off fragments of his past, it may be unrealistic or exaggerated in order to make the film more exciting. (WAXMAN, 2019)

Timeframe also does matter, for example if takes several years to gather the data, it would be less accurate compared to a survey where the data was taken in a short period of time.

Scale is a big impact too, if taking a survey and asking 5 people, it would not be as accurate as asking several 100. However, this takes more time and costs more. 

Both primary and secondary research are as useful and purposeful as each other. They each have their disadvantages and advantages, meaning that one is not better than the other. Depending on what data is needed, depends on whether primary or secondary research is more useful.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research is the process of collecting and analysing numerical data, or data that can be converted into numbers. JournoGyan states that “Quantitative research also involves several methods of data collection, such as telephone surveys, mail surveys, and Internet surveys.” (Quantitative Research, n.d.)  Quantitative research results in numerical date collected from different sources.

Quantitative Research includes programme ratings, readership circulation figures, hits on a website, box office figures, sales of CDs and DVDs.

These would be incredibly important to the professional industry, as numerical data is extremely important. When creating an idea for a film, show or documentary, they would look at the viewing figures and profit margins from similar programmes. If, for example, the viewing figures where low, they may re-think their idea, as clearly something similar did not work last time. Sales of DVD’s would also be highly important to the professional industry, as it shows how well sales have done. If their film, TV show or documentary did not sell well, they’d know to change their future if they had anything similar planned or if a sequel was planned.

A good example of this is Cats (2019). Which is considered one of the worst films of all time due to all the money that they lost Cats grossed $75 million on a budget of $80–100 million, making it a box-office bomb. It is estimated to have lost Universal between $71 million and $114 million after marketing and distribution costs. (Cats (2019 film), n.d.)

During my work, I have had to research some forms of Quantitative Research, such as Programme ratings and box office figures. This task was to look at box office ratings and figures in order to see if similar ideas to my screenplay would work. I believe this was successful, as it led to people
understanding my idea and agreeing that the premise was a promising one due to similar programmes.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research involves collecting and analysing non-numerical data such as texts, videos, or audios to help understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. Some examples of Qualitative research include film reviews, game reviews, fanzine websites, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage, responses to advertising campaigns, discussion. Keith Punch defined Qualitative research as ''empirical research where data are not in the form of numbers''. (Physiopedia, n.d.) In the professional industry, qualitative research is highly important to them as it helps show their audience’s views. As the point of a film is to appeal to an audience, by reading reviews, news coverage and opinions, they can

help achieve this better. A famous example of this, is when the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog movie (2020) was released and was immediately faced with backlash due to the way the main character looked. Within weeks, the company responded and ensured that they were changing the design on the character to make him look better. (Why was Sonic the Hedgehog's movie design changed?, 2020) 

For my work, I have had to research qualitative research such as reviews and videos to help understand opinions. When researching for the Rebranding task, I looked at several reviews of Ben and Jerry’s adverts as we were creating a rebranded advert. I found it very helpful as it gave an insight into what worked and what didn’t, which I used when creating my advert. (Ben & Jerry’s show the proof of TV’s effectiveness is in the pudding , 2011)

Pros and Cons

Both qualitative and quantitative research play important roles in product development. Data from quantitative research such as market size, demographics, and user preferences provide important information for business decisions, whereas Qualitative research provides valuable data for use in the design of a product. Plus, knowing if someone liked your idea can help when if you are looking for what to improve, as it will show what the target audience want and therefore will sell better.

 They both have strengths and weaknesses, and each can benefit from our combining them with one another. 

The Pros

1. Qualitative can capture changing attitudes within a target group,

2. Qualitative research is not bound by the limitations of quantitative methods,

3. Qualitative is more flexible; if useful insights are not being captured researchers can quickly adapt questions, change the setting or any other variable to improve responses,

4. Qualitative allows data capture to be prompted by a researcher’s instinctive or ‘gut feel’ for where good information will be found,

5. Graphs and charts can be read and understood quickly,

The Cons

1. Sample size can be a big issue, (eg; 5 people do not then reflect what 200 people may want)

2. Sample bias. May be influenced both consciously and unconsciously, to select a sample that favours an anticipated outcome,

3. Self-selection bias may arise. Whether in a paper, online survey, or focus group, the interviewer will call for participants. Meaning there will be the issue of selection bias,

4. Bringing together a group is inevitably outside of the typical ‘norms’ of everyday life and culture and may influence the participants in unforeseen ways, (10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Research, 2021)

Data gathering agencies

Data gathering agencies gather data, they then store it in data banks as such that are available for then the public to use them. For example, TV ratings and viewership. One example is BARB. (Unit 3 Research techniques for the creative media industries, 2016) They exist in order to collect information on the most popular and unpopular films, viewings and ratings, and relay this information to the correct sources, such as directors or writers, who will take this information in account to their film or show that they are producing. They also exist for fans, as movie fans can then see the ratings of their favourite films and add their own, which in turn helps directors. (Top Data Collection Companies and Field Services, n.d.) 

The website Clutch.co says that the company Vision One is the best in the UK. (Top Market Research Companies in the United Kingdom, n.d.) (Award-Winning Strategic Insight Agency, n.d.)

BARB is responsible for delivering the UK's television audience ratings. They have three main purposes:

• Our viewing figures support decisions that are made in the making and distribution of television programmes.

• Our data inform the ongoing conversation about how broadcasters operate in the public interest and in accordance with prevailing legislation.

• Advertisers, agencies and broadcasters use our data to support the planning and buying of advertising campaigns, and to assess the brand and sales outcomes of these campaigns.

They focus on the following questions:

• Who is watching and who are they watching with? 

• What are they watching? 

• When are they watching? 

• Which screen are they watching on? 

• How did the content get to the screen?

BARB has two sources of data:

• People-based data: the BARB panel.

• Device-based census data for online TV viewing.

These can be useful to a range of different people, for example TV companies, looking at who is watching what at what time in order to put their best programmes at prime time, it can also be important to BARB themselves, so they can see what programmes are not being watched, and what device they are being watched on – foe example, if more people are watching on their tablet, they will spend more time focusing on the app version of the streaming service rather than the website. (BARB, n.d.)

These viewing figures from BARB show the most popular shows and how many watches they got.

RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the commercial sector. These figures could be used to make decisions on how to maximise audiences with content and promote specific programmes to high value listeners. In addition, the data is used for trading advertising inventory between marketers, media agencies and media companies. (Understanding the radio/audio/podcast listening audience, n.d.)

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database containing information and statistics about movies, TV shows and video games as well as actors, directors and other film industry professionals. The information comes from a variety of sources, such as film makers, film studios and on-screen credits. Users can also submit reviews of movies and TV shows on a one to ten scale, which are then displayed as an average on the show’s page. They are also used to compile the highest and lowest ratings for movies and shows on the site. (Lavery, n.d.)

IMDb can be helpful to a variety of different people, for example Amazon uses it to advertise their movies and DVD’s which it sells on its main website, they can look at the highest and lowest rated movies and shows and know what to promote, what sells well and what doesn’t. Actors, crew and industry executives can pay for IMDb Pro, costing £149.99 a year, which includes access to the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent information for any actor, producer or director. (IMDb, n.d.)

Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro is the leading online box office reporting and analysis service that tracks box office receipts both domestically and internationally. It is mostly used by entertainment industry professionals, journalists, researchers and financiers. By looking at popular and unpopular movies, you can see what themes and genres work well in the market and what does not. (Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro FAQ, n.d.)

Purposes of research:

Audience and Market research 

Market research is when researchers gather information about their consumers need or preferences. Investopedia defines it as “Market research allows a company to discover the target market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in the product or service.” (Market Research, 2021). Some examples of market research 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 incredibly important to the professional industry, as they’d need to research on what they are making, as well as what the target audience’s response to this will be. They do this as it helps ensure that they’re targeting their audience well, which helps gai n them money. It also provides insight into what is needed to develop the film, funding and how it will be distributed.

When rebranding a product, Lipton Iced Tea, I investigated lots of audience and market research. I investigated their target audience of their product, company and adverts. I also looked at past adverts, interviews and reviews from their adverts in order to get an idea of what the audience liked and disliked about the product and about the advert. 

References

‘Three Identical Strangers’: It’s not too late to address the ethical violations. (2019, Gebruary 7th). Retrieved from statnews: https://www.statnews.com/2019/02/07/three-identical-strangers-address-ethical-violations/

10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Research. (2021, August 6th). Retrieved from Poppulo: https://www.poppulo.com/blog/10-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-qualitative-research

Award-Winning Strategic Insight Agency. (n.d.). Retrieved from Vison One: https://visionone.co.uk/?utm_source=clutch.co&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=uk-agencies-market-research

BARB. (n.d.). Retrieved from How we measure broadcasters’ audiences: https://www.barb.co.uk/about-us/how-we-do-what-we-do/

Ben & Jerry’s show the proof of TV’s effectiveness is in the pudding . (2011, December 22nd). Retrieved from Thinkbox: https://www.thinkbox.tv/case-studies/ben-and-jerrys/

Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro FAQ. (n.d.). Retrieved from IMDb: https://help.imdb.com/article/imdbpro/industry-research/box-office-mojo-by-imdbpro-faq/GCWTV4MQKGWRAUAP?ref_=mojo_ftr_help#

Cats (2019 film). (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_(2019_film)#:~:text=Considered%20one%20of%20the%20worst,after%20marketing%20and%20distribution%20costs.

Family of man who inspired The Pianist film win defamation appeal. (2016, August 1st). Retrieved from Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/01/family-of-man-who-inspired-the-pianist-film-win-defamation-appeal#:~:text=The%20family%20of%20W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw%20Szpilman,he%20collaborated%20with%20the%20Nazis.

IMDb. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMDb

Ismail, H. (2014, November 25th). Why is research important to the creative media industries? Retrieved from prezi: https://prezi.com/znwkk4r07eaq/why-is-research-important-to-the-creative-media-industries/#:~:text=Production%20research%20is%20the%20collection,to%20make%20the%20media%20project.

Lavery, T. (n.d.). Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved from techtarget: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Internet-Movie-Database-IMDb#:~:text=The%20Internet%20Movie%20Database%20(IMDb,and%20other%20film%20industry%20professionals.

Market Research. (2021, September 10). Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/market-research.asp

Oxford Reference. (n.d.). Retrieved from Oxford Reference: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100451291

Physiopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Qualitative Research: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Qualitative_Research

Quantitative Research. (n.d.). Retrieved from Research Design Service Northeast and North Cumbria: http://www.journogyan.com/2017/03/qualitative-quantitative-research.html#:~:text=Quantitative%20research%20also%20involves%20several,opportunity%20for%20follow%2Dup%20questions.

Smart Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved from Primary Research Methods Explained: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/articles/primary-research-methods#:~:text=Secondary%20research%20is%20often%20outdated,accurate%20trends%20to%20be%20revealed.

Top Data Collection Companies and Field Services. (n.d.). Retrieved from greenbook: https://www.greenbook.org/market-research-firms/data-collection#:~:text=A%20data%20collection%20or%20field,organizations%20manage%20and%20optimize%20operations.

Top Market Research Companies in the United Kingdom. (n.d.). Retrieved from clutch: https://clutch.co/uk/agencies/market-research

Understanding the radio/audio/podcast listening audience. (n.d.). Retrieved from ipsos: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/measurement-radioaudiopodcast-listing#:~:text=These%20data%20feed%20into%20decisions,media%20agencies%20and%20media%20companies.

Unit 3 Research techniques for the creative media industries. (2016, January 3rd). Retrieved from blogspot: http://rhyspainter23.blogspot.com/2016/01/data-gathering-agencies.html

University of Southhampton. (2021, December 21). Retrieved from University of Southhampton: https://library.soton.ac.uk/sash/primary-research

WAXMAN, O. B. (2019, December 23rd). The Real World War I History Behind the Movie 1917. Retrieved from time: https://time.com/5751665/1917-movie-history/

Why was Sonic the Hedgehog's movie design changed? (2020, February 15th). Retrieved from Radiotimes: https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-design-changed/