Purpose of Research

Reasons for research
There are two main forms to research undertaken by the media industries; market research and production research.

Market research is the collection and analysis of information about the market within which a particular product will compete with other products for an audience and for revenue.

Production research is related to the production process itself

Market Research
Effective and successful media products tarer the rigth audeince and communicate to them in an effective way. As the media industry becomes more fragmented so comptitions for a share of the audience becomes more intense. Knowing who your target audience are, and what makes them tick, is therefore increasingly important.

When doing market research it is important that you are looking at the following aspects.
                        - Statisical data about audience size and composition for a particular media product
                        - The extent to which a potention audience are aware of a media product or service
                        - What people think about particular products and services and what their patterns of behaviour are
                        - Market competitors who are competing for a share of the audience and revenue with similar products

The media marketplace is highly competitive and media production will often undertake detailed researcj into their target market, or more commonly commission other companies to undertake research on their behalf.

Market Research Organisations
there are various organisations whose main role is to undertake research on media audiences and products. the findings of their research often become a commercial product in its own right that is then sold on to media companies.
Some of this information is also frely avaliable to the public. you can find examples by visting the websitrs of the organisations listed below, as well as looking in the media pages of newspapers such as The Guardian and The Independent, and in specialist magazines such as Broadcast.

Nation Readership Survey (NRS) provides information to the industry on who reads what publication.

Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) provides circulation information to the newspaper and magazine industry.

Broardcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) provides estimates of the number of people watching television programmes.

Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) provides estimates of the number of people listening to radio programmes.

When researching to produce a product age, gender, culture and ethnicity, income and social class should all be considered. Segementing the audience in these ways make it eaiser for media producers to identify and target groups of people with the same needs and wants.

Age is one of the most significant and often used categories within the media; often seperated into
           - 15 years and younger
           - 16 to 24 years
           - 25 to 44 years
           - 45 to 64 years
           - 65 years and over
With this said different research will use age divisions that are most appropriate for the task. for example the 15 years and under may need to be sub divided.

Many media products are targeted at a specific gender group, most obviously evidenced in the magazine market.

Media today is pushed to an audience all over the world, targeting different cultures and ethnic groups.

Finally income and social class are highly considered - annual salaries, types of jobs, social class. By researching into a persons disposable income is important, so that, in advertising for example, the right images, slogans, products are targeted to the right audience. advertisng a top of the range car to households with a low disposible income would not work.









Production Research
When planning a new media product the company making the programme, film, magazine, website or game will need to undertake a great deal of product research. this will provide content and gather material to allow them to write and develop the new product, research the commercial viability of actually making the product and throughly research and plan the production and post-production stages to ensure that it all runs as smoothly as possible.

Some of this research will be generic, but much of it will depend on the type of product being planned. when researching you may use secondary research to find out more specific information about the product, as well as conducting primary research in the form of interviews and sample members of the population to try to understand their viewpoints. the information collected can then be used to inform the writing, with some of the quotes used in the article itself. some form of picture research should be taken to find suitable images to accompany the article.

Production research not only looks into the content for the production, but is also the undertaking of  researching the cost (of hiring equipment, staff as well as post-production and distribution services required). additionally location scouting will need to be done to identify suitable venues for filming, assist in the planning of certain shots, and assess any problems or health and safety issues that the crew might face.

It is important that the iformation collected during this process is clearly, carefully and accurately logged, organsied and stored to ensure it is secure, while also allowing easy access and cross referencing.

Viability
Another important purpose of production research is to demonstrate that your planned products is viable. the viability of the product needs to be tested at a number of different levels: financial viability, necessary skills for the production process, availability of correct equipment and technology, help and support requirement and enough time to produce the product.

Research into different ways to fund or generate income from your product are highly necessary, allowing you to balance the amount of income against the costs of the production and the distribution. This will show to what extent your proposed product would be viable were it to be launched into the competitive media market.

A crucial source of income for many of the media products is advertising. Sponsorship of individual products by commercial companies is becoming increasingly popular and should be seen as a potential income source. The idea of a grant, loans and commission to help support the costs of media production should also be looked into. there are a number of public and private schemes that are designed to support creative production, including those run by Arts Council, the British Film Institute and the National Lottery.

within your budget you will need to include costing for any copyright material you plan to use, distribution of product, marketing and promotion. ways to promote your product may include, sponsored events where your target audience is present, publicity stunt to broaden the attention and hype surrounding the product, using a celebrity to endorse the product or produce merchandise. With all aspects of the media industry, you will have a specified timescale to work to and a deadline by which your work must be completed.