Unit 3 Be able to apply a range of research methods and techniques

Be able to apply a range
of research methods and
techniques
Unit 3
Lydia Gill

Introduction
For my Unit 3 research I needed to do primary and secondary research. For both of
these I did qualitative and quantitative research methods to get both numerical data
and peoples thoughts and opinions.
My three ideas are:
1. Being a teenager in Cumbria
A reality documentary that will focus on teenagers in Kirkby Stephen and the contrast between their lives and
those living in cities. I plan to look at their everyday lives and interview them on their opinions on the topic. I
will either follow a certain group of people or try to get a range of youths from the area.

2. Cumbria… The forgotten land
A reality documentary investigating if Cumbria really has been left behind in this technological age; I will
interview and question locals on their opinions about topics such as the internet and phone signal. A
comparison will be made between Cumbria and cities in a bid to see who is better off.

3. Educating Kirkby Stephen
A reality / fly on the wall type documentary. I will look at all aspects of the school such as pupils, teachers and
the classroom environment. This could be a sensitive topic as some people may feel as if their privacy is being
invaded. It would be a mixture of interviews and fly on the wall footage. This idea would be budget friendly but
is controversial.

Primary research
For my quantitative primary research I have created a questionnaire that I gave to 25 people
who fitted the criteria for my target audience. Their ages ranged from 14 to 50. There is a
chance that the replies may be bias as all the people I asked live in Cumbria. The
questionnaire asks the respondents for their opinions on my ideas.
My questionnaire has a brief description of my three documentary ideas followed by questions
asking them their opinions.
Here are the questions asked:
1. Do you like this idea?
Why?

YES/NO

2. Do you think this idea is interesting?
Why?

YES/NO

3. Would you watch a documentary on this topic?
Why?
4.

YES/NO

Primary research results
Here is the analysis of my primary research. Figure 1 shows that just over a quarter of the people I asked
liked my favourite idea (Idea 2) I think this may have been because this idea may not appeal to some of
the younger respondents as much as idea 1 and 3 as the focus will be on them. Whereas the adults
asked may be more interested in Idea 2 because they are more likely to relate to it than the other ideas.
As I have touched on I think Idea 3 may have been the most popular because the 14-19 year olds I
asked can relate to it more than the others, also they don’t have to be from Cumbria as idea 1 specifies.
Figure 2 shows that idea 2 almost received 100% ‘yes’ vote for the second question on my questionnaire.
I think this happened because it is an interesting subject that most people who live in Cumbria can relate
to. However looking back at figure 1 they prefer other ideas and would perhaps would find them more
exciting to watch but find idea 2 interesting as they would like to see it investigated and know the reasons
why Cumbria has been ‘forgotten’.
1. Do you like this idea?
Quantity of 'yes' votes out of 25

Figure [1]

2. Do you think this idea is interesting?
Quantity of 'yes' votes out of 25

Figure [2]

Primary research results

Would you watch a documentary on this topic? Would you watch a documentary on this topic? Would you watch a documentary on this topic?
(Idea 3)
(Idea 1)
(Idea 2)

Figure [3]

Figure [4]

Figure [5]

Here are the rest of my charts from my questionnaire. Figure 3 shows that just over half of my respondents would watch a
documentary based on my 1st idea. I think this may be because what I mentioned when talking about figures 1 and 2. This
type of documentary will only appeal to a certain age group. However respondents over 30 may be interested in this idea so
they can compare their teenage years in Cumbria to the present generation.
Relating to figure 1,2 and 4 I believe this idea doesn’t have as much appeal to people as the others do however I think
people have said they would be interested in watching it because almost everyone can relate to it because all generations
tend to have a mobile phone or use the Internet on a regular basis. This means that people in Cumbria may choose to
watch a documentary based on this idea as it may give them some answers. Also the differences between the two areas
might not be that different.
This idea may have a high number of ‘yes’ votes because it is a reality / fly on the wall type of documentary. Which is the
same as Educating Yorkshire and Essex. Both these documentary series have been extremely popular, Educating
Yorkshire had 3,533,000 views for its final episode. This made it the most watched programme on Channel 4 that week.
Followed by Grand Designs with 3,103,000 views. (barb.co.uk) So my respondents may feel like they know what to expect
from my idea and may take interest.

Primary research – Focus group
Also for my primary research I needed to collect some qualitative research so I have conducted
a focus group with 10 people who fitted the criteria for my target audience. For the focus group I
explained my three ideas in detail and let the group ask any questions they had. Each person
had a pen and paper which had these questions on it:
1.Do you watch documentaries often?
2. Are you more likely to watch a one off documentary or a series?
3.Which age range do you think each documentary would most appeal to?
Under 18s / 18-25 / 26-35 / 36-45 / 46-55 / 56+
4. Which one of the documentaries appealed most to you and why?
5. Did you think any of the ideas were weak? If so why?
6. Are you more or less likely to watch a documentary based on people your age?
The paper also had room for the respondents to write down their opinion on each idea
I told the group my three ideas, gave them time to discuss and then asked the group for their
opinions on my ideas.

Primary research – Focus group
Below is a summary of my focus group responses.
1. Do you watch documentaries often?
All the members of my group claimed to watch documentaries (at least one a week)

2. Are you more likely to watch a one off documentary or a series?
There was a 60% / 40% split on this question. 60% of people asked were more likely to watch a documentary series. Documentaries
brought up in discussion were Supersized vs Superskinny, a health documentary series and Educating Yorkshire a fly on the wall /
reality documentary series. When asked the 40% who watch one off documentaries said they prefer those based on war and history.
Again a documentary brought up in discussion was New Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors a history documentary.

3. Which age range do you think each documentary idea would most appeal to?
Under 18s / 18-25 / 26-35 / 36-45 / 46-55 / 56+
The focus group decided that idea 1 would appeal most to those in the ‘under 18s’ and ‘18-25’ categories. They thought this because
they feel those around the age the documentary focuses on will be most interested in watching it. Also that those aged 20 to 25 may
enjoy looking and comparing if anything has changed in a couple of years as things they experienced as a teenager may still be part
of teenage culture today.
The group thought that idea 2 would appeal most to the age range 26-35. They thought this range because people of this age are
buying their first house where they have to pay the bills for internet and landline and realised what they pay for the service provided.
Also they are very technologically aware and will most likely use gadgets that work best with fast internet speeds etc.
For my third idea the group thought that it would appeal either to under 18s or 36-45 year olds. They said this is because the under
18s feel like the documentary is about them or people of a similar age and is therefore relatable. The group said a documentary
based on this idea may appeal to the 36-45 year olds because they’re the group most likely to have children in their teens who could
be in a documentary like this and would find it interesting to view the school in a realistic way.

Primary research – Focus group cont.
4. Which one of the documentaries appealed most to you and why?
I think due to the variation of ages in my focus group there was no unanimous agreement. The older members of the group opted for
idea 2 and the younger members not being able to decide between idea 1 and 2 between themselves. This answer helps back up my
other questions asked in my primary research as it shows the my various ideas will appeal to different ages for different reasons.

5. Did you think any of the ideas were weak? If so why?
Similar to question 4. The different ages in the group had trouble agreeing on an idea to be the weakest. The younger members
seemed uninterested in my 2nd idea. Which surprised me as I thought they’d be interested in comparing their internet speeds to those
living in cities etc. The older members of the group though that my 3 rd idea was my weakest because it is very similar to the already
existing documentary series Educating Essex / Yorkshire. They thought I may have a big challenge trying to make a documentary of
the same standard that people would want to watch. This has helped me realise that people will be comparing my documentary to
those that are already on the market and therefore might not want to watch it as they may feel they have already seen it.

6. Are you more or less likely to watch a documentary based on people your age?
The group discussed that they believe they are more likely to watch a documentary if it is based on people of a similar age to
themselves. They think this is because they might find the people being portrayed more relatable due to sharing a similar age. Also
they are more likely to be going through similar experiences as those in the documentary and therefore will find the documentary
more appealing as they will either be able to sympathise with, compare to their own lives or completely reject what is being portrayed.

Audience research
All media is made with the audience in mind. To create a successful documentary I needed to make
sure I know and understand my audience by doing research. This is so I can try to get an idea of what
type of documentary my target audiences would be interested in watching.
For my audience research I looked at the population of Cumbria on the internet. Using Wikipedia I was
able to get a break down of the population ethnicity of the county. My research shows that the 51 % of
the Cumbrian population are male and the other 49% are female. The vast majority of the population
are White British, meaning, this is the ethnicity most likely to watch my documentary, 93.6% of these
people were born in England, the next two popular countries of birth are Scotland and Wales.
The two charts below show some more demographics for Kirkby Stephen, which is in Cumbria. The
first chart shows that the vast majority of people living in Kirkby Stephen speak English. This means
that English is an appropriate language to use for my documentary as the other languages including
polish and Romanian make up 1.20%.
My audience research shows that Cumbria and Kirkby Stephen aren't very culturally and ethnically
diverse. The religions chart shows that the majority of Kirkby Stephen are either Christian or atheist.
I had a look at buying patterns for Cumbria but struggled to find any statistics. I think this may be due
to consumer habits. People are more likely to watch documentaries on TV or catch up websites such
as BBC iPlayer or 4oD than buy DVDs.

Languages spoke

http://localstats.qpzm.co.uk/stats/england/north-west/eden/kirkby-stephen

Religions

Population (2011 est.)
499,800

Ethnicity
96.5% White British
0.3% White Irish
0.1% White Gypsy or Irish Travell
1.7% Other White
0.2% White & Black Caribbean
0.1% White & Black African
0.2% White & Asian
0.1% Other Mixed
0.2% Indian
0.1% Pakistani
0.1% Bangladeshi
0.2% Chinese
0.2% Other Asian
0.1% Black African
0.1% Other

Audience research
After looking at Kirkby Stephen and Cumbria I decided to look at the UK’s population as like many similar
existing products my documentary would be broadcast for the whole nation to view.
There are 13 urban areas which exceed 500,000 inhabitants, these being centred on London, Birmingham,
Glasgow, Leeds and Bradford, Southampton and Portsmouth, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester,
Belfast, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham. These are densely populated areas which make up
a considerable amount of the population. Relating to Idea two there are arguments that these populated
areas are favoured and better looked after than rural areas for example Kirkby Stephen, this is relevant to
my subject as I am looking at the differences between these two types of geographical locations.

Market research
It is important to do market research because the media industry is high competitive. Companies need to be aware of
existing products already on the market. Most companies are interested in what the market looks like, and who their
competitors are, however their main interest is the potential revenue available. This is done by undertaking plenty of
research on the main target market.
For my market research I looked on barb.co.uk. I used it look at existing documentaries and get their viewing numbers to
see whether one of my ideas has a possibility of being popular.

Here are some results I found on BARB. These are the most recent statistics available. They show that some of the UKs
top TV channels all show documentaries varying in genre. This is interesting and shows that the population enjoy watching
documentaries, however not all are in the genre I’m planning to make. Tough Young Teachers and 24 Hours in A&E are of
a similar format I’d like to use for my own documentary. My research shows that the public could take interest in my
documentary idea and could possibly have a chance of making it in to a top ten of a channels viewing numbers
(hypothetically speaking) depending on it portrays certain events and characters and if it is filmed correctly.

Production research
For my production I will need certain personnel to make my documentary successful. I will need camera
crew, producer, director, researcher and an editor. I plan to do all these roles myself however I will have
help throughout my project; my classmate Jake will be on hand to offer advice when I am filming and
editing. This documentary is going to be made virtually on a £0 budget, this is because my equipment is
already available thanks to my Sixth Form and I will be doing all the work with minimal personnel.
My talent for the documentary will be the people I interview on the subject. The general public may also
be part of my documentary as long as I gain permission and consent to film people. Along with
permission to film people I will need to gain location access to film in certain areas. Any filming on public
land will mean I will have to gain permission from the local authorities as they are responsible for public
land, public buildings, roads and parking.
I will be able to keep track of logistics as I will be working practically solo meaning it will be easier to
control each part of the project as it happens. I will be working to a time schedule to ensure each part of
the production process is completed within time of the deadline so I can start my post production
process without any disruption.
There are many different methods of broadcasting, for example on the radio or webcasting. However,
my media is more suited to Television broadcasting. Television broadcasting has grown massively since
it was first invented in the 1930s and is one of the most popular ways to broadcast media along with
radio.

Interpreting results
After doing my research I was able to look at my information and data and assess it. My respondents for
my survey and focus group didn’t always think my favoured idea (Idea 2) was the best. This means I
should reconsider creating another of my ideas however, in other aspects Idea 2 came out as the most
likely documentary to be watched by my target audience.
My research consists of both primary and secondary research therefore I know for sure that my primary
is suitable and reliable as I have conducted it myself. The vast majority of my secondary research was
carried out on the Internet. It was important for me to check my sources of information to know whether
they are trustworthy or not. For example the information on Kirkby Stephen’s demographics found on
(localstats.qpzm.co.uk) is outdated by 3 years but isn't subject to much change so it is still a suitable
and reliable source.
My research helped me to finally decide on the idea I would like to use as my subject for my
documentary. It also helped me understand my target audience which is very important to make sure I
create something they are going to want to watch and enjoy.

Unit 3 Be able to apply a range of research methods and techniques

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Unit 3 Be able to apply a range of research methods and techniques