The Meaning of Research

Definition of Research Research plays a critical role in decision making. It provides information that helps individuals at the agency and client better understand their product and target audience, the marketing environment, and the effectiveness of the product's advertising and media placement. Research helps inform advertisers' judgement so that they can identify their range of option and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each option.

Primary research -It is first-hand research. It may include interviews which you conduct. It also includes surveys or questionnaires which you organise and analyse. Be careful how you use information collected in a survey, however, as it is only a small sample and should not be used alone to validate arguments.

-It collects original, typically proprietary, information to meet an advertiser's or marketer's informational needs. Primary research is used when secondary research is either nonexistent, unreliable, or too costly. The selection of primary versus secondary research is determined by the specific problem addressed by the research and the types of information required for decision making.

Secondary research -Secondary research examines data gathered for a research need other than the current one that already exists in printed or electronic form. Sources of secondary research information include internal agency or client record, government agencies, trade association's information brokers, marketing and advertising research companies, specialized and general interest books, magazines, and academic journals.

-It forms the majority of your research. It involves looking at information and tests already gathered, produced or published.

Television Ratings The ratings are used to buy and sell television viewers. Commercial television stations are in the business of selling audiences. Ratings express the popularity of programs and tell television executives how many people are watching certain programmes at a particular time. This information can then be used to set a price for the audience quantity and quality.

How the ratings are measured? An electronic meter is used to collect ratings information. Called the people meter, it fits behind the television viewing every 60 seconds and is used with a hand held remote control. The viewers punch their individual button to indicate they are present in a room. The information is stored in the people meter and is automatically sent to a central computer at 2:00am every 24 hours. People meters are installed in a variety of homes around Australia, sampling major cities, provincial cities and rural areas.

The Nielsen Media Research Company conducts the ratings surveys in Australia. The company is an American-owned multinational. It provides the ratings research in many of the major markets in the developed world.

What does audience research involve? Audience research involves the use of three main instruments, either on their own or in combination: *Questionnaires *Diaries *Electronic recording devices There are other possibilities, such as audience observation and recordings of group discussions (usually called 'focus groups'), but these are used less often and tend to concentrate on specific issues and products.

Research for practical production You will need to carry out four types of research for a practical production: *Background research - which involves finding out about and exploring similar types of products to the one which you will be producing. You will need to develop a sense of how the product is produced professionally, how audiences are targeted, what its particular codes and conventions are, and the relevant legal and ethical issues.

*Audience research - into the market for your product. Who will use the product? How? Why? *Content research - information which you gather to inform the content of your media product. This may be facts and figure, interviewees and how to reach them, background information.

*Production research - information which you need to produce your product, such as locations, picture, material, music, legal procedures, copyright.

Mass Media Research Communication research is the application of social research methods to the problems communicators deal with. It is an attempt to replace as much guesswork as possible with verified theories. Theories and research methods in the social sciences are not as accurate or refined as those used in the physical sciences. Understanding and predicting human behaviour as a result are better than the guesswork upon which much of communication has been based.

Research provides the information to help plan communication and evaluate its results. Some of the uses of research in mass communication are: *Audience studies *Message content and design *Effect studies *Communicator analysis Each of research in mass communication contains a great deal of overlap. One cannot separate media effects from message content, or communicator analysis from message content. Communicators, messages, audiences, and effects are all interrelated - that interrelation is necessary for communication. Research methods are tools to aid communicators in understanding the communication process and predicting the effects of their efforts.

Reference Books -Joe Nicholas, John Price, Advanced Studies in Media, Nelson -Stewart & Kowaltzke, Media: new ways and meanings, Jacaranda -Werner J.Severin & James W.Tankard, Jr, Second Edition Communication Theories, Longman -Werner J.Severin & James W.Tankard, Jr, Third Edition Communication Theories, Longman -Joel J. Davis, Advertising Research Theory and Practice, Prentice-Hall, Inc Web sites: http://hcr.oupjournals.org/ http://mccc-union.org/TheScholar/Primary-Research/PrimaryResearch.html http://don.ractliff.net/qual/