Primary Research

Primary Research

Primary research is a technique used in order to gain first hand information about a subject e.g. Interviews, Questionnaires, Observations, Surveys and Focus groups.

Observations are important because they allow a researcher to gather information first hand by witnessing or observing an event. An advantage of observation can be observing something first hand which allows a researcher to take immediate notes that are reliable, as they have been observed e.g. observing a driving lesson. Disadvantages of observations could be problems such as viewing problems (Blocked site/you could miss something important) and hearing problems (Could get a low volume of sound/loud volume interruption) also access to the event of situations to observe.

Interviews are another very important resource, because you can control the interview by giving questions and receiving answers that you would want. There are three types of interviews Structured/Semi-structured/Unstructured.

Structured interviews are a listed set of questions that are straightforward questions and could be simple. Structured interviews are also approached aggressively and straight to the point e.g. Jeremy Paxman uses structured questions and approaches aggressively making the interviewee feel uncomfortable and under pressure, this would make them feel unconfident with there answers.

Semi structured interviews are also good for collecting opinions and information e.g. Louis Theroux uses semi structured Questions, to get a more opinionated answers. A semi structured question is set as a structured question but because of the out come and response of the answer it can be expanded into a new set of questions depended on the interviewer which would need to think of a set of questions on the spot.

Unstructured interviews are basically random questions that could be of public interest e.g. “What is your favourite film” Vox pop a quick and short interview where the interviewee is approached on the street.

An interview can also make it easy to gather knowledge of the subject. Interviews can also have various disadvantages such as e.g. the interviewer could ask unimportant questions/could receive odd answers (not interesting answers)/could get interrupted during the interview.

Surveys are questionnaires that are structured closed questions.  The reason why is because surveys provide facts and figures. Surveys and questionnaires also give a straightforward question and can be open and closed questions but more likely closed. The advantages of surveys can be easy and quick and you can get the information that is needed. Disadvantages of surveys, you can’t get too much detailed information (limited).

Secondary Research

Secondary Research

Secondary research is a method of analysing information from prewritten information e.g. Books,/websites/articles/images and other pre-written documents.

Advantages

Books are a very important and valuable resource for secondary research. Books provide facts and a good amount of knowledge; the most important point about books is that they go into a large amount of detail. They also provide the right information that is needed and can be reliable. You will find that most books are written by people who are specialised in their chosen subjects.  Books are easy to access and there is no charge to enter a Library.

Using the Internet to find websites can be quick and easy to gather information. The access is quick and the results are instant. Websites also give reasonable amounts of information, such as Google Schalor. Google Schalor will help people search the specific articles and citations from eBooks.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of books are; that they are time consuming, you also may not be able to find the correct information you are searching for. Certain books can also be difficult to locate. Using books could also be quite aggravating just by losing the page that you were reading and might be possible to lose the book. Many books that you find in the Library can be out of date. This can cause a problem due to changes, such as technology and policies.

Disadvantages of the internet/websites can be; that the information that you have received from websites could be false information e.g. Wikipedia can provide faults information, because anyone can change it at anytime. A numerous amount of websites could also be irrelevant to the subject that you are researching. The information that you research can also be false. Attempting to gather information from the Internet could lead to you getting distracted by pop-ups/YouTube/Facebook.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is referred as text-based information, and is more detailed. Qualitative research can also be referred as a reviewed journal with original research (primary research).

Qualitative research contains more such as observations, field notes and semi-structured interviews and open Questions.

Observation research & Field Notes

Observation research is observing the event, and gathering information by watching people’s behavior, what they look like, and how things work, you would use this method for a field trip. There’s two ways of observing, not being apart of the activity more of a witness. The other ways of observing is being part and experiencing the activity to gather information. Field notes are gathered data that can be used for further use.

Interviews

Interviews can provide qualitative research by using open questions such as, gathering a large amount of detailed information to elaborate further. Evidence from an interview can also give primary research to make the research first hand. Focus groups also provide a good amount of information that can be detailed; focus groups can give personal details such as age and gender and would be more open with answering the questions.

Content Analysis

Content analysis, is used widely in the media industry. Content analysis is analyzing the text data (fiction/factual), moving images such as T.V program's/Films, posters.                       
Content analyzing is mainly used for adverts, content analysis is used by companies to advertise their products to gain more sales. Companies use this for research to simplify information for the viewers to make their point across and making it eye catching. An example of using content analyzing, Braking down the techniques of what  they've used, including screen shots such as shoulder shots, close ups, wide shots. They also use voice overs