Purposes and requirements of research in the Media sector

Market research:

Is done to determine:

•  How well similar types of media products are doing.
• What your competition has/is doing.
•  When will be the best time for release

Audience research:

Is carried out to determine:

• Who will be your audience in terms of age, geographical location(s), gender, etc.
• Will there sufficient audience interest to justify 

Production research:

• What will be needed to make the product.
• How, when and where those requirements can be met
• How much the media product will cost to make.
• How long it will take to produce.
• Release date preference(s)

Research methods

Primary:

Is first hand research carried out or commissioned by yourself such as surveys, questionnaires. 

Secondary

Is research carried out by reference to existing sources such as the internet, books, magazines & journals.

Quantitative

Is research that is based on reliable, known and available facts. 

Examples of quantitative research are programme ratings, box office figures, sales of associated merchandise such as dvds, games, etc and hits on websites.

Qualitative 

Is research that is based on opinions, attitudes and preferences and can be gathered by means of different media reviews, interviews and distributed questionnaires.

Examples of quahtitative are film reviews,  magazine articles, news coverage Tv panel discussions and voxpops.