Types of

Research
Shane Hampden

Contents

Quantitative Research
Qualitative Research
Secondary Research
Primary Research
Data Gathering Agencies (RAJAR)
Self-Generated Research

Audience Research
Market Research
Production Research

Types of Research
Quantitative Research
This is a good, logical data led approach to research which provides a measure of what
people think about something from a statistical and numerical point of view. It quantifies data
and generalizes results from a sample to the population of interest and measures the
incidence of various views and opinions in a chosen sample. This includes surveys and
questionnaires. It is important to do these surveys in quite large numbers so they are
reliable. It is sometimes followed up by qualitative research which is then used to explore
further findings.
A benefit of this is that it is useful for obtaining data that allows you to make quantitative
predictions. Collecting data using quantitative methods can be done quickly and is less time
consuming. It provides you with precise, quantitative numerical data.
However quantitative data also has some weaknesses to it. The researchers theories and
categories may not reflect the understanding of the local constituencies. The knowledge
produced might be too abstract for direct application to specific local situations, contexts and
individuals.
This is important in the music industry because as an artist you get to find out what your
target audience likes the most therefore artists can adapt their music to make it more
enjoyable for the audience. This will get them more views because it is what the target
audience wants.
This is an example of quantitative
research I have carried out. Doing this
I am able to find out the opinions of
individuals themselves.

Qualitative Research
This is primarily exploratory research. Its use is to gain an understanding of underlying
reasons, opinions and motivations. It provides an insight to the setting of a problem or helps
develop ideas or hypothesis for quantitative research. It uncovers general trends in thought
and opinion. This includes unstructured or semi structured techniques. For example,
individual depth interviews or group discussions.
Some advantages of qualitative research are that some issues and subjects that are being
covered are able to be evaluated in good detail. It is easy to revise your data when new
research and findings appear. The data found through qualitative research is found and
depends on human experience, this makes the data more interesting and powerful than data
collected by quantitative research.
However the quality of this type of research is very dependent on the skill level of the
researcher and can easily be influenced by the biases of the researches. The quantity of the

data takes a long time to analyse and interpret. It can be very time consuming to find your
data and can be difficult to present visually.
This is good in the music industry because you get to find out exact facts and figures about a
particular artist and how they are doing. It also lets you find out when they are releasing
upcoming songs or albums.
This is my qualitative research because I have used
the internet to find out information about Ellie
Goulding and 50 Shades of Grey and the amount of
profit they got from working together.

Secondary Research
This is the most widely used method for data collection. This involves collecting data from
the originator or from a distributor of primary research. In a nutshell you are accessing
information that has already been gathered. This means mostly finding information from
third-party sources. This is good in the music industry because it gives you all the statistics
and facts about something/someone like how many albums has a certain artist sold.
A good thing about this is that secondary research is easy to access from the internet and it
costs much less to acquire than it does carrying out the research out themselves. Using this
you are most likely to find the exact answer you are looking for. This is good because there
is no need to carry out your own research to find it.
A bad thing is that if you didnt get your information from a reliable source the research could
have been changed or false.
I used secondary research here, I have
gathered facts and figures from the internet
and re worded it into my own words so it is
not subject to copyright.

Primary research
Primary research is any type of research where you go out and get by yourself, it is collected
by the researcher. These are things like surveys interviews etc. This data will not have been
collected before.
Advantages of this is that you can interpret the information much better and issues that are
targeted will definitely be addressed.
However there are some disadvantages, it will cost a lot to design and carryout the collection

of data. It will also take a lot of time to do if you want to get accurate results.
It is a very good method and is very reliable because the youd know that the information is
reliable and up to date. A good example of this is focus groups. This is a good example of
primary research because you get each persons individual opinion of the chosen topic.
Data Gathering agencies (RAJAR)
RAJAR is an organisation, it stands for Radio Joint Audience Research. They measure the
radio audiences in the UK. The organisation is owned by both the BBC and the radio centre.
Around 310 radio stations are on this survey. They use dairy as a method to measure radio
audience. The data they gather is used for planning, buying and selling advertising. This is
good for the music industry because you know what target audience likes to listen to and
know the most popular radio stations
Self-Generated Research
Self-Generated research is when you get the information from only yourself and not from
anyone else. This is really good and useful in the music industry when you listen and look
back at your own work. This is where you can see ways for yourself to improve your own
work and make it much better. Also you get to do it by yourself and not need help from
anyone else. In this you get to use all of your own ideas.
Audience Research
This is a form of research and is used to gather information about a certain audiences
attitudes or behaviours. This type of research is used so a producer is able to get a better
knowledge of their target audience. If this isnt used, then it is a waste of time because you
will not know what your target audience like to hear and therefore will end up doing it wrong.
You will be able to find out their buying patterns so you know how you are going to sell it. By
doing this you will find out what type of people listen to what type of music. This will help you
aim your music video at your chosen audience.
Market Research
Market research is when you gather facts and figures together about the target audience. If
you do this then you get an understanding of what the target audience wants. This is good
for music artists because to can then change your future productions to suit the interests of
your target audience. You will also be able to find out what your target audience dont like so
much so you will be able to take that stuff out to suit the likes of your audience. You will be
able to find out who you are in competition with then make a production that will be better
than their
Production Research
This is the type of research needed for when youre making a new product/production. This
will give you ideas on what to do to for your product/production. This will help expand on
your original idea and get rid of ideas that arent so good. This will result in a high quality
product/production that will be a success. After this youll be able to find out what kind of
talent youll need, what facilities youll need to hire and how much everything will cost. This
will then give you the decision to carry out the production or change it so you get a different
cost outcome.

Bibliography
Quantitative Research
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https://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/johnson/oh_master/Ch14/Tab14-01.pdf
Qualitative Research
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Secondary Research
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Primary Research
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Data Gathering Agencies

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Self-Generated Research
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Audience Research
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Market Research
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Production Research
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