Understand the nature and purpose of research in the creative media industry.

 Research is a fundamental part of beginning production. Different roles within the media industry, will research using a range of methods, in order to gain an understanding of certain features of a film that could make it successful at the box office. Film makers, Talent and the Distributors will use these methods to their full potential, in order to gain important knowledge on things such as target audiences and initial thoughts and feelings of the proposed film idea.

One of the most common methods of research undertaken by film makers/distributors is primary research.  Primary research is new research, carried out to answer specific questions or problems within the media industry. Primary research is usually conducted after secondary research or after analyzing primary research data in order to gain a wider understanding on the specific topic that needs to be solved/ researched. Primary research can be collected in a number of methods such as: focus groups, observations and interviews. Focus groups allow the potential/ non-potential viewers to give any feedback into the film makers ideas. The film maker can gain an understanding on whether certain parts of the film should be altered. Primary research is key in gaining a understanding of how the film will be portrayed once its released. How the film  is portrayed, is usually going to determine how successful it is at the box office.

 The most widely used method for collecting data is through secondary data collection, called secondary research. The process involves collecting data from either the originator or a distributor of primary research. In other words, accessing information already gathered. In most cases this means finding information from third-party sources such as marketing research reports, company websites, magazine articles, and other sources. The internet is the most commonly used source of secondary research, as it can be used to access material in an efficient manner. Certain information gathering agencies, will post their statistics online so that researches can obtain and dissect the information valuable to them. Search engines such as Bing and Google, allow the researcher to access the information with a click of a button. Some films may need to be historically accurate and in order to collect reliable materials, film makers may visit libraries/book archives in order to access the wide range of information. Film makers may specifically use websites such as IMDB (internet movie data-base). The website allows the user to obtain information on Films, TV programs and talent. IMDB stores statistics such as budgets, and how well films performed at the Box Office.

Some methods provide data which are quantitative and some methods data which are qualitative.  Quantitative methods are those which focus on numbers and frequencies rather than on meaning and experience.  Quantitative methods (e.g. experiment/ questionnaires) provide information which is easy to analyse statistically and fairly reliable.  Quantitative methods are associated with the scientific and experimental approach and are criticised for not providing an in depth description.

Qualitative methods are ways of collecting data which are concerned with describing meaning, rather than with drawing statistical inferences.  What qualitative methods (e.g. case studies and interviews) lose on reliability they gain in terms of validity.  They provide a more in depth and rich description. Quantitative methods have come under considerable criticism.  In modern research, most film makers tend to adopt a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, which allow statistically reliable information obtained from numerical measurement to be backed up by and enriched by information about the research participants' explanations.

Data Gathering Agencies are responsible for collecting specific data and information in a certain industry. IMDB is one of the largest Data Gathering Agencies on the internet. They specialize in gathering statistics, information and topical knowledge in the Media Industry. Users can obtain data such as Box Office results and Cast lists. Other Data Gathering Agencies that focus on TV, will collect and maintain information such as viewing rates of programs and channels. This information is key in evaluating a programs success and interest from its audience. Both positive and negative feedback, will allow the Television companies to alter the program in order to boost its popularity