Unit 3: Research Techniques 🔎
Assignment 1 - Initial Research
Part: 1 - General Information
Part: 1 - General Information
Social Action - An act which is intended to gain reactions of individuals or the audience to make a significant and positive change.
Primary Research Techniques
Interviews - a meeting of people face to face, especially for consultation.
Pros - can be very accurate and high quality information as you are talking directly to someone
Cons - Could be limited by the persons knowledge on the topic
Observations - the action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or someone.
Pros - Genuine response based on the targets observations
Cons - Limited to targets knowledge of the topic
- Observation could be biased and inaccurate
Surveys - look closely at or examine (someone or something).
Pros - efficient for gathering information from multiple sources at once
- Simplistic for both researcher and target audience for research
Cons - possible biased results from audience
- knowledge of audience could be limited
Audience Panels - an audience panel, involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience, typically at scientific, business, or academic conferences, fan conventions, and on television shows.
Pros - panels ensure that the people taking part have a good knowledge of the topic in question
Cons - Limited to questions you could get answered
Forums - a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
Pros - Discussion can give a more in-depth analysis of topic in question
Cons - multiple entities could be biased in a forum discussion
Pros - can be very accurate and high quality information as you are talking directly to someone
Cons - Could be limited by the persons knowledge on the topic
Observations - the action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or someone.
Pros - Genuine response based on the targets observations
Cons - Limited to targets knowledge of the topic
- Observation could be biased and inaccurate
Surveys - look closely at or examine (someone or something).
Pros - efficient for gathering information from multiple sources at once
- Simplistic for both researcher and target audience for research
Cons - possible biased results from audience
- knowledge of audience could be limited
Audience Panels - an audience panel, involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience, typically at scientific, business, or academic conferences, fan conventions, and on television shows.
Pros - panels ensure that the people taking part have a good knowledge of the topic in question
Cons - Limited to questions you could get answered
Forums - a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
Pros - Discussion can give a more in-depth analysis of topic in question
Cons - multiple entities could be biased in a forum discussion
Secondary Research Techniques
Books - Books are the physical paper copies of information that can be found in libraries.
Pros - very easy to use and gain information from
Cons - they are difficult to come by due to the growing popularity of the internet
- are obsolete compared to newer information forms such as the internet websites and media pages.
Directories - Directories a book or article listing individuals or organisations alphabetically of thematically with details such as names, addresses, phone numbers, etc
.
Pros - the ease of looking alphabetically for various secondary information.
- simplistic organisation making the researcher very aware as to what information that he or she would be receiving.
Cons - the limited amount of information that it gives, like mentioned before directories hold names, addressed and phone numbers but that's it.
- Internet forums and websites are far more advanced and efficient making directories now obsolete.
Internet - a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities.
Pros - the vast amounts of different information you can get off of it.
- the information is limitless due to more and more people adding to it's contents every day.
Cons - it can be confusing to look through all of the information due to the endless amounts of it.
- it can contain sources that are biased and unrealistic due to the freedom of anyone being able to post information onto it.
Newspapers - physical/digital information containing news, articles, advertisements, and correspondence.
Pros - information is easy to access and is available to anyone
Cons - can contain biased information from sources that are on exclusively one side
Film Archives - a collection of films that have been preserved because of their historical or cultural interest.
Pros - visual representation is far more detailed and valuable than written or audio.
- easy to find what various information you want
Cons - no written information to quote off of.
Photos Libraries - a collection of photographs that is held by a particular company or organization
Pros - visual representation is far more detailed and valuable than written or audio.
Cons - photographic representation is less valuable than videos due to the limitation of a still photo
Internet Forums - an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.
Pros - better chance of gaining in-depth information within discussion from multiple sources
Cons - issue with potential biased opinions of many sources within the discussion
Audio Material - Materials on which exclusively sounds are stored and can be reproduced mechanically, electronically, or both.
Pros - Audio is more valuable than photographic or written due to limited information in comparison
Cons - WIthout visual aid the audio material could be badly recorded and therefore inaudible
Government Statistics - statistics published by government agencies or other public bodies such as international organizations as a public good.
Pros - Stats are more accurate and easier to work off of than opinions
Cons - Government agencies could over or under estimate stats for personal benefit
What is the Purpose of Research?
The purpose of researching a topic for a documentary means that filmmaker and or research can gain as much knowledge on the topic as possible to create an accurate and in-depth look into the topic that the documentary is conveying.
Styles of Documentaries
Part: 2 - Documentary Examples
Example 1: Supersize Me (2004)
What is the purpose?
the purpose of the documentary on fast food is to show the bad effects that these unhealthy foods can have on your body. However, this documentary is not to stop people from eating these foods such as McDonald's and KFC as it is meant to show that too much of it can have damaging bodily effects.
Pros - very easy to use and gain information from
Cons - they are difficult to come by due to the growing popularity of the internet
- are obsolete compared to newer information forms such as the internet websites and media pages.
Directories - Directories a book or article listing individuals or organisations alphabetically of thematically with details such as names, addresses, phone numbers, etc
.
Pros - the ease of looking alphabetically for various secondary information.
- simplistic organisation making the researcher very aware as to what information that he or she would be receiving.
Cons - the limited amount of information that it gives, like mentioned before directories hold names, addressed and phone numbers but that's it.
- Internet forums and websites are far more advanced and efficient making directories now obsolete.
Internet - a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities.
Pros - the vast amounts of different information you can get off of it.
- the information is limitless due to more and more people adding to it's contents every day.
Cons - it can be confusing to look through all of the information due to the endless amounts of it.
- it can contain sources that are biased and unrealistic due to the freedom of anyone being able to post information onto it.
Newspapers - physical/digital information containing news, articles, advertisements, and correspondence.
Pros - information is easy to access and is available to anyone
Cons - can contain biased information from sources that are on exclusively one side
Film Archives - a collection of films that have been preserved because of their historical or cultural interest.
Pros - visual representation is far more detailed and valuable than written or audio.
- easy to find what various information you want
Cons - no written information to quote off of.
Photos Libraries - a collection of photographs that is held by a particular company or organization
Pros - visual representation is far more detailed and valuable than written or audio.
Cons - photographic representation is less valuable than videos due to the limitation of a still photo
Internet Forums - an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.
Pros - better chance of gaining in-depth information within discussion from multiple sources
Cons - issue with potential biased opinions of many sources within the discussion
Audio Material - Materials on which exclusively sounds are stored and can be reproduced mechanically, electronically, or both.
Pros - Audio is more valuable than photographic or written due to limited information in comparison
Cons - WIthout visual aid the audio material could be badly recorded and therefore inaudible
Government Statistics - statistics published by government agencies or other public bodies such as international organizations as a public good.
Pros - Stats are more accurate and easier to work off of than opinions
Cons - Government agencies could over or under estimate stats for personal benefit
What is the Purpose of Research?
The purpose of researching a topic for a documentary means that filmmaker and or research can gain as much knowledge on the topic as possible to create an accurate and in-depth look into the topic that the documentary is conveying.
- Poetic - A documentary that is specific to a person or character involved with the creation of the documentary.
- Expositional - A documentary where there is direct attention to the audience conveying social issues and needed debates on the topic.
- Observations (Fly on the Wall) - A documentary where the filmmaker is solely an observer.
- Participatory - A documentary where the filmmaker alters the events and situations
- Reflexive - a documentary where the audience engage with the content commonly about issues in society.
- Performative - a Documentary where there is emotional and subjective aspects and is autobiographical in nature.
Part: 2 - Documentary Examples
Example 1: Supersize Me (2004)
What is the purpose?
when it comes to the impact of the Supersize Me documentary the intended audience is people who consume fast food (and more specifically people who consume possibly too much fast food). Secondly,
What was the issue?
the main issue that the documentary was conveying was that people are eating too much unhealthy food and that they should try to eat healthier in the future.
Who is the intended audience?
The intended audience for this documentary is people who eat fast food and more specifically people who eat fast food to often so they can see the harmful effects that they are doing to themselves.
Who is the filmmaker?
Reporter: Morgan Spurlock
Researcher: Morgan Spurlock
Film Maker: Morgan Spurlock
Research Techniques Used In This Documentary:
The 3 main research techniques used in Super Size Me were statistics, tests & interviews.
The 3 main research techniques used in Super Size Me were statistics, tests & interviews.
What is the purpose of research?
The main purpose of the research was clearly to show to the audience that the fast food was definitely bad for Morgan Spurlock's health proven by the testings on his body, the stats it came out with, etc.
Was the documentary effective?
I believe that the documentary was highly effective as it conveyed the awful truth that fast food when consumed exclusively or a lot can have dramatic and life threatening effects on your body.
What is the style of this documentary?
Example 2: 13th (2016)
What is the purpose?
The purpose of the documentary is to show the racial inequality in the US and more specifically the fact that the prisons are disproportionately filled with African-American citizens. Additionally, this is all in the attempts to overall stop this from continuing.
What is the purpose?
What is the impact of the documentary?
When it comes to the impact of the 13th documentary of 2016 the intended audience for this film is mainly towards people in America to show them the inequality that takes place in their country.
What was the issue?
the issue it simply that there is racial inequality in America and even more so in the prisons of the country.
Who is the intended audience?
The intended audience for this documentary is simply anyone who does not have a knowledge and are unaware of the racial inequality in the US and also possible other countries.
Who is the filmmaker?
Researcher: Ava DuVernay
Film Maker: Ava DuVernay
Research Techniques Used In This Documentary:
The three main research techniques used in The 13th were interviews, Articles & Statistics.
The three main research techniques used in The 13th were interviews, Articles & Statistics.
What is the purpose of research?
The purpose of this research is t find strong concrete evidence that there is an element of racial inequality in the US such as the stories told by the interviewees, the repeated articles related to this documentary, etc.
Was the documentary effective?
I believe that the documentary was effective as it showed the brutal truth that the US is very unequal with the rights and overall fairness of race.
The styles of the 13th documentary is observational and expositional. Firstly, the 13th is observational as the filmmaker, Ava DuVernay, exclusively observes the events and interviews without taking direct action. Finally, the documentary is expositional as the needed debates and social issues of racial inequality in America is directly conveyed to the audience.
What is the style of this documentary?
Part: 4 - Referencing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_actions
https://www.slideshare.net/sarahlambe/media-research-methods-12630915
Assignment 2 - Techniques and Presentation
Part: 1 - Questionnaire/Survey (PR)
1. Survey Monkey
Questionnaire - Definition
A set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study.
Questionnaire (10 Questions)
- How old are you?
- What is Your gender?
- Do you watch documentaries?
- Do you like documentaries?
- List your favourite documentaries?
- List your least favourite documentaries?
- What is your preferred time length?
- Do you think Social Action documentaries are beneficial?
- What topic would you like to see?
- What other topic would you like to see?
Google Link to SurveyMonkey Questionnaire:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SYRYD6P
Feedback
Q5
Crime Documentaries x2
Planet Earth/David Attenborough x3
The 13th
Kurt Cobain Documentary
Don't Know x2
Q6
Nature Documentaries x2
Super Size Me
Super Size Me 2
Don't Know x4
Q10
Knife Crime in the UK
Dangers of Social Media
College Effecting the Mental Health of Teenagers
Don't Know x3
Dangers of Social Media
College Effecting the Mental Health of Teenagers
Don't Know x3
*for this part of the assignment the documentary will be the use of social media idea from the online survey/questionnaire*
Audience Research
For the documentary the target audience would be male and female teenagers and young adults from the ages of 13 to 21 who use social media as they can relate to the topic in question. Additionally, most of the target audience would be in education as people who work are less likely to be as involved in social media as people in education. Furthermore, regarding geodemographics of the target audience can be from anywhere where social media is a common part of their culture.
When it comes to the reaction of the documentary then this could very well change their views on the use of social media but to a degree as the documentary is not aiming to stop the use of social media entirely but to moderately slow down the consistency.
Documentary Research
There has been similar documentaries made on this topic. For example, in 2016 the 30 minuet documentary called Project SOCIALIZE was released. The documentary I am making will be very similar to this in the way it gathers professional opinions on the topic, features big names and influencers in the industry, explains how the concept was created and simply stats facts on what social media does to people who use it.
Marketing Research
When it comes to the marketing for this documentary the main sources would be on social media such as YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat advertisements as the target audience themselves are commonly going to see it from there. Additionally, other sources such as physical billboards and posters will be made and sent across areas where people use social media a lot.
Production Research
Furthermore, for the resources of the documentary's production the main (of not only) location for filming will be in the college as the topic will involve students at college and their use of social media. Secondly, the documentary will only need one camera man at is will simply set the surroundings of a college and interview various people on the topic of the documentary. Additionally, the documentary will not cost much as it costs nothing to acquire the necessary information and put it all together with the required equipment apart from covering the costs of a camera.
Great work Carter, You can now move onto the questionnaire.
ReplyDeleteWhen it does come to doing your assignment, expand more than just bullet points, for the task was fine, but in the body of your assignment, please describe, explain and even argue your point of view.