Audience Research Methods

Audience Research Methods

When collecting data for any purpose you must have audience/customer research to make the data as strong as you can. The two types of research you can use are called qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative data-
Research that is qualitative is a lot more open ended questions that would require a more extensive answer rather than a simple yes or no. this type of research is used to gain a better understanding of peoples personal views and opinions on the chosen subject. This can be done through telephone surveys, interviews or focus groups.

Quantitative data-
These are simple questions that only require one word or simple sentence answers, usually in the yes/no format. This method is more commonly used to put into a graph or tally chart and can be easily displayed. These questions are also a lot less time intensive so are used more than qualitative when out on streets, for ease. this can be done through questionnaires


Primary Research-
this is research taken yourself, this involves you going out and getting information right from the source. this can be from interveiws or questionnaires. this is reliable as it is fresh information however it does take time and more money to collect.

Secondary Research-
this is information you have sourced from elsewhere such as websites or from other survey results, this is cheaper to collect and less time intensive however some problems may occur as the information could be old or irrelevant to what you want to focus on.

For my research i will use primary research to see what magazine audiences would want, I will collect my research through a questionnaire. also I will look at other magazines and gauge ideas for the layout and look of the front cover, colours, text ect.