Lesson 3

• Audience Research is traditionally about:


  ● Gaining an insight on audience preferences, however fluid and ever-changing these could be in the present period; and

  ● Calibrating audiences’ sizes and reach.

  ● Allied to market research and social research.

  ● Is the only way to get an estimate of audience sizes.
• Radio and Television


  The manner of dissemination – transmission via the airwaves – is like it is given free to audiences and there is no way of measuring how many are actually patronizing the program. Mass media platforms that cannot accurately count their audiences.
• Market Research


  ● Convenient to know about how markets thrive, consumer habits, and how consumers leverage their consumption preferences.

  ● It is mostly aligned with the increasing revenue or addressing issues that seem to constrain revenue growths.
• Social Research


  ● Learning about social groups without having to anchor research objectives to social groups or sectors of societies
• Qualities of Research

  1. Systematic
  2. Logical
  3. Empirical
  4. Replicable
• Systematic


  The whole research undertaking should be structured with steps that should be followed according to the design.
• Logical


  Research should be guided by the rules of logical reasoning and the logical process of induction and deduction.
• Empirical


  Research is underpinned by data that is systematically gathered and forms the basis of all analysis and conclusions that will be arrived at.
• Replicable


  Research findings are verifiable by replicating the study and achieving the same results.
• Survey


  ● The most common method of audience research.

  ● Conducted mostly through questionnaires administered to a select group of people where they are asked the same questions, and their answers consolidated and tabulated.
• Observation


  -Can be both formal and informal.

  -The researcher observes the participants and collects quantitative data in a natural setting.
• Formal observation


  may entail more structure and design.
• Informal observation


  Is a good starting ground from where more to elaborate research methods can be applied.
• Focused Group Discussion (FGD)


  ● conducted with a small group of six to ten people led through the structured discussion by a skilled facilitator.

  ● The goal is to generate a maximum number of different ideas and opinions regarding a particular topic centered around a media and information text.

  ● A set of carefully crafted questions are cascaded to the participants to trigger responses that will generate opinions, insights, and perspectives.