Audience research

Pickle Jar Communications 

• There are various different methods used to research and gather information.

• It is generally best to outline what you want to find out, why you want to gather this information and who you want to gather it out from. Doing this first makes the decision easier on how you are going to collect this information.

Quantitive vs qualitative 

• Quantitative data deals with quantities and numbers, it is useful fro statistics 
• Qualitative data is deeper, e.g. why does your audience act a certain way 

Surveys/Questionnaires

• Both are easy ways to gather data and will provide you with quantitate results which can be easily processed, analysed and measure.
• They can be created online and easily distributed e.g. via social media, email, messaging
• Disadvantages include lack of detail in responses and responses not necessary being from relevant placements 
• Advantages include surveys and questionnaires being quick to create and easy to measure.

Interviews 

• The interviewer will ask questions to develop deep insights into audience behaviour. Interviews gather qualitative data, and can be conducted in person, via instant messaging or on the telephone
• Brings in a human element instead of just raw numbers.
• Disadvantages include possible influence from the interviewer/ environment on the participants and it not being as easy to analyse 

Focus groups

• researcher will ask a group people questions relating to the subject they're investigating, the focus group will then discuss and share their opinions whilst the researcher observes, gathering information 
• Disadvantages include the reacher having less control and the data being tougher to analyse 
• Advantages include collecting a large sample size of qualitative data 

Observations 

• a researcher will observe and collect qualitative data in a natural/ casual setting
• Disadvantages include that if a group if knowingly observed they will not behave as they naturally would 
• Advantages include the data being relevant and qualitable 

Who can do/does audience research?

When should audience research be done?

Why should audience research be completed?

What research methods can be used?