Research Techniques and Methodologies

Methods

There are a variety of ways to carry out research into a project's design, content and style and the methods undertaken will be dependent upon the type of product being produced, this will determine whether:

• You need to research contestants or participants
• You need to research cast and crew
• You need to find experts in a particular field or specific subject
• You need to undertake factual research
• You need to find suitable locations
• You need to find suitable props
• You need to research the competitors

Production research is a vital part of the production process and adequate time should be scheduled for research to be undertaken. In the creative industry researchers are generally core team members with a lot of responsibility.

We'd look at other projects that have been done for the company and for that audience, we'd look at their competitors, other things done for the market, also going to events. We then look on the web, we look at stats, we all read regular magazines such as Creative Review and New Media Age, so we've all got an up to date understanding of the industry. Karen Fewell

When producing content you will need to become an expert in that specific area in order to obtain the knowledge required to communicate it through a media product.

Quite often the first port of call when researching a specialised subject will be to find an expert in that area as a source of information.

The quality and treatment of the content needs to be decided upon very early in the production process.