Secondary Research

Date	Activities	Sources found	How found?	Reliability
24.9.10	Assignment was set. Topic decided on and discussed. List of sub-questions created. Initial web searches- secondary research – Wikipedia etc	http://open.bbc.co.uk/newmedi aresearch/files/BBC_UK_Games_ Research_2005.pdf	Googled the topic – lots of results found, however a lot of these were not relevant.	Extremely reliable, from the BBC
29.9.10	Set questions, web searched for secondary research	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbo x_360 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps3    - Wi-Fi, blu-ray capabilities, voice or text chat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii I had a lot of difficulty finding sites which had not been blocked by the school due to them being gaming based. This lead to me using Wikipedia to find some general facts about the consoles.	Used Google to research the questions Checked Wikipedia and followed links at bottom of their page.	Mostly reliable as information can be cross referenced with the links provided on the page.
1.10.10 6.10.10	Trying to find more useful links	http://www.intute.ac.uk/cgi- bin/browse.pl?id=artifact57 – academic site, had not got many relevant search returns http://www.economist.com/nod e/4246109 - quite old (2005) statistics, talks more about the issue of violence and sex, however says the educational benefits and training benefits such as flight simulations and surgeons etc. http://technorati.com/blogging/ article/blog-focus-xbox-live- social-media/ - some comments on the fact that no figures were given describing the use of facebook and twitter on Xbox live http://technorati.com/blogging/ article/blog-focus-xbox-live- goes-super/ - facebook and  twitter on Xbox	I researched on intute however it wasn’t as helpful as I’d hoped	Economist – reliable, written for a quality newspaper so should be truthful. Xbox x2 – less reliable as it is more of an opinion with a quote and comments as to pure facts.

8.10.10	Final lesson getting secondary research. Looked at home so I was able to access more websites without being blocked.	http://www.xbox.com/en-  GB/live/bestoflive/   - Xbox - built in Wi-Fi, game demos, film streaming through zune, voice and text chat, arcade games, multiplayer gaming, sky TV, radio (last fm), facebook, twitter, Xbox live parties watch movies, play games, video chat with friends. http://www.nintendo.com/wii/o nline     - Channels: shop, can buy games, updates etc, internet, you can surf the internet, message board, photo, weather forecast, news channel, TV streaming, movies http://www.red3d.com/cwr/gam es/     -  Useful to find more links, however I didn’t find any links. None related to the topic I want to focus on, however I could use these links to try and find others and develop information I already had http://www.nma.co.uk/sky- player-launches-on- xbox/3005920.article       http://gaming.hexus.net/content /item.php?item=16427      http://kotaku.com/5018194/res earch-says-ps3-appeals-to- older-folks    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fin ance/newsbysector/retailandco nsumer/2789211/Wii-and-PS3- sales-boost-Games-profits.html      - statistics http://www.techwatch.co.uk/20 10/09/11/xbox-360-leads- console-sales-in-us-but- overall-slump/      http://www.associatedcontent.c om/article/1712963/the_realwo rld_effects_of_online_gaming _pg2.html?cat=41     http://www.streetdirectory.com /travel_guide/103868/gaming/t he_good_and_bad_impacts_of _online_gaming.html	Used search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing.	Nintendo – reliable as it is the main website which will only post truthful information, however is likely to be biased towards its own product. NMA – reliable, you have to sign up to receive articles which are factual Kotaku – seemed quite general therefore I would not class it as extremely reliable, however his facts do relate to others found. Telegraph – written for a newspaper, should provide reliable statistics. From 2008. Techwatch – a trusted website within the gamer world, therefore more reliable. Associated content – seems reliable, I will cross reference to make sure that information is correct.

Immersed in media. Telepresence in everyday life. Published 2010 Routledge. Pages 87-89, 92-95. Game Cultures. Computer games as new media. Published 2006 Issues. Pages 6-7. http://www.stepmania.com/foru ms/showthread.php?t=14009   - not useful, was a forum therefore results would have been mostly  opinion based, not factual

Books- reliable, they were well referenced and published within the last 5 years. Forum – not reliable

Reliable websites

Within my research I will have to make sure that my research is reliable. To do this, I will check each website that I use. I will see who wrote the website or article. I could cross reference the author and see what other articles they have written, or the response they have had to their previous work. This will give you a good indication as to if the work is reliable and trustworthy. You would also see what type of website it is, websites for newspapers are going to be more reliable than a blog, forum or fan page for example. A lot of comments on blogs or forums are bias and may be untruthful. Therefore I would question its reliability. I would also look at why the article has been written, is it for personal use, for a company/work based, or commenting on an article etc. When the work was submitted is important when doing research, you want to check that the work is up to date and recent. This is important for things such as researching statistics etc.

Dubstep research method

Dubstep demographic research. you would research into:

·         Websites

·         Record labels

·         Artists

·         Blogs

·         Forums

·         Radio stations

·         Magazines

 Research history to gain a general understanding of the topic. 

Look through SERPS and look into popular existent sites. Check out related searches for other ideas. 


Visit double click where you can find some of the more popular websites around the topic which will give you an idea of the websites popularity and other sites which your target audience visit. 


Look at back link which will help you get an idea of the scale of the site as it will tell you how many links there are on the net to the site your looking at.


Hunt for directories to do with the topic. Document URLs and research them in terms of their quality and relevance. Look at other audiences which could be linked in with your target (example, dupsteps sub genre is Urban which links in with clothing, there fore a clothing audience is included) You would then research through these other sites to find a wider audience.

Other forms of research

Experiments: a test to see if something is true.
This would be good as it can give you solid results, then you can give correct figures when advertising a products etc. For example, with skin care products you would experiment to find out how the product works with the consumers and how effective it is. The drawback to this method is that the consumer may not want to be experimented with. you would have to ensure you got the correct target audience to provide the best results. It also may not be completely reliable as to test the product with a significant amount of people would be costly therefore a smaller number of people may be used and therefore effecting results.

Participant observation: the researcher participates in the activity in order to better understand it.
This is good as the researcher can fully understand the product and use it to its full potential. It also means any mistakes in the product or technical faults etc can be identified and corrected as the consumer may not understand that there is actually a problem with the product. The bad this about this is that the researcher already understands how to work the product and therefore has an advantage over the general consumer. Also the researcher has a bias opinion and may be reluctant to change the product.

Historical research: looking at the history and development of something, or studying old examples of something and comparing with contemporary examples.
This is a good research method in the fact that if for example the product is a computer game, the researcher will be able to compare the oldest game to the newest game, therefore he can see what changes have been made and what has stayed the same. He can then look into it further and decide if he should change more or create new things, what went well before and why things were kept similar etc.
A drawback to this method is that ideas may not progress quickly and may focus around old ideas.

Rhetorical analysis: analysis of the techniques used to persuade the audience (can tell us something about the audience and the purpose of the text)
This method works well on persuasion for example with skin care products, the carefully chosen script will help persuade the audience that this product is best for them. It would suggest the audience are slightly gullible and therefore the researcher will have carefully selected their target audience. This method would also encourage word of mouth advertisement as once one consumer has bought the product they will most likely tell friends who may then go and purchase the product.This is good as a research method as it shows how the audience respond to the media.
A drawback to this is that there are a lot of these techniques around therefore consumers are becoming wise to it. This method is not particularly specific or factual, therefore I would be less likely to use it.

Comparative analysis: research that compares/contrasts behaviours/media products.
The comparison between products, for example, magazines. By comparing different women's magazines, you can understand what topics would be in different magazines for different audiences and what new ideas you could introduce into a different magazine etc. This could be beneficial to challenge your rivals and bring new ideas to a different magazine, also find out new ideas and maybe target a different audience that's not already being targeted. The drawback to this is that to get fully beneficial results, you would have to compare a significant number of magazines which would be time consuming. The fewer items you compare, the less informative your results will be.

After completing a task using comparative research between two websites I found I don't like using this method. I found the method to be very subjective as I found it difficult to be unbiased in my opinion. To complete this method successfully you would have to be extremely objective.


Competitor analysis: close analysis and rating of a range of competitor's products.
This method is good for seeing what products are already out there and enabling you come up with fresh ideas which are nothing like anything anyone else has done yet, also for expanding on an idea had by someone else and improving it. This gives you a unique selling point which helps advertise your company. The drawback to this is that you may find yourself copying ideas and not coming up with fresh, new products.

One on One interview

One on one interviews are good however not time effective. They allow you to obtain a lot more specific answers as you can use follow up questions to explore deeper into the question. They allow for open questions to be asked and you are able to guide them in the direction of the answer you need. A disadvantage would be that is isn't anonymous therefore people may hold back on their answers and not answer as truthfully as they may do if it was an anonymous questionnaire. The person may not answer the way you wanted them to answer and therefore effect your research. Note taking is not the most effective way of recording an interview. To be thorough, you would need to record the interview on tape and transcribe it later on, however this can be time consuming and can become costly.
I don't particularly like the use of one on one interviews. I can see the positive aspects of them however i feel they aren't time or cost effective and will probably not give you the volume of answers you could receive through other methods, although i do understand you may not get the same in depth answers from other forms.

Questionnaires.

There are many pro's and cons to using questionnaires. You have to consider whether it is a reliable form of research. People may lie in there answers giving you incorrect results or they may answer in an open question which is not relevant to your research. To amend this, a carefully structured questionnaire can overcome some of the problems and therefore be an effective research method reaching a wide range of people and gathering varied results.
I like the use of questionnaires as I feel they are a quick way of getting information from your target audience, however I would use another research method along side this to ensure I received accurate results, however this may not be cost effective. Questionnaires are good to use for close questions however difficulties come when open questions are used as you can get such a variety of results which may not be beneficial. Questionnaires must remain unbiased otherwise will attract unfair and incorrect answers.

Audience Figures

There are many websites where you can gain information about audience figures, whether it be viewing figures for TV or listening figures for the radio. it is important information to have for a number of different reasons. it will highlight the success or underachievement of a show, it will determine when the show is broadcast (peak/off-peak), the success of the station, whether the station is worth investing in, rates charged for the advertisers and the choice and pay of performers within the show.

We got together in focus groups to find out what advertising methods work well.
we found viral works well, if friends recommend a link to you then you are more likely to click on it. No one really liked text messages, we all agreed if a text was sent to us we would generally delete it without looking. no one liked pop-ups as we fear that we would get a virus as a result of clicking on the advert.

i like the use of focus groups as i feel you have voiced your opinion openly and are part of a select group and therefore may be listened to more. most focus groups will award money for taking part which is a good incentive for people to do it and they may therefore give better answers.