Introduction:

Having looked at the many different methods of research I will now continue on to discuss the pros and cons of each of them. For example, secondary research was one of the methods I discussed and though it is useful having the answers to a question there online you can often find yourself asking more questions and wondering whether or not the information you had found is plausible.

Secondary Research:

Secondary research has its advantages; you have answers already in existence and on a piece of software used worldwide. This means a greater variety of information and views. However, as addressed before, you can often find yourself looking in the wrong places for information and sometimes the information you do extract could be from an unreliable source therefore resulting in biased, confusing results. This is why, in some cases, primary research outweighs secondary with advantages.

Primary Research:

With primary research the responsibility for collecting and obtaining information is your own therefore you can rely on your results and make sure you work towards what you are looking for. With primary research you feel more confident when receiving feedback as you know exactly where it is coming from and you understand the answers to your questions, even how they are worded. What can be a set back is the amount of money it costs to set up events based on primary research; this could be through a survey, a questionnaire or even an event. These are common methods used by those of people undergoing primary research and though they may promise reliable answers they also require a lot of money to set up. With a survey you would need the money for paper and any devices used to produce the documents. With a questionnaire the same problems could apply unless it is set up online. And, of course, with live events money is needed to set up displays and get people to become part of the event.

Qualitative & Quantitative Research:

Another form of research I talked about was qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative being when the answers you receive are based on opinions and involve open ended answers. Quantitative being when all your answers are based on numbers and amounts therefore easily translated into graphs or charts. These two methods of research are useful but, like any other form of research, come with disadvantages. With qualitative research you will often find that although you are receiving clear precise answers to your questions you are also noticing a divide in opinions. Normally, this would be helpful as you would be able to show how different audiences are affected by something, however sometimes you will find that there are numerous different groups of people with entirely different opinions towards the same question. This is when you start to wonder how you are going to bring your research to a conclusion or hypothesis. This is also where quantitative research can come in handy. With quantitative research no matter how many different opinions you get you will always be able to narrow down all the answers to two specific groups based on the numbers. Even if there are several different answers for the one question you could translate them into graphs or pie charts therefore making space to display the different opinions and answers. Though both methods of research are useful and used on a regular basis within the industry it is sometimes helpful to choose one which provides the best results for you.

Processes of Research:

As well as the different methods of research you have to take into consideration which is the best process of gathering information, as mentioned earlier. These could be questionnaires, surveys, live events or even interviews. With questionnaires you will often find that you have more reliable answers and it is much easier to find a greater number of them being that they are either handed out in public or accessible online. You also can be more flexible with your questions and have more time to process what you want to ask your audience rather than sticking to a strict template and rushing to complete the work. However, they sometimes can introduce a number of problems regarding your audience’s understanding of the questions. For example, you may be asking about a specific subject and your audience may give a clear and detailed answer but realise that they are addressing an entirely different topic.

Surveys/Questionnaires:

This is where surveys can come in handy despite having similarities to questionnaires. With surveys you do not have to always go into too much detail with your questions and often you will cut straight to your central focus and give a list of answers rather than relying on the audience to give their own word-for-word answers. Also, you decide the template of your survey rather than sticking to a recognised set out. However, surveys come with problems even if only by a little; sometimes it may be that someone has done the same survey more than once either intentionally or by accident. This is when you can start to find biased results and often you will have to go back and do the survey again until the results are fair and reliable.

Interviews:
With interviews you will find there are a number of pros as opposed to cons; with an interview it is direct and the people you are asking are dedicating a moment of their time to it. When asking questions the people will have an opportunity to stop you and ask for you to elaborate on anything they did not understand therefore you will, eventually, get a straight answer. As well as this you may be able to encourage others to have an interview and give their answers to you. However, you will find that sometimes people will change their mind on answers therefore prolonging the interview process and ultimately delaying full feedback of information. This is where you start to look for ways of which you could expand your methods of research.

Research for Brief:
When addressing these methods of research in relation to my brief I would consider primary research and surveys to be a good form of research. I believe that with a survey I would be able to receive straight forward answers and be able to isolate the answers to something that I might use as part of the project. I believe that in undergoing this form of research I would spend less time researching but still receiving answers and therefore have more time to plan the more practical side to the project. I would probably not consider using interviews as a research option as although it is direct and you receive a considerable amount of information you also find yourself following what others are telling you to do rather than adopting your own style and meeting their expectation through that. With surveys you can take on board the answers from others but you will not necessarily feel you have to follow the exact criteria. However, there are a few disadvantages with surveys and one being that they can often introduce a lot of biased results if not given to the correct number of people. As well as this you may often find you have asked the same question twice and have to start over. At times surveys can complicate

VoxPop:
I will also carry out what is called a, ‘Voxpop’ which involves going around the public asking questions and collecting information from the responses you get. Though interviews do not apply to me this method does as it takes less time and you still receive helpful answers being that it is a method of qualitative research. In terms of secondary research I will rely on using online tools to find reliable information about the subject of my brief. This will involve visiting an official website to extract information as this would reassure me I was looking in the right place and collecting precise and correct information.

I believe I would be able to receive straight forward answers and be able to isolate the answers to something that I might use as part of the project. I believe that in undergoing this form of research I would spend less time researching but still receiving answers and therefore have more time to plan the more practical side to the project. I would probably not consider using interviews as a research option as although it is direct and you receive a considerable amount of information you also find yourself following what others are telling you to do rather than adopting your own style and meeting their expectation through that. With surveys you can take on board the answers from others but you will not necessarily feel you have to follow the exact criteria.

Why use both?

I believe that in using both forms of research I would be able to feel more confident in receiving the correct information. The benefits of using more than one technique, in terms of research, is that if one technique did not work out and a lot of your work was biased and unreliable you have the second method to rely on and improve in places that you felt unsure of with the previous research method. For example, if I carried out a Voxpop and the people I interviewed had the same answers I would have the survey to rely on and try to expand my research and ask different people thereby collecting a wider range of answers and opinions.

 

My Secondary Research:

For my secondary research I will visit the official website for the product I will be relating my project to. In doing this I gain reliable information as well as direct information. As discussed before, using external resources can come with a lot of disadvantages including unreliable information and unrelated content. In visiting an official website I can feel safe in familiarising myself with whatever it is I am looking to learn more about. An official website is set up by the people themselves and therefore will only provide me with the information that is needed and also inform me of any updates and events. You will find that the information on an official site or, in some terms, a ‘verified site/page’ will be a lot more reliable and equally more relevant to what you are researching. This is why it is best to avoid sites unrelated to the company/business/etc that you are discussing or researching.