Research methods

There are four main research methods which prove to be useful when finding out about music videos. These are:

• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Primary
• Secondary

Quantitative

This type of research can be measured because it is numerical information. It usually will consist of a questionnaire that can be distributed to a large sample and in turn gain a lot of information.

Qualitative

This is the opposite to quantitative research. It is descriptive and can not be measured numerically. This type of research is usually conducted through in-depth interviews, focus groups and direct observations. This method is a way of collecting data concerned with meaning. What they lack in reliability they gain in validity as they provide a more informative, rich description. 

Primary

This is data you collect for a specific purpose. The questions are tailored in a way to gain specific information. This works best with small samples and all kinds of practical research methods can be used e.g. questionnaires, interviews, focus groups etc.

Secondary

This is data that already exists. There are a huge amount of ways to gain secondary research, for example, the internet, books, newspapers, libraries etc. This is said to be the easiest way of collecting data as someone has already done it for you. It is also more time/cost effective than primary data collection.

Because of the time limit I am under, I will mainly be gaining information through secondary research methods, and then towards the end of the coursework, quantitative, producing questionnaires for a sample of my target audience to gain feedback form. These are both time and cost effective methods of research and will benefit me greatly when collecting relevant information.