Different Approaches to Research.

What's the purpose of research?

Result	Definition	Example
Quantitive	figures and numbers draw conclusion from	closed questions questionnaires polls survey experiments
Qualitative	in depth answers allows candidates to give out info	open questions case study interview

- Why the interest? – what aspect of horror?        

                              – subgenres of horror

- Target audience 

As a class, we were asked to research how we would approach a possible target audience. By using the website: http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/psychology/learn_train/research_methods/, I discovered many advantages and disadvantages to researching audiences.

The most likely research I would carry out is a questionnaire:

Advantages:

-         Produces large amounts of standardised data.

-         Data can be collected quickly and conveniently.

-         Replicable and usually easy to analyse.

-         Wide-ranging sample possible.

-         New ideas for research can be suggested.

-         Good for research on socially-sensitive matters as people tend to disclose more.

Another method I may consider carrying out is an interview on a group of people within my target audience:

A disadvantage that I encountered was my potential audience not taking the survey seriously which makes me question how serious my audience is when it comes to horror.

Advantages:

-         Easy to quantify and analyse results.

-         Reliable.

-         Can be replicated.

-         Fast to complete.

-         Large amounts of detail generated.

Disadvantages:

-         Less valid due to distortion of restricted answers and closed questions.

-         Can't guarantee honesty of participants.

-         Cause and effect cannot be inferred.

The other website I decided to use was http://www.surveymonkey.com/ where I was able to generate 10 questions to ask my target audience on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully I receive as much information as I need.