Media institutions and audience research techniques

By Garland-Waide Bradford

Research provides insights to the world. It has been on of the key driving forces behind improving the lives of people around the world. The discipline when applied to media institutions and audience often lead to interesting ways of looking at these elements.  Both play a key role in how the media landscape is formed and interact with each other through various means (Mytton 1999: 11).

It’s, therefore, important to have a set of research tools that have been created and are used to delve into both media institutions and audiences. Although research can be found in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields each one has its own research systems which rigorously test its findings. The same applies to the media.

The research techniques that are deployed in the media have been adapted for how these organisations operate, the products they make as well as the audiences (Mytton 1999: 13).

Media institutions are researched making use of a different set of tools. These tools are; Archive Research, Discourse analysis, Interview, Ethnography and participant observation (Stokes 2003: 81). The content media organisations generate are researched using, semiotics, content analysis, discourse analysis, genre study, auteur study and star study (Stokes 2003: 120).  Each of these tools are sharpened for a particular purpose. Using the correct technique for the right purpose allows the researcher to reach insights that could lead to the advancements in that field.

These research methods can be defined as being both qualitative and quantitative. Archive research, Discourse analysis, and interviews fall into qualitative research. This form of research looks deeper into the content of texts.

Archive research has the research going through data that had been captured in the past. This requires the researcher to look into the records available (Stokes 2003: 81). Whereas Discourse analysis looks at the data that current media workers are generating. Interviews can combine both looking into the past and understanding the present through sitting down with media workers and interviewing them (Stokes 2003: 81).

The Qualitative research tools of content and narrative analysis can be used to understand what is being said. It will also give a different angle on the way in which research is captured. It allows the researcher to encode the content into understandable and quantifiable data.

Ethnography and participant observation looks into the anthropological aspect of the media. That means that it looks deeply into the relationships that exist in the communities outside the West (Stokes 2003: 81).

The media makes use of signs and symbols on a daily basis to communicate meaning. Meaning is at the centre of entertainment, education, and information dissemination. The way in which these texts are constructed is how the audience consumes the content and understands it. Being able to study these allows the research to link these ideas to the culture in which they are found (Stokes 2003: 120).

Auteur study, genre study and star studies requires the researcher to look into texts through which these categories can be studied and understood (Stokes 2003: 120).

Audience research also makes use of qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the nature of these groups (Mytton 1999: 14). The rise of social media and digital platforms created a splintering in audiences. It makes it possible for media institutions to focus on niche audiences. But, it is also important to understand how this dynamic plays out in the developing market.

Quantitative research sees the researcher choosing a sample from within the audience.  There various ways in which a sample group can be chosen (Mytton 1999: 20).  They then make use of a tool that makes it possible to collect quantifiable data. The data is linked to preselected categories which the research is interested in. The sample also determines the method through which the participants will be reached. One of the most popular quantitative research methods used to measure audience participation is the ratings system (Mytton 1999: 20). This can be seen in how many radio and television broadcasters shape their schedules according to the numbers the ratings indicate.

Sources Consulted

Holt, J & Perren, A. 2008. The media industries: history, theory, and method. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.

Lesame, Z, Mbatha, B & Sindane, S. 2012. New media in the information society. Pretoria: Vn Schaik

Mytton, G. 2007. Handbook on radio and television audience research. (Web edition). Paris: UNICEF and UNESCO.

Stokes, J. 2003. How to do media and cultural studies research. London: Sage.

University of South Africa. Department of Communication Science. 2016.  CMNHONE

University of South Africa. Department of Communication Science. 2016. Media research: Tutorial letter101/0/2016 for COM4802.

Science. 2016. Media research: Tutorial letter101/0/2016 for COM4802.