Quantitative and Qualitative Research- Music Magazine

Websites used for help and inspiration: www.snapsurveys.com
www.iwh.on.ca/wrmb/primary-data-and-secondary-data

When you produce a magazine, you need to do some research before you get started. This is because it will help you create the best that you can, as it will include other people's opinions, not just yours. The research will offer you different opinions, constructive and positive feedback and data which you can use which will help you to create a suitable magazine to please the majority.
After choosing the genre of the magazine, there are two different types of research that people need to think about before creating a magazine. One is qualitative research.

Qualitative research is a type of research that is all about creating a clear understanding about discussing different reasons, thoughts and opinions from different people. Qualitative research is the most useful/helpful source of research, as it gives you answers WHY. It is also a very specific and honest source, so you will get immediate answers that will allow you to base your magazine content on. Everyone has different opinions,so it's good to question many people, as you need to work out what will please the majority, not just your opinion. Qualitative research is specific, but it might not tell you how many numbers agree or disagree with you, so you might not know what the majority said or the amount of feedback that you got or what the majority of data from other magazines are, so you need to use quantitative research as well to find out the data needed.

Quantitative research is all about finding data in terms of numbers, so you'd have to measure the various views and opinions in a chosen sample, as well as finding out the number of opinions, quantify data and generalize results in a sample. Quantitative research is good as it allows you to be precise and professional, as it shows that you're getting your facts right and that you can compare the numbers to other helpful things. However, I think that this research is very broad and isn't specific, so you'd need to do qualitative research as well to have a wider understanding of creating a magazine, as you need to have explanations why instead of the total number of opinions. Quantitative research is good after finding out qualitative research, as you will know what other people's opinions are, so you can use that data and work out the numbers. If you did qualitative research before quantitative, you wouldn't exactly know what you are finding out.

These two research sources relate to my music magazine, as there are many different people who listen to a genre of music, Eg. someone who listens to rock might listen to very heavy bands and they have tattoos, wear black leather and have long hair, but someone else might wear casual clothes and might listen to much softer rock bands, so these two contrasts will give you different opinions for qualitative research. There might also be more casual, easy listening people compared to people who are big fans, so this is where the quantitative research will be useful.

All music magazines are different, as some have lots of adverts and recommendations, where as other mags will have lots of writing about interviews with band members or artists, new band album explanations etc, so different people will give you different answers why they might prefer one thing compared to another, and quantitative research will tell you how many people preferred one idea compared to another. These research sources relate to the music industry, as some bands/artists are more stereotypical or popular compared to others, so different people/fans will give you reasons why they prefer one band to another, and the quantitative research will tell you which bands are more popular compared to others when you produce a survey. Bands will benefit from these sources of research, as it will tell them if they need to make their music softer, heavier, longer or stay the same and why, as well as finding out the most popular choice from the public.

Qualitative research: open ended answers. Eg. When is your birthday and what do you do to celebrate?/What is your cat's name and when did you buy them?- Reasons with their answer.
Quantitative research; Closed answers. Eg. When is your birthday?/When did you buy your cat?- Straight to the point, one worded answers, Eg. yes or no.

Primary data is going to different areas or locations and asking different people precise and specific questions that researchers would like to be answered. Primary data is like qualitative research, as it asks honest questions and they also want reasons for that person's answer. This type of research is good, as researchers are finding out lots of different opinions which they want and need answering which will benefit them to produce whatever project they are working on. These researchers ask these questions and produce these surveys themselves.

Secondary data is when data has already been gathered from somewhere/someone else and researchers study this research in a different way to fit in a way for what they are looking for. Secondary data can go on for a while and doesn't have to be immediate; it is allowed to take it's time as researchers are studying the results in a different way. It is also a cheaper way of finding information out compared to primary data which is more expensive. These sources relate to my research as they will allow me to read in to them further than finding out people's opinions and how many there are. From using primary and secondary data as well, I can work out why people are giving me these opinions and why there are more that prefer one idea compared to another idea.

When I do my own research, I will try to use qualitative research first before quantitative research, as I feel that I will want to know why the majority think what they think, then afterwards work out and compare what the best option will be. I'm going to go in with an open mind and ask many different questions to find out precise research, so this will help me find out quantitative research as I will have lots of people that I asked. I hope these opinions will help by giving me inspiration for when I produce my final product.


Questionnaire: Draft questions for creating a multiple choice survey to the public.

What is your gender?

How old are you?

What is the most listened to genre on your iPod?

How much time do you spend listening to music?

Do you buy music magazines?

What do you prefer in a music magazine?
-Lots of pages of writing: Interviews with bands and album explanations
-Recommendations of bands/albums, small amounts of writing and adverts

Which magazine title is your favorite?

What is your favorite colour scheme?

Do you have a newsagent near you?

Where do you buy magazines if you buy them?

How often do you buy magazines?