Evaluation

Overall, as my report demonstrates I have discovered a lot of interesting aspects of my topic which was internet and gaming. Most importantly I found that internet gaming is successful due to the interaction between human players in contrast to the single player experience competing against computer artificial intelligence.

To begin my research I acquired a lot of secondary research from the internet search engines including Google, Yahoo and Bing, as well as several books in my school library. My sources were mostly found through different internet searches and articles on websites about internet gaming. I found these sources by searching for broad terms such as “internet gaming” in different search engines, including an unpersonalised Google search.  I then narrowed this down with more refined terms such as “how has the internet changed gaming”. The reliability of my secondary research sources differed and ranged from reliable sources such as a university research paper on gaming habits, through to less objective sources such as personal blogs. Assessing reliability is difficult but when I saw an author, such as the author of the university paper, I then Googled the author’s name and established that they had written a number of other published documents. Anonymous sources were the easiest to discredit. I used these secondary sources to cross-reference my primary research and either prove or disprove my findings.

I think that I had just enough secondary research, so that nearly everything was used at some point in my report, but not too much that it was a waste of time obtaining it. If I had more time, one of the main things I would do is to get more secondary research from sources such as books instead of the internet. This is because the book’s authors’ qualifications were determinable where as some of the internet sources were anonymous. There was a lack of published books about my topic because it is quite specific and there was very little information in my school’s library about it.

To obtain my primary research I used three different research techniques; a questionnaire, a focus group and an interview. Each of these has their own benefits and disadvantages. I selected my subjects for my primary research from a sample of my media colleagues. This was mainly because they were available and consisted of both males and females. Because I used this same relatively small sample for all my research techniques this could have restricted my findings. If I had more time I would have liked to have used a bigger sample and invited different age groups to participate.

Obtaining my secondary research first was helpful because it assisted me in creating my questionnaire, interview and focus group questions. This allowed me to cross-reference easily as I knew both my secondary research and my primary research were relevant.

I distributed my questionnaire by printing out hard copies and physically handing them to my subjects. I chose this method because I wanted them to complete the questionnaire immediately in the time available in class. I felt that had I distributed the questionnaire via the internet I would have a lower response rate because some of the subjects might have forgotten about it or become too busy to complete it. I could have used a combination of both these methods to distribute my questionnaire, however I discounted this as I would have then had to collate the findings from two different medium. This would have taken longer and left me with less time to carry out the other research techniques.

Due to the types of questions that I used in my questionnaire, this technique gathered a lot of quantitative data. This resulted in solid facts that I then cross-referenced with my secondary research sources. 

During the course of my focus group, I observed the members of the sample group as they discussed the various questions. From this I collected information showing the general trends and ideas being discussed.

My interview was conducted with a single subject selected from the sample. Firstly I devised my questions. The opening questions were designed to result in quantitative data to identify the subject’s demographics. I then devised a series of open ended questions which would result in qualitative responses. If I was going to carry out this research again I would have interviewed more subjects. This is because I thought the quality of the answers from my one subject was extremely high and interesting. Having other subject’s responses would have added to my findings.

The results from my focus group and interview were very helpful in assessing the responses obtained from my questionnaire. This is because if some of the responses obtained from my questionnaire were vastly different from the general trends and ideas revealed by the focus group members, it would have led me to question the validity of one of my research techniques.

The quantitative data gathered assisted me in determining the demographics of my subjects such as genre, popular gaming consoles and gender. I analysed my findings to determine the percentage out of the total sample and presented my findings as pie charts.

The qualitative data was then analysed to determine the relationship and differences between genre, gender and the gaming consoles in use. Due to the nature of these responses, I obtained more insight in to the topic. I was very objective when conducting my research. This was so that I did not influence the responses given in any way. As I often play internet games myself, I found it hard to be completely objective especially when listening to the focus group. Regardless of whether my subjects gave opinions I agreed with or not, I made sure that my further questioning did not reveal my own opinions on the topic. 

After having collated my findings and delivering my report to the class, I can see that carrying out thorough research was important and enabled me to present a credible argument. In fact having carried out three different primary research techniques, in addition to the secondary research I obtained, I believe that the more research conducted, the stronger the findings would be. Equally important is the objectivity of the person conducting the research. It made me realise that objectivity can have a lot of impact, not only on the findings themselves, but also on the credibility of those findings.

Presentation

Questionnaire Findings

Focus Group

I conducted a focus group with 6 people from my class.
The average age was 17.

To begin with I asked the group if they play video games, there was a mixed result. Some saying yes and no, I asked why they play them. They answered by saying that games are fun, for recreational purposes, to waste time.The people who do not play games say that they do not because it simply does not interest them. Of the people who said they do play games, a majority were male.

When asked which consoles they play on, out of the group, nearly every console was mentioned. These included the PS3, XBOX360, PC, Sega, Nintendo DS, Wii.

I asked the group what genres of games they play. They again, answered with a broad range of genres such as Shooters, Sports, Action, Sim. They say they like these kinds of games because that's what appeals to them.

I asked the group whether they play the games online or not. There was a mixed answer, some said yes some said no. The ones who said yes said that the online content improves the gameplay experience because it is very different when playing with other gamers. One person said that people who a naturally competitive would find online gaming a much better experience than offline gaming. The people who do not normally play games, say they have better things to do with their time.

I asked the group if they would still play the games, if they could no longer play online. They answered yes, this shows that these gamers do not take online access in to consideration when choosing which game to buy.

I asked about the general demographics of the people they play with. The group said that the people they play online with come from every corner of the globe.

Interview

Q. What is your name?

A. Taddy

Q. What is your gender?
A. Male

Q. How old are you? 
A. 17

Q. Do you play video games, and why?

A. I play video games, because it gives me a sense of achievement and I enjoy the cut-scenes and analyse it as if it was a movie.

Q. What consoles do you play on, and why these particular ones?

A. XBOX 360. Because it is the only console that has Halo and Gears of War on it. And it has true skill which allows people of similar skill to play against each other. And it’s the only console that has that

Q. What kind of games do you play and why?

A. RPG, Shooter, Action, Strategy, Adventure, Sci-Fi and Music games. I like them because I just do, there’s no specific reason. They’re just the games I find the most interesting.

Q. Do you play games online and why?

A. Yes, because I can play against people from across the world, and it’s a different gaming experience.

Q. Do you tend to play with the same people?

A. No.

Q. In your opinion, does the online aspect improve or worsen the gameplay experience and why?

A. It improves it because the game is still the same it just adds playtime for you to play it.

Q.  Would you still play these games if the online aspect didn’t exist?

A. Yes. Because I buy the games for the campaign and if I like it, I play online.

Q. So whether or not the game has online content doesn’t factor in when you decide what games to buy?

A. No.

Q. What would you say about the online community?

A. The Americans are racist and aggressive as a whole, however just about everyone else is cool.

Sources Table

Sources Table Click Here

Reliable Websites

To determine whether a website is reliable we must consider Who, What, Why and When.

Who the website is written by.
What the website and it's content is about.
Why the website exists and what is it's agenda.
When the website was created, old websites data may not be relevent to present day.

Other forms of research

Experiment: A test to see if something is true. Experiments can be good to find a specific answer, however results can be inconclusive for example if not enough experiments are done to achieve a proper result.

Participant Observation: The researcher participates in the activity in order to better understand it. This can give the researcher a first hand view of what they're trying to find out. However it only gives results based on the researcher. If the target audience is not the researcher, the information obtained will not be very valuable.

Historical Research: Looking at the history and development of something, or studying old examples of something and comparing with contemporary examples. Information obtained via this method may not be valuable if circumstances have changed since. For example, information about technology 60 years ago wouldn't be relevent today because of how much it has changed since then.

Rhetorical Analysis: Analysis of the techniques used to persuade the audience (can tell us something about the audience and the purpose of the text). This analysis can give us information about the audience by analysing the way they are being targeted by the media. However, this only tells us what the media thinks about the audience, rather than finding out about the audience themselves.

Comparative Analysis: Research that compares/contrasts behaviours/media products. This research can be valuable to the researcher, if comparing their product to a more succesful product, and comparing what their product does better.

Competitor Analysis: Close analysis and ratings of a range of competitor's products. This research can be valuable if analysing a competitor's products that are better than your own. If you analyse a competitor's product who'se are worse, then you won't learn anything.

During our comparative analysis excersise, we learn't that it was subjective because in putting our own rating for each category from 1 to 5, we are putting our own opinions forward.

Processes of Dubstep Research:
1) Determine questions to gather information about the history of Dubstep.
2) Create a list of different aspects of the topic to research.
3) First understand the history of the topic to gather a good understanding.
4) Gather information about the stastics of web traffic websites particular to the topic get.

Interviewing

Interviews can be good because they give qualitative data. This means it is more in depth than quantitative data such as results of questionnaires.

With interviews, a lot more information can be gained from the person because you can follow up questions with more questions based on what they say. You can't do this with a questionnaire.

A problem with interviews would be that you might get incorrect information based on the nature of a 1 to 1 interview as people may be reluctant to give out information if it's not going to be anonymous.

Audience Research Questionnaire.

1. Age: _____


2. Please circle gender:

Male Female


3. Please circle which media forms you would buy a hard copy of (eg CD, DVD):

Music Games Film



4. Please circle which media forms you download:

Music Games Film


5. Please circle which media forms you download without paying:

Music Games Film


6. How often do you download?______________________________________________________



7. Do you use music streaming sites such as Spotify or Sky Songs? Please state which sites you use.
________________________________________________________________________________


8. Do you use television on demand websites? If yes, please state which sites you use.
___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________


9. Do you share downloads? ________________ If yes, please state who with:

a. My siblings
b. My family
c. My friends


There were problems with the original questionnaire such as pointless questions. The above questionnaire is the updated one.
Questionnaires are good for collecting lots of quantitative data but only if the questionnaire is well made, containing appropriate questions. However, to gather qualitative data, questionnaires are a bad idea because they do not go in to detail on the questions. To gather this type of data, a different research method may be better, such as focus groups or interviews.

Research Activity

BBC3's top five most viewed programmes this week are:

1. Eastenders
2. Don't tell the bride
3. Edinburgh comedy fest live
4. Family Guy
5. Great TV mistakes 

Over the last 10 years, the magazine Glamour has grown in circulation by roughly 75, 000. Glamour has roughly twice the circulation of InStyle.

Ratings and audience figures are so important because if they can prove that they have a large audience, then they can sell advertising for more money. Good ratings can show that the media product is good, this will make the media company more well known for good products. Allows the media company to see what their audience likes by the change of ratings if something is good or bad.

We conducted a focus group of about 6 people. I learnt from the focus group that it is a good research technique to find out a large number of different opinions, and that often people's opinions bounce back and forth between each other to come to a conclusion about a question. There are dominant people in the focus group, these people are usually naturally talkative, or have strong opinions about the subject matter. These dominant people usually inspire the quiter people to share their opinions and views as well.

How and why does the media use research?

The media industry uses research to obtain information about their target audience. This can be used to determine the media products content. Media research costs a lot of money, but if the research is valuable, it will make more money back than it costs to conduct.

The reader profile is for the advertisers, to tell them about their readers. From the reader profile of magazine 'Uncut', we can see that the readership demographics is predominantly middle aged males, 77% working full time and 60% married or living with a partner.

Judging by the information on the reader profile, we can determine that the main classes who read the magazine would be C1 or C2.

Psychographics is how the media company thinks their consumers think. A great deal of research, such as interviews and focus groups have gone in to psychographics.

"We produce in a year what a big whisky maker will make in a day, so we don't have the resources to carry out large conventional research compaigns." Says Davies. "However, through social media we've managed to get some really good feedback. We've established people like our modern-looking bottles, which don't feature dragons or daffodils or anything too stereotypically Welsh. They also approve of our spelling of whisky, rather than whiskey. More importantly, we've researched drinking habits and are pleased to find people aren't just collecting our bottles, they are actually drinking them."
http:// www.nma.co.uk/features/social-media-research/3016672.article


Social media consists of things like facebook and other social networking sites. This allows users to share content amongst themselves. It is a good way for companies to conduct market research.

Content Analysis

Content analysis is analysis of a specific product, looking for information based on a query or set of queries. In this case, the query was "Are magazines representing ethnic minorities fairly?".

We analysed the magazine and looked at the photos, and counted the number of pictures of each ethnicity.We found that the amount of pictures of white people greatly surpased the amount of pictures of other ethnicities.

Roughly 100 pictures of white people were in the magazine, where only 17 pictures in the magazine were of people from different ethnicities.

We could have improved this method, and thus our findings by splitting up the ethnic minorities in to separate categories for each.

Another thing to take in to account is the prominance of the pictures we are counting, such as their scale and position on the page, and what page the picture is on.

Research Methods

Primary and Secondary Research.

Primary research is information that comes straight from the source, then you find out for yourself. Examples of primary research could involve surveys and interviews.

Media research is used massively, especially focus groups which can really have an effect on the end result of a product. Focus groups for products usually consist of the products target audience.

Interviews are also used for media research. These allows the researchers to get a lot more detailed information out of a person, rather than asking generic questions to a group of people.

Observation is used as a media research technique. This allows the researcher to gather information about consumer's behaviour in regards to media consumption. This type of research is called 'Empirical'.

Internet chat rooms and forum's are also used as a way of obtaining primary research.

Secondary research is information that has been obtained from someone else's research from places such as books and blogs.

Media Guardian and the technology section of the Telegraph are both good sources for seccondary research.

Podcasts and documentaries can also be used as sources for secondary research.