Evaluation
Secondary Research: The secondary research was completed first. I believe that doing secondary research first was a very good idea because later on in my project I established that most of my solutions were found via primary research and if I were to do it before the secondary research I wouldn’t have been concerned with undertaking secondary research. Around the time we were carrying out the secondary research I found it very easy to find sources in relation to my research topic. The majority of my sources were methodically found. I wrote down a list of things that I was aiming to find out within the research; who made up the majority of the downloading population, what professionals thought on the subject, what were some of the consequences the government had in store for illegal downloader’s etc. I typed these questions into Google and I was able to view a variety of articles in relation to these questions. One key source that I found methodically was quantitative data. My research was based around illegal and legal downloading, therefore demographics were key in finding out who target audiences were in relation to illegal and legal sites viewed. In spite of this I also found sources randomly. I got to a stage where I began to realise that I was constantly finding the same information this resulted in me typing phrases in Google such as ‘illegal downloading’ or ‘music streaming’ just to see if I can find a variety of sources. I resulted in doing this because my findings were repetitive and internet based. Admittedly, I only used Google as a search engine which could potentially be the reason why my findings were repetitive. I only viewed the first couple of links on Google as I thought they were the most reliable seen as they were first. I later found out that this isn’t necessarily true because when analyzing the first couple links; articles found weren’t related to reliability, some were out of date and others weren’t written by companies but by members of the public. I did manage to use AskJeeves and Yahoo on occasions however I still ended up using Google again. When searching the net I found out that it was very difficult to find information on illegal activities such as downloading. I was online for a huge amount of time, trying to find out about illegal downloading and I think this is because some people may be a bit spectacle toward expressing that they may take part in something illegal. I managed to find a couple of book based sources however in my final report only one quote was relevant as the rest of the books were out of date and un-reliable.
However there were some obstacles when undertaking this research method as well as when putting my findings together. When analysing all of my secondary research I found that there were too much for me to be able to draw accurate conclusions because of an overload of information. I weren’t able to construct many conclusions which would be reliable because all articles stated different opinions and facts. On the other hand some of the sources were very reliable. Although most of the secondary sources were internet based I managed to find articles written by some well respected journalists such as Stephen Fry. Being that he is a well respected journalist I knew that the content in his article were well researched and his findings were accurate and supported by facts and figures. Some of his views and opinions helped me in structuring my own conclusions. I found a couple of unreliable sites such as blogs and forums however they came in useful in finding out what audiences were thinking. Although they may not have been accurate or reliable opinions they helped in getting an insight into why people legally or illegally download music; in other words the physcographics of audiences.
Accountable to having plenty of time to find secondary research; the majority of findings became overbearing. I believe that we spent too much time on finding secondary research as opposed to planning. If we were to plan out in detail what we were looking for and what our aims were to find by the end of the report then we would have been able to structure our findings in regards to what relates to our topic. I also found that because so much time was spent on secondary research, my primary research was rushed. This was very problematic for me because I believe that primary research more benefitted my research topic as opposed to secondary research as my research is purely based on audiences and the way they think. Although my report is based around my primary research, I did manage to refer back to my secondary research; so admittedly the secondary research was useful but it wasn’t as important as the primary research in my particular research topic.
Primary Research
Interviews:
I decided to do an interview because I believed that by doing an interview I was able to get a more in depth and reliable answers from audiences as opposed to doing a questionnaire; where some people may not want to be bothered to write full length answers. Although there is a risk of interviewees talking forever about such subjects I believe that interviews is the best way in trying to find out what a person really thinks. Sometimes when you’re talking to someone, you might say something and as you say it, another thought may come into your head following your previous thought; which you may then want to express. People find it much easier to talk and fully express themselves as opposed to writing. Getting a fully opinionated response allows you to further develop conclusions as to why people think or act the way they do. In addition to that in an interview you can go further into what you’re aiming to find because, according to their answer, you can develop further questions. In contrast to this I thought that maybe some people wouldn’t be as open to talking about ‘illegal’ issues which they may or may not take part in, in front of me. I knew that I would be taking a risk by doing an interview but I believed that this was the only method in which I am be able to hear what people really thought; and I was able to see facial expressions therefore on occasions you will be able to tell if a person is lying or if they feel uncomfortable. If you are able to witness this then you are able to draw various conclusions as to why they may have reacted that way; do they feel guilty for illegally downloading?, why would they lie about something they do so bluntly? Etc. I believe that this analysis towards doing an interview as one of my research methods allowed me to draw precise conclusions from my findings therefore making this method reliable and effective. I chose four people to interview; all of which ranges from a particular age group. I chose to interview two teenagers (one boy, one girl) and two adults (one man, one woman) ranging from 30-40. I choose these two particular age groups because it’s a great balance between those who are extremely computer literate (teenagers) and those who aren’t as computer literate as the teenagers. I didn’t decide to interview adults exceeding this age limit because I thought that majority of elderly people uses the computer less and they wouldn’t be able to provide me with in depth answers in regards to this topic. I decided to do an interview with both males and females in each age group because I wanted to find out the core target audience who were illegally downloading music and I wanted to see if there was a link between genders; unfortunately there weren’t any. In addition I chose these four participants based on their financial background. I chose two teenagers who weren’t employed and two adults who were employed. I wanted to compare their answers to one another and make a link between those illegally downloading with being financially unstable which I knew beforehand was going to be teenagers. So in other words I just wanted factual proof to back up my theory which I eventually got and stated in my report. If I were to do this method of research again I would have interviewed more people as I found that when putting my results together I got a lot of similar answers and I found it difficult to differentiate between some of the answers enabling me to draw dependable conclusions. However all participants answered each question in depth which provided me with enough information to later on conclude. I asked 18 questions; a mixture of open and closed questions. I decided on asking so many questions because I wanted there to be variety. I designed questions which would be able to test participants knowledge on illegal and legal sites “ How effective are these sites compared to one another, is an illegal website easier to use as opposed to a legal website?” as well as questions to see what they thought of downloading as a whole and what regime would best suit their needs; “What price would you say is a reasonable price for music?, Why do you think that people wouldn’t support their favourite artist and buy their music as opposed to illegally downloading?, 75% of the downloading communities who illegally download music are teenagers, why do you think this is?, What is the attraction to getting something illegally??. These questions forced participants to answer in depth providing me with enough information to draw conclusions.
Participant Observation
I chose this type of primary research because I believe that this type of primary research results in your findings being valuable as well as factual. Your results aren't assumed or from a secondary source you are there to witness things for yourself and are able to draw valuable conclusions. However to get an effective result you must have an opposing side to compare your results to or else your findings will be biased. I looked at two types of streaming methods (illegal and legal downloading) to further understand why people use them. I decided to look at Frostwire and Itunes as a representative of both a legal and illegal site. I chose these two websites at random; they were amongst a list of the most popular legal and illegal sites which I found through looking at the demographics via doubleclickadplanner.com. I used these sites to illegally and legally download music and I compared my experience; I analysed how I felt using each method; which one was easier to do, is the quality of the music different for each method, is it really better to download legally in regards to personal finance etc. This method was very effective in regards to learning what audiences thought and felt when illegally or legally downloading music. I was able to further understand why people felt as if they weren’t stealing anything when they were illegally streaming music. Knowing your audience is vital in a research like this because you need to understand what the reasons were behind their decisions. You aren’t able to go around and interview each person that downloads and ask them why they make the decisions that they do so the next best thing to do is undertake the same research method and somewhat try and relate to audiences. Consequently, although undertaking this type of method was effective in relating to audiences I found that I was greatly influenced to partake in such illegal acts; it was hard to be objective. I was aware beforehand that by doing ‘participant observation’ there was a chance that you could get persuaded to undertake in the activity you were researching but I didn’t know that the urge would be so powerful. When being a part of the research you become oblivious to the fact that you’re actually doing a research project because you get so involved in it. In regards to this particular research report I experienced the same urge that downloader’s get when they illegally download. In a way this was a good thing because I was able to talk about that feeling and relate it to audiences behavior as well as seeing if it had anything to do with the increase of illegal downloading etc however being so involved could potentially be a bad thing as I could have done something ‘illegal’.
Comparative Analysis
I chose this type of primary research because I believe that it will be suitable in analysing the sites people go on; what these sites do and the affects it has on album sales. I looked at a couple of sites, viewing the demographics of the site and drawing a conclusion regarding the future of the music industry based on the information I received. This research was somewhat reliable as it gave me an insight into what sites offered to persuade audiences to buy or download music. I was able to analyse what a sites U.S.P is in regards getting audiences to do something illegal. I looked closely at the demographics of two very popular sites; Limewire and Napster. I chose Limewire because after talking to various people Limewire was the most popular site to illegally download music. Originally I thought of Itunes as it’s the most popular legal downloading site however because I already used Itunes as a site to review I decided to look for another one. I went on the internet and looked for the top 5 most popular sites to legally download music from and Napster was second on the list right underneath Itunes. As I was already familiar with Napster I decided to use this.
I examined the demographics of each website looking at what the core audiences were for each site, what age and gender were they, does their household income has an effect on those who illegally download music. I found that people who are earning a lot of money decide to get their music for free as opposed to those earning less, therefore leading to the drop in profits for music industries. I also came to the conclusion that teenagers may be the cause of future effects on the industry. I realised that on the Napster site there were no teenagers nor elderly people who used that site. However on Limewire there were 26% of teenagers using this site and there were 4% of elderly people using the site. Generally elderly people are shown by their children or grandchildren how to use the computer and specific sites, so statistics shows that the more teenagers that use these sites the more elderly people used these sites; therefore causing an increase in the population of those illegally downloading music.
This research method was extremely effective in regards to understanding who the core audience were and how companies go about appealing to them. I didn’t experience any problems when undertaking this research method. I believe I made the right decisions in regard to the sites I chose; they both turned out to be very informative and they both were able to provide recognizable methods in which they persuade audience’s i.e. emphasizing on the word ‘Free’.
Overall What I Found Out and What I Would Have Done Differently
My study was on illegal vs. legal music streaming and although it was a very wide subject to study I believe that I was able to make accurate and reliable conclusions upon the subject. I was able to gain knowledge through both secondary and primary research. However, I did notice that via my primary research I was able to find out more accurate findings. Because this subject is all about the way people think and why they make the decisions that they do I believe that I found out more by physically asking them questions myself. I was able to find out that more teenagers illegally download because of money expenses or that a lot of illegal websites became popular through word of mouth. In regards to the two research methods; primary and secondary research I gained plenty of knowledge on effectiveness and accuracy and reliability on each. I found that with the secondary research I tended to gear towards internet based sources. I believe that this is because my research topic is internet based so naturally you would go on the web to get answers about things that are on the internet. If I were to do it all over again I would find more book based sources and newspaper articles so that my findings would have more variety as opposed to my findings being predominantly from the internet. Whilst being in the process of finding secondary sources I found that it is very time consuming. I spent majority of my time looking for sources that were not only relevant but also reliable in regards to my research topic. Majority of the information on the internet aren’t true so I had to try and differentiate which information I could take for my research that were true. I did this by looking at the date an article was written (if a article was written years ago then it wouldn’t be relevant for my current research), who wrote it (are they a respectable company like ‘The Sunday Times’ or was it written by a bored teenager) and what makes up the content (is the information relevant to what you’re studying)?
I learnt a lot whilst carrying out my primary research. I learned that primary research provides more accurate and reliable information than secondary research would. When doing primary research you get to find out information for yourself; you get to go out and physically meet people and interview them or you get to sit in a group with people and conduct a focus group, you can even create a questionnaire and send it out to people and get a response within an allocated time. With primary research you don’t have to depend on other people to provide information, you get to research it yourself. When carrying out my primary research I learned more about my target audience than when doing secondary research. I found out that those who illegally download don’t feel as if they are doing something illegal because they aren’t physically stealing something, I found out that sites tend to persuade audiences to download illegally, not only by emphasizing that its free, but also hiding the fact that its illegal; the process is so quick that you become unaware of doing something wrong. By doing primary research I was able to relate to audiences therefore allowing me to better understand how they feel when undertaking illegal activities. This process made it easier for me to draw conclusions as to why people may illegally download music as opposed to buying it. I was also able to get quantitative data by looking at the demographics of audiences. Quantitative data added diversity within my final report because not only can people hear what my conclusions were but they were also able to see the facts and figures to support them.
If I could change anything I would change my time management. I would thoroughly plan out how I’m going to structure my research, what I’m aiming to find and how I am going to go about finding it. I spent too much time finding secondary research and not enough time talking to people and learning more about audiences and the impact of music industries. If I had more time I would’ve searched for a music industry executive or anyone within that field and ask them what they thought about the future of the music industry. I would get more of an insight into how the music industry was affected by illegal downloading, maybe that representative could supply me with facts and figures of the music industry today. This would result in my conclusions being broadened and more informative.
If I could I would have added more variety to my report; this includes interviewing a wider range of people, looking for other research sources as opposed to just internet based ones and I also would have compared more websites. I believe that by doing all of these I would have been able to draw more conclusions and create more links between my findings because I would’ve had more information to analyse. Because of the small amount of time we had to complete our research, all conclusions and solutions drawn were concluded from the information I had. In other words I had to make do with the information that I had and draw conclusions from that as opposed to having a variety of information to select from.
