Evaluation

For the duration of this project I have used numerous different research techniques to find out about the impacts and future of blogging. Several techniques I have used have been more useful than others. I found that I got a lot more information using primary research methods such as focus groups and one on one interviews than using secondary research methods such as books and the internet.

To my disadvantage of my primary research was that I could kind of already predict the type of answers I would get back from my focus group and one on one interviews, because the people I was interview were of the same age group as me. Therefore I didn’t really get a good contrast of how blogging impact people.  I also feel like I spent a lot of my time on primary research as I had to constantly ask people to do my questionnaire as you don’t want it to be too long but you want it long enough to gain the most information you can. Although saying that the information I got from my one and one interview and focus was reliable but not so much effective as my demographic was the same other than one person, who didn’t really make that much of a difference to my results. Even though I got to chose my participants, I didn’t have a wide range to choose from and again because my primary research was slightly rushed. I couldn’t be too picky on who I had.  One setback was that I hoped that I’d get answers with some detail, and even though I asked questions to encourage answers with detail, I didn’t always get that. Maybe if I had asked more people then I would have got more of a contrast. Also in my focus group I was last to ask questions and I felt like my participants may have got a bit bored and found the whole process a little tedious. Another setback was that we was only given about ten minutes each to ask our questions which obviously restricted us from how much detail we could gained out of the answers given.  Another method I used was comparative analysis to compare Diggy Simmons blog and Tavi Gevinson’s blogs to see whether if they were easy to use, looked attractive and were entertaining. I wanted to see if those were the reasons why they are popular making people regularly view them.

I didn’t really find my secondary research reliable or really effective. Finding websites on the topic I was researching was quite hard. To be fair I did only use one search engine which was Google which is quite bias. I think I spent too much time sieving through pointless sites etc…  and not spending enough time looking for reliable useful sites. Most websites told me about when blogging started and famous bloggers but not how they impacted anybody or us and what they predict the future of blogging will be.

If I had the chance to do this all again I think I would pick a different subject not necessarily for ease but just a subject that’s more accessible on the internet. I felt like I hit a brick wall after a while and lost some motivation. I would have picked a variety of people from ethnicity, age and social class just to get fairer and different results. 

Comparision of two blogs

	Website 1: Style Rookie	Website 2: Diggy Simmons
Home page	There isn’t a homepage, instead you are welcomed with the first page of the blog. Starting with the latest posts. All blogs follow this style.	Just like Style Rookie there isn’t a homepage. Instead it follows the conventions of a blog with the first thing being the latest post.
Navigation	The navigation is very simple. You simply have to scroll down to see read each post and look at each picture. On the side you can choose what post to read my which particular month.	Again just like Style Rookie the navigation is identical.
Links and labels	There isn’t many links and even if there was it would be hard to find as Tavi writes a lot. You can sometimes get lost and she doesn’t posts links.	Links on Diggy’s blog are very easy to find. Infact almost every post has a link to it.
Readability	I found it quite daunting to read, as there is a vast amount of text. It almost felt as though I was reading a novel. Although sometimes she writes in a humorous manner.	Diggy’s blog is very clear and really easy to read. You aren’t starved of text and what is written is great and entertaining at the same time.
Content	There is a lot of content of this blog. One could argue that there is too much. You would need some time on your hands to go through it. Most of the content Is about her day etc with pictures of what she wore etc.	The content on this blog is very vast. Post can be about what Diggy has been up to and his new ventures in regards to his trainer line and music. There are also posts about the latest men’s fashion and occasionally gadgets etc...

One on one Interview

I had performed an interview asking Ries questions to see how blogs have impacted his life etc....

How often do you read blogs?

Two to three times a week                                                       

What attracts you to them?

The music, the personality of the blogger and the similarities and differences you share with them.

What do you get out of reading them?

Other perspectives on things, new music, its away to keep in touch with new trends etc…

What blogs do you follow?

Jesse boykins III, Diggy Simmons

Do blogs influence you? (the way you dress, live your lives, music or product you use)

No but they influence conversations and thoughts.

Do you spend more time on blogs instead of social networking sites, newspapers etc…?

Spends more time on facebook because its more engaging and I enjoy socializing

Do you have your own blog?

Not yet but im looking to create one

What would it be about?

Music and fashion

Do you talk about blogs with friends?

Yes because most of my friends share the same interests as me.

Can you see people getting paid for blogging?

Yes but not for now

Do you think blogging will increase or die out in the future?

I think it wil increase and then eventually DIE OUT BECAUSE RIGHT its going up in popularity

Do you think it’s just a trend?

No because it hasn’t caught on to as many people as it should have 

How do you go about finding a new blog? (Word of mouth, newspaper, friends)

Social networking sites etc…

Source Table

Research log   Date	Activities	Sources found	How found?
24.9.10	Assignment was set. Topic decided on and discussed. List of sub-questions created. Initial web searches- secondary research – Wikipedia…etc	Name of sources found and saved	Googled the topic – lots of sources found. Checked Wikipedia and followed links at bottom of page.
29.9.10	Wrote questions and sub-questions. Found links to the subject I’m researching.	http://digslifeofthejetsetter.blogspot.com/ http://www.thestylerookie.com	I went instantly on to their blogs as I already knew of them.
1.10.10	Checked Intute.  Researched further.	No sources were found. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1215048/Meet-Tavi-Gevinson-13-tiny-blogger-fashion-industry-feet.html	I googled Tavi Gevinson
6.10.10	Read a book	Public Relations and The Social Web: How To Use Social Media & Web 2.0 in Communications.	Went to New Media section at school library.
		http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/tutorial/media/?sid=1691623&itemid=12987 http://www.chrisg.com/real-blogging/  http://www.masternewmedia.org/2005/02/07/how_to_make_money_with.htm  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/29/iran-derakhshan-blogger-jalied
		http://rallenhome.com/essays/essay5.html www.chrisg.com/blogger-demographics http://gigaom.com/collaboration/the-future-of-blogging/TheFutureofBlogging     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4976276.stm

Effective Media Advertising

As a group we came up with some conclusions to which ones are most effective. We found out that most people do not like Pop-ups as we associate them with virus' and bad websites. We usually don't like them as they distract us from what we were doing and we usually would just click off the box without taking in the actual advertisement.

We thought some banner advertisements were good as they come up at the top of the page and don't block what you were watching/reading. There effective ecause nowadays they have ones with images and videos in promoting trailers. Some also have a 'click here' sign which would lead you to the main website where you can find out more information.

For mobile advertising we thought that it would only be effective if they were advertising something alongside the consumer being able to win or get something. (e.g. Orange wednesdays Buy 1 get 1 free ticket) 

As a group we came up with the idea that if we combined contextual advertising and pop-ups it may be effective because at least the pop-up would be something your really interested and that may appeal to you more, rather then a random advert which you have no interest in.

The Focus group itself was good but i think you would have to make sure you have checked the Demographics (social class, age, gender) because it woul be pointless if you had a focus group with different people interested in different things.

Reliable Websites

Many websites are unreliable as a resource and offer false or irrelevant information and therefore are not suitable for use in secondary research.We have to make sure that the websites are relevant and factual and in order to do so we have to follow who, what, why and when.

Who - Finding out who wrote the information is a good way to see if the information is reliable or not. Websites such as Wikipedia have some useful pieces of information but it isnt 100% reliable as it written by memebers of the public.

What - Did it provide you with useful information? Did it answer most of your research questions? What does it tell you tha can help your research as well as  research skills? 

Why - Why is this site relevant to your research topic? Why does it appeal to your target audience and why do you use this website in comparison to others; what does it have that better for you?

When - When was the information on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic you are researching? How old is the website?

When was the informa

When was the information on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic your researching? If it was a article that you found online its really important that you know when the information was taken or else it might be out dated.

tion on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic your researching? If it was a article that you found online its really important that you know when the information was taken or else it might be out dated.

When was the

When was the information on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic your researching? If it was a article tha

When was the information on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic your researching? If it was a article that you found online its really important that you know when the information was taken or else it might be out dated.t you found online its really important that you know when the information was taken or else it might be out d

information on the website posted? Is the information current to the topic your researching? If it was a article that you found online its really important that you know when the information was taken or else it might be out dated.

Other Forms Of Research

What are the benefits/drawbakcks of each?

Experiments - A test to see if something is true: A benefit of using this method is that it is reliable and factual. As you can see the results for yourself. Although you would need a controlled group and also you would need a different group of people, given the same information and see how they perform. A drawback to this method is that an experiment is essentially a set up, therefore it may not be in a real-life situation.

Participant Observation - The researcher participates in the activity in order to better understand it. A benfit of ususing this methos is that you get a clearer understanding of what you are researching. You are personally participating in your research as apposed to just reading it or researching online. A drawback to this method is that the researcher can have a biast opinion.

Kalan Bailey’s like omg this is soo freakin’ cool  audience research questionnaire 

We had to re-do a questionnare that Miss Tomlinson gave to us with ten mistakes for us to rectify. Some of the problems with the questionnare was that the questions were very vague so we had to re-write them because you wouldnt be satisfied with the information you would have gained from them. Many people who do the questionnare may lie or put false information because they may feel its a waste of their time and may want to rush trhough it. I replaced "name" with "age" & "gender" because some of the questions were personal which would entise people to lie!       

Why and how do media companies use research?

Things you would research in the media?

• Target audience and how many people are going to buy your magazine?

• Who is your competition?

• How are you going distribute it?

• How are you going to price it in relation to its target audience?

• What content is going to be in the magazine?

Selling your magazine to your target audience is just as important as selling to your advertisers.


IPC use audience profiling to clearly describe the audience to advertisers in order to gain funding/sponsors to help fund and support the magazine.

From the IPC website, we are shown the different areas of audience profiling used to help define the target audience to possible advertisers for the NME magazine;

Demographics (facts and fingures in relation to mdeia researc) such as -

• Key statistics: Eg percentage of - Age, gender, social class (ABC 1, percentage of students readers, circulation of the magazine, readership (how many people read the magazine).

Psycographics (social/political responses found through media researc) such as -

• Mobile: promotes the use of mobile techonology - advertisements
• Music and film - in relation to the target audiences and their responses to the regular music and film updates
• quotes fromn regular readers, eg "The NME is damn honest" - NME Reader

Social media research

Social Media Research is a technique used to gain product knowledge using online networking sites eg: Facebook and Twitter. Compare such as 'Simple' and 'Coca Cola' have used this method in order to make major product decisions. For example - Coca Cola made the decision to with the distribution and production of 'Coca Cola Vainilla' in 2006 following poor sales and response from the target audience. On the contray 'Simple' used social media research to request opinions on future products which lead top the introduction of new nip balm products which appealed to their target audience. The advantages of social media is the speed at which responses are received and action can be taked. As well as it is is incredibly cheap.

Research Methods

There are two kinds of research, Primary and Secondary. Primary: Comes straight from the source, e.g. if you find a Blackberry. Survey, Interviews (Market Research), focus groups (groups of people discussing a product), observation/empirical (first hand to see whats happening), forums to find out what consaumers really think of a product. Secondary: Comes from someone else, e.g. you wrote about the person finding the Blackberry. Books, internet, Media Gaurdian & Telegrapgh Technology Section, film or documentaries, Radio 4 Media Show (podcast)

You would use both forms of research for reliabilty and if you see the same information you would think that it would most likely be true.
Are magazines representing ethnic minorities failry?

'Instyle' magazine 2009

Black:15
Latino:9
Asian:2
White:272

What type of research was used? Primary research was used, empirical research.
What were your findings? A very high majority were white, which could be because of the target audience and class, but overall there was not a fair mix of ethnicity totalling 26.
How could you have improved your research? Looking at other magazines from different years to see how it has changed.
What was good and bad about the research technique you used? Our empirical primary research was good because we counted for ourselves, to see how many ethnicities there was. It was bad because we found difficult to distinguish between races, being that some of the white people were extremely tanned. Also we should have maybe made more catergories as some people had more than one etchnic background.