Primary Research

Primary research refers to brand new research which is carried out personally by the researchers, which can be tailored to suit the researcher's topic. 
Primary research can be conducted through questionnaires/surveys, interviews and focus groups. 

Advantages	Disadvantages
Results are more likely to be accurate and reliable when using direct questions. This means that the researcher will have more realistic answers	Time consuming as results will not be recorded immediately. Some short film researchers may need to find information within a short period of time.
Easily applicable to the researcher’s topic. This enables the researcher to alter the questions to the topic.	Is not cost effective. Some short films may have a small budget and may not be willing to go over for research.
Data can be collected that no other researcher could have access to. The researcher will have an advantage over its competitors due to having an expanded knowledge on their target audience.	Some participants may feel pressured to give a specific answer, therefore giving a dishonest response. Biased responses may not portray an accurate view of participant’s views and opinions which can affect the validity of the research.

The Importance and Purpose of Primary Research

Interview Techniques

Interview techniques can be separated into two different forms; formal and informal. Formal would be being required to wear a suit and give a much more professional impression, for example when going for a high level job interview in the film industry, whereas informal requires less of a effort. It is more likely that interviews in the short film in industry will be informal as most would have to use their creativity and relationships to further at a higher level. 

Observations

An observation is the process of someone recognising different facts of something occurring, which results in the observer recording, calculating or comparing the end results.. For example, a short film actor may try to identify the key characteristics of someone in order to be able to portray them accurately.  

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are a method of primary research that are quick and easy. They are a quicker way to obtain a large amount of responses from respondents in a short amount of time. Questionnaires are more likely to be a quicker way of gathering qualitative data as most questionnaires capture open questions. 

Surveys

Surveys are another method of primary research, which are similar to questionnaires. Some surveys can be conducted online which expands on the amount of respondents the researcher can receive. However, surveys are more likely to be a quicker way of gathering quantitative data as they capture closed questions. 

Types of Questions

Different questions can be categorised into either open of closed questions. Open questions require an opinionated response whereas closed questions limits someone's responses, such as 'yes' or 'no'. Through using open questions a researcher will acquire more of an elaborated and valid response. 

Focus Groups

Focus groups are small groups that are arranged to discuss a certain subject or matter. In short film production, a writer or a director can arrange a focus group with their target audience who have viewed it in order to receive valid feedback, they then can provide personal responses with what they did or did not like about the short film. 

Audience Panels

Audience panels can be useful as they are gathered to provide feedback of certain shows. Short film researchers can benefit from this as audience panels can represent different groups of viewers, which enables the producers and writers to gain a realistic insight of viewer's personal opinions of short films. 

Data Gathering Agencies

Data gathering agencies conduct research in order to collect statistical data of a product.

www.barb.co.uk offers a range of television viewing figures and audience statistics that online users can get access to. The website displays trend graphs and charts that represent the reports of weekly programmes list.

Looking at the statistics barb.co.uk have provided, between the 28th December and the 3rd of January BBC1 has been the most popular channel, with BBC2 being second and ITV being 3rd.

Short films can be more creative when gathering data as the more social media web pages, such as YouTube, Facebook, blogs and internet forums, they look at the more easier it will be for them to collect data. 

Self-Generated Research

Self generated research is research that is conducted and produced without any external help. The research that is gathered from this differentiates itself from other data as it has never been collected before. 

A short film producer can benefit from self generated research as they can tailor it to their own needs. They will also not have to rely on any outside sources as they are the ones that gather their own information, having full reliability on their data.

Advantages	Disadvantages
The researcher would not have to rely on anyone else, including external sources of information. The researcher is the source of the information, making the research more accurate and reliable.	The researcher would need a considerate amount of time and a fair budget to gather unique types of information of their own.
The information gathered is up to date.
The researcher can alter the questions and research to the topic, such as tailoring to find the needs and wants of the target audience.