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Creative iMedia · R093 TA2

R093 TA2: Research Methods and Sources

Section A: 10 multiple choice questions, 10 marks. Section B: 4 written questions, 18 marks. Total 28 marks.

Name

Class

Date

Mark  / 28

Section A

Circle the letter of the correct answer. One mark each.

  1. 1You interview six people from the target audience yourself. What kind of research is that?1
    1. AQuantitative
    2. BSecondary
    3. CTertiary
    4. DPrimary
  2. 2Reading a published Ofcom report on media use is which kind of research?1
    1. APrimary
    2. BSecondary
    3. CQualitative only
    4. DObservation
  3. 3Which data type answers 'why did users abandon the page?'1
    1. AQualitative
    2. BNumerical
    3. CDemographic
    4. DQuantitative
  4. 4What is the main drawback of primary research?1
    1. AIt is always biased
    2. BIt cannot produce numbers
    3. CIt takes time and money and samples are often small
    4. DIt is out of date
  5. 5Which of these is a leading question?1
    1. AHow often do you see the logo?
    2. BHow would you describe the old logo?
    3. CDon't you agree the old logo looks dated?
    4. DWhich logo do you prefer, A or B?
  6. 6A survey is answered only by people who follow the brand already. What problem is that?1
    1. AOut of date data
    2. BSelf selection bias
    3. CToo small a sample
    4. DA leading question
  7. 7Why should you check the date of a secondary source about social media use?1
    1. ADates affect copyright
    2. BOlder research uses smaller samples
    3. CPlatform usage changes within months
    4. DOld sources are always wrong
  8. 8Which is the strongest sample for testing a product aimed at Year 8 students?1
    1. ATwo hundred people of any age online
    2. BYour five closest friends
    3. CFifty adults
    4. DTwenty Year 8 students from two different schools
  9. 9Analytics show a 70% drop off on one page. What should you do next?1
    1. AWatch real users attempt that page to find out why
    2. BRedesign the page immediately
    3. CSurvey the whole audience
    4. DIgnore it as a single figure
  10. 10A study showing a product is safe was funded by the company selling it. What should you note?1
    1. AThe study must be false
    2. BThe funder has an interest in the result, so corroborate it
    3. CIt is primary research
    4. DFunded studies cannot be cited

Section B

Answer in the space provided. The number of marks tells you how many separate points to make.

  1. 1IdentifyIdentify one primary and one secondary research method.2
  2. 2DescribeDescribe two advantages of using primary research when designing a product for a specific audience.4
  3. 3ExplainA design agency has found an online article claiming that 90% of teenagers prefer a particular social media platform. Explain two checks the agency should make before relying on this figure.4
  4. 4DiscussA company's booking website is losing customers partway through the booking process. Discuss how the company could use both quantitative and qualitative research to find and fix the problem.8

Mark scheme

Section A

1D2B3A4C5C6B7C8D9A10B

Section B

1 Identify one primary and one secondary research method. 2

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 2.

  • A genuine primary method
  • A genuine secondary method

Model answer. A primary method is running a questionnaire with the target audience. A secondary method is reading a published industry report.

2 Describe two advantages of using primary research when designing a product for a specific audience. 4

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 4.

  • It answers exactly the question needed
  • Development of that point
  • It is current, or its quality is controlled
  • Development of that point

Model answer. The first advantage is relevance: the questions are written for this project, so the answers address exactly the decision being made, whereas a published report will have been written to answer somebody else's question about a slightly different audience. The second is currency and control: the data is collected now, and because you designed the method you know the sample size, who was asked and how, so you can judge how much weight the results deserve rather than having to trust a source you cannot check.

3 A design agency has found an online article claiming that 90% of teenagers prefer a particular social media platform. Explain two checks the agency should make before relying on this figure. 4

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 4.

  • Check the date or currency
  • Why that matters
  • Check the source, author or funding
  • Why that matters, or that it should be corroborated

Model answer. The agency should first check when the figure was published, because platform preference among teenagers changes within months and a figure from three years ago may now be the wrong platform entirely. It should also check who produced the research and who paid for it, because a study published by a platform about its own popularity has an obvious interest in the result; the figure should be corroborated against an independent source such as Ofcom before any decision is based on it.

4 A company's booking website is losing customers partway through the booking process. Discuss how the company could use both quantitative and qualitative research to find and fix the problem. 8

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 8.

  • Quantitative data is used to locate the problem
  • A specific quantitative measure is named
  • The limitation of quantitative data is recognised
  • Qualitative research is used to find the reason
  • A specific qualitative method is described in context
  • The findings are turned into a change
  • Re-testing or measuring after the change
  • A judgement about how the two methods relate

Model answer. The company should start with the quantitative data it already has, because analytics will show exactly where customers are being lost: the completion rate for each step of the booking funnel, the percentage abandoning on each page, the time spent before leaving and the device being used. That identifies the problem precisely, for instance that 70% of abandonment happens on the date selection step and that nearly all of it is on mobile. What the numbers cannot do is explain the cause, since a drop off figure is identical whether the page is confusing, slow or broken. The qualitative stage answers that: recruit five or six people from the real audience, ask them to make a booking on their own phones while talking through what they are doing, and record every point at which they hesitate, backtrack or guess. That typically produces a single concrete finding, such as the date picker requiring a tap on a target too small for a thumb, which no amount of analytics would have revealed. The change is then made on the basis of that finding, and the quantitative measurement is repeated afterwards to confirm the completion rate actually improved rather than assuming it did. Neither method is sufficient alone: the numbers say where to look and how much the problem is worth, and the observation says what to change, so the sensible order is quantitative first to locate, qualitative second to diagnose, quantitative again to verify.