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Reflecting On Research (Survey).

A part of my research that worked and proved to be successful is 'what interests you the most?' and 'what attracts you to buying a magazine'. I found that these questions worked well because they helped me understand what my target market where keen on. For these two questions, I created response boxes rather than putting multiple choice. I found this a useful way of finding out what my target market want because this gave people wider options. However, some answers were heavily influenced on the examples I put.

Another part of my research that I thought worked well is for my first question, I asked them what their age was but rather putting a response box or giving them more choices, I lowered it down to my main category which was 16-18 year olds. This proved to be effective because it meant that if someone older or younger wanted to complete the survey, there would be no point due to the fact that it does not suit my target market. Also, this question was skipped by one person which meant that they were not part of the criteria though they still completed the survey.

What didn't work for my survey was that I allowed the people who answered my questions a broad answer box which meant that there was nothing specific I was looking. Though this worked for some questions, such as the ones above, it was not the case for others. For example, the question about their ethnic background, I did not put multiple choice so therefore they were able to write it in themselves. What I didn't realize at the time was people would have different responses and wouldn't write 'white', 'black' or 'Asain' ect, they would actually put their nationality. The above picture shows the problem.This would make it harder for me to lower down to ethnicity. For example, it would've been better for me to do multiple choice since collating data would make it easier for me, and answering the questions would be easier for them since they don't need to pause and think about what nationality they are. Another problem was that my questions focused more on what they read at the moment, rather than what they would want to read in a possible sixth form magazine. They focused on the magazines that they are interested. This didn't help me decide on what they would like to see in a sixth form magazine but rather a magazine they could pick off from the shelf of any news stand. Though that was the case, I did gather some research in regards to what interests my target audience. And despite the fact that putting celebrity faces over a sixth form magazine is not part of the brief, it was interesting to see what people in my age group tend to read and this helped me work out what I should put in my own magazine.

Any further research that I complete as a survey/questionnaire, I would make sure that questions that regard ethnic background will be handled with sensitivity but also a wider range of options to make sure they understand and to make it easier for them to complete since many people aren't particularly keen on writing in a survey/questionnaire as it takes up quite a bit of time. Another thing I would change is making sure I stay on track of the brief. I found that I didn't focus on what they would want on a sixth form magazine and this did not help me. I need to make sure that the questions are enjoyable for my target market to answer but also that they are useful enough for me to use further on.