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Focus Groups
The television ratings produced by organisations such as BARB is quantitative data, and is to do mainly with numbers. Sometimes, however, broadcasters want qualitative data, information about media audiences.
The kind of issues that can benefit from qualitative analysis can be quite simple, such as what audiences like or don't like about a particular programme. But questions can be asked about more complex, representational or ideological issues. For example, until 2001, BARB asked a sample of the television audience to keep individual 'media diaries.' They were used by researchers to produce an 'Appreciation Index' of how much audiences enjoyed particular programmes.
Today, the most common method used to obtain this kind of information is 'the focused group interview' technique. This was developed by the US sociologist Robert Merton.
Group interviews are more cost efficient than individual interviews, but more importantly, allow the researcher to observe the ways audiences make sense of the media through social interaction.
Big Brother - a case study
Channel 4 commissions market research organisations to produce qualitative data about its programmes.
Below is an example, an account by Linda Hancock, Research Manager of market research organisation, Quaestor, of the research done on Big Brother series 4.
"In order to go beyond merely asking, 'how many / who is watching Big Brother', we are using qualitative techniques to really get under the skin of viewers and viewing behaviour. Not only do we want to find out what they really think, but we also aim to understand what is driving their response to the show and how their response develops over the course of the series.
The research takes place every Monday and Tuesday evening, and on most weeks is in the form of four mini-group discussions.
Four sets of six people, fitting a specific set of criteria, are recruited by local qualitative recruiters to take part across two different UK locations. The criteria on which they are recruited relates to:
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their age, gender and socio-economic profile
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whether they are in a terrestrial or multi-channel TV household
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their Big Brother viewing frequency
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their level of interaction with the show (voting, use of internet, SMS, Interactive TV etc)
Typically, the four groups might be as follows:
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Group 1 - 17-18 year old females, C4 and E4 viewers
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Group 2 - 19-24, mixed gender, C4 only viewers
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Group 3 - 25-34, mixed gender, C4 and E4 viewers
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Group 4 - 35-44, mixed gender, C4 only viewers
Every week, a different set of respondents is recruited in different locations.
An experienced moderator leads a one hour discussion within each group. At times the groups may be held in a viewing studio with a two-way mirror, to allow Channel 4 personnel involved in Big Brother to observe.
The discussion is semi-structured in that a discussion plan is used to guide the conversation. This plan covers key topics: the house-mates, the weekly task, the Saturday live task, the eviction show, the schedule, viewing behaviour etc. The discussion plan is adapted every week in conjunction with Channel 4, to ensure that relevant question areas are explored. To facilitate the discussion we use picture boards of the characters as well as cards with a range of adjectives written on them describing the series.
The respondents watch the programme just before going to the group interview. We recruit people with a mix of behaviour and attitudes ranging from, 'I wouldn't miss a show' to, 'I try to catch to catch it if I'm in'.
Of the eleven weeks of research, three will comprise in-depth telephone interviews with individual respondents who have already participated in a group discussion. This allows us to find out how individual responses change through the series. In these weeks 12 interviews are conducted, each lasting half an hour.
A report detailing the key findings of the week is submitted to Channel 4 by Thursday lunchtime. After thorough and detailed analysis, the research will culminate in a 1-2 hour presentation of the cumulative findings from the eleven weeks of research. The presentation will include a series of recommendations to ensure that subsequent series can benefit from what we learned from this one."
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