Types of Research

1. Primary
2. Secondary
3. Quantitative
4. Qualitative

Primary Research means research that you do yourself and textual analysis. For example, a questionnaire, sending a letter and sending an email all class as primary research. This applies to my research as I have written to and emailed the two Musical Theatre magazines that I have analysed and I plan to do a questionnaire/survey as part of my planning to find out exactly what I my target audience wants. The questionnaire will be specific and all relevant to my audience and magazine style, it is also easy for me to distribute.

Secondary Research is research that has already been carried out by somebody else. For example, on the internet and books. Despite information in books being available and reliable, it may not be the most recent and relevant as things change quickly these days and 'go out of fashion'. The internet, for me, is easily accessible, fast and personally doesn't cost me any money! I will be looking at and finding information via the internet through industry and individual websites.

Quantitative Research is research based around numbers and finding patterns/trends within these numbers. This will become relevant in my research when I analyse the results from my questionnaire I'm going to circulate. The more people that answer the questionnaire; the better and the more reliable my average results.

Qualitative Research, this is more like carrying out an interviews, gaining opinions and feeling of people toward questions and ideas. I will use this method of research with a few people as I begin constructing my magazine to find out what 'works' and what doesn't 'work'.