HA9 Task 1 - Glossary

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a form of research that is used to gather simple information from many people. Information is gathered using simple closed questions, such as 'yes or no', and can help to understand WHAT people think. Quantitative information is gathered as 'numerical data', and can be easily converted into statistics. Quantitative research is sometimes followed by Qualitative research, if the researcher requires more detailed information.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a form of research that is used to gather detailed information from smaller groups of people. Information is gathered using open-ended questions, which allows for more in-depth responses, and can help to understand WHY people think things.Qualitative information is gathered as 'word data' and is not used to create statistics.

Audience Profiling

Audience profiling is a form of research that involves finding out who your audience is, and what they like, so you can make your products appeal to them as much as possible. 

Audiences can be defined in many ways, including factors such as:
Age
Gender
Race
Income
Lifestyle
Buying habits

Before creating a product, it's important to figure out who your target audience will be, so you know whether your product will appeal, because otherwise the product won't sell as well.

Audiences can be broadly defined by Demographics. One way to determine the demographics is the NRS Social Grade, which splits the population into 6 groups by income and status.

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Another way to define an audience is by Psychographics. This method labels people by their behaviour and personalities, according to a psychographic profile called 'Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation'.

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The last way to define audiences is with Geodemographics. It is more likely that two people from the same area would share more characteristics, than two randomly selected people. Neighbourhoods are defined by the people living in them. Any two neighbourhoods, no matter how far away, can be put into the same category.

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