Media Research

Media research is the study of the social, psychological and physical aspects and effects of the different mass media. For example, how much time do people spend with a particular medium? Whether it has the effect of bringing about changes in the perspectives of people? Does the use of medium have any harmful effects? Whether these effects are because of technology or the programme contents? What the media users want and expect to hear or read or see and experience?

In this connection it is also researched whether a medium can provide information and entertainment to more and different types of people. In what way, new technology can be used to improve or enhance the sight or sound of the medium? How is it possible to change the content or programming to make it more valuable effective and entertaining?

While conducting Media research, we need to understand:

The nature of medium being used

The working of the medium

Technologies involved in it

Difference and similarities between it and other media vehicles

Functions and services provided by it

Cost associated and access to new medium

Effectiveness and how it can be improved

As decision process depends on data, thus media research has grown to be utilized for long range planning. Research is in growth phase due to competitions between different media.

Communication, by definition, is a two-way process. It is a co-operative and a joint effort. It is a mutual experience. It is an exchange between two parties- a sender and receiver. For the communication experience to become complete, what we need is a response to the message of the communicator. That response, when it reaches back the sender, is called feedback.

In interpersonal Communication, the sender and receiver interact naturally, directly and immediately. They constantly interchange roles- as sender and receiver. But in mass communication, the situation is different. The response of the audience becomes meaningful only if it reaches the sender. The different means of feedback include writing a letter, making a phone-call or sending an e-mail or SMS, canceling a subscription, etc. Turning of the TV set is a reaction. But it does not reach the sender. In view of the distance, time and space between the communicator and the audience, mass communication feedback is indirect, delayed, often cumulative and rarely representative. Thus media organizations try to collect feedback on their own. But the process of collecting feedback is immensely time consuming, and involves enormous expenses.

The audiences of the mass media are usually very large. Any feedback to be worthwhile has to come from a representative sample of the total population. It must be statistically represent the feelings and actions of the total audience.