1. What skills did we learn about the importance of R&P?
G325: Section A: Theoretical Perspectives in Media
Question 1a)
Research and Planning
What skills did we learn about the importance of R&P?

2. 7 Research and Planning areas to consider:
Types of research
Advantages/Disadvantages of sources
Organisation of research
Planning – pre-production requirements
Organisation of planning materials
Presentation of planning materials
How research and planning has informed your practical work

3. Learning research skills from AS to A2
1. Types of Research
Primary – Primary research is material uniquely gathered/generated by you/your group:
textual analysis of similar genres through internet/TV/magazines/student exemplars
audience feedback (staff and peers)
Questionnaires
vox pops,
opinion polls
Secondary research - Secondary research is where you’ve read and used existing writing:
Books
Websites
Newspapers
Blogs
Articles
Theories e.g. Carol Vernallis
Class notes
Viewing figures, ABC figures for magazines etc.

4. A2 Coursework
Look back at your A2 blog and all of the posts you have labelled as research and planning. Look at the c/w schedule – did you complete all of the research and planning tasks specified?
Make a list of the primary research you carried out for your music video and ancillary tasks.
Make a list of the secondary research you carried out for your music video and ancillary tasks. You might need to look back at your blogs to identify theorists, articles etc you read.
What are the pros and cons of the primary and secondary research you have carried out?

5. AS Coursework
Look back at your AS blog and all of the posts you have labelled as research and planning.
Make a list of the primary research you carried out for your music magazine/film opening.
Make a list of the secondary research you carried out for your music magazine/film opening. You might need to look back at your blogs to identify theorists, articles etc you read as part of your research and planning.

6. Comparison
Compare the extent of the research/planning you carried out for your AS and A2 coursework.
To what extent have your research/planning skills improved? Explain and support your answer with evidence.

7. 2. Advantages and Disadvantages of sources
The focus is on SKILL – progression and changes in methods from AS to A2. You need to think about what you learned about the advantages/disadvantages of:
Expense/Cost – how much did the research cost? Books? Magazines?
Accessibility – Was the research easy to find? Time – Was it time consuming?
Reliability – was the research measured to be consistent – did you find a trustworthy source, was it another student’s work?
Accuracy – were the facts and figures correct? Did your audience feedback results provide a fair sample of overall opinions?
Bias – textual analysis can be bias as it is subjective – did you complete enough research to overcome this? Were any secondary sources biased?
Validity – was there a link between the particular research and final product? Was there a strong indication that this research affected the outcome of your work? Usefulness – how relevant was this to your project (see validity). OR did any of your research methods prove to be completely useless and why?

8. 3. Organisation of Research
You used your blog to organise ALL of your research.
What skills did you learn about organising and referencing materials? (Remember if your research isn’t referenced correctly then you will not get full marks – e.g. every poster from the internet has to be referenced).
How did your skills of organisation develop from AS and A2? E.g. If it was the first time you used blogger at AS did you find it easier to blog at A2?

9. 4. Planning – Pre-Production Requirements
For the planning section of this write-up:
Drafting – What drafts did you produce?
Gaining Audience Feedback –How did you make sure you collated this – what was the development between AS and A2?

10. Did you complete on time? Did you meet deadlines?
Organisation of time, personnel and equipment:
Did you complete on time? Did you meet deadlines?
What are the pros and cons of organising personnel?
What have you learned about communication between personnel?
Did your knowledge of production schedules grow?
What could you have done better?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?

11. Working individually or as part of a group:
What did you learn about individual and team work?
What are the pros and cons?
What main things have you learned about group work at AS and A2 in terms of planning your product?

12. 5. Organisation of Planning Materials
How did you organise your planning materials?
Did you utilise the blog more at A2 level than at AS?
How did you follow your flat plans and storyboards – what did you understand about changes to be made?
Did all members have copies of production schedules and storyboards?
Did you complete diaries and/or ‘progression so far’ posts? Why was this important in terms of planning both pieces of coursework?
Have you used any of the research and planning skills in other products?

13. 6. Presentation of Research and Planning
How did you present your primary and secondary research on your blogs? We are talking about enhancing CREATIVITY and USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY.
Did your presentation of audience feedback for example become more creative through your increased use of digital technology available for embedding on the blogs e.g animoto? Slideshare etc?

14. 7. How your Research and Planning has informed your practical production
How did your research into genre contribute to your production work?
How did your research into audience contribute to your production work?
How did your research into institutions responsible for the production and regulation of the media influence your production work?
What pre-production planning techniques did you employ (scripting, storyboarding, shot-listing, flat-planning etc.)? How effective was your planning – how did it help you in the production phase?
What did you learn from planning your first production that helped you to improve your planning for the second?
How did you use audience feedback to influence your production work while it was in progress?

15. Please think of all the 7 areas as part of your 750 write up.
Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework.