Research Dossier & Nature and Purposes of Research
Feminism is a topic I would deem myself extremely passionate about, and therefore the subject of my 3 minute short film.
Feminism has been hit in recent times, and Feminists have been labelled as "man haters" and "selfish". It has also been hit with controversy about what a Feminist truly is and what their beliefs are. One such example of this is Emma Watson's recent Vanity Fair shoot, pictured right (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/02/emma-watson-cover-story).
A BBC article perfectly summarised the backlash that feminism is still experiencing through an article on Emma's "Rebel Belle" photoshoot, posing the question of whether Watson is an anti-feminist for exposing her breasts. The article can be found here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39177510
Feminism, to me, means equal rights and opportunities for both genders, and personally I think it's fantastic how far society has come for women and how much has changed in recent times, yet we still have so far to go.
The first half of my 3 minute short film will be dedicated to personal opinions about what Feminism means to certain people. I intend to shoot the first section of my video asking people what feminism means to them and how it has helped themselves or others.
The second section of my documentary will constrastingly note how far society still has to progress with feminist ideologies by focusing on sexist events that have happened to and affected people.
Primary research
Primary research is 'new research', meaning newly discovered and personally obtained information about specific topics (in this case, Feminism). It can be collected through questionnaires, interviews and surveys. For my primary research I used the survey creating platform SurveyMonkey to create an appropriate and simple survey (when asking for the participants age, I started from 16 years and asked for 'college e-mail addresses' as I originally only sent the survey to my classmates. I then decided to post my survey onto my social media platforms such as facebook and twitter, resulting in a larger variety of responses). Here is a link to my survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/23XJ3PD
The results of this anonymous survey were extremely helpful and I gained a lot of insight into some peoples views upon feminism which in turn helped shape the question that I asked my interviewees. This form of research can also be defined as quantitative, a form of statistical or numerical research data that can be displayed by charts or another type of visual presentation.
Another form of primary research is through a question and answer method, which is essentially my documentary. A question is asked and the interviewee gives their answer/opinion on the matter. I asked my interviewees 'why do you feel as though Feminism is important?', and recorded their responses. This method is qualitative, meaning exploratory research that is used to explain underlying opinions and opinions upon subjects and cannot be displayed numerically. In this case, the qualitative data is shown when participants answered the 'why?' question of my survey, and also the footage of the interviewees.
Secondary research
Secondary research is when the researcher reads existing materials upon a certain topic, i.e. research that has already been collected. For example, a survey or video that has been conducted/created and posted online could be used as secondary research for another research experiment on the same topic. For my secondary research, I discovered a written research document that gave a lot of insight into Feminist research that can be found here - http://www2.unb.ca/parl/research.htm
The document explains and describes different methods of research and specifically talks about research upon the topic of Feminism, which was obviously extremely helpful and influenced the decisions I made when creating my survey and interviewing people.
I also watched a video (below) created by NBC News that has archived footage from women's rights protests and is brimming with information about Feminism.
Feminism, to me, means equal rights and opportunities for both genders, and personally I think it's fantastic how far society has come for women and how much has changed in recent times, yet we still have so far to go.
The first half of my 3 minute short film will be dedicated to personal opinions about what Feminism means to certain people. I intend to shoot the first section of my video asking people what feminism means to them and how it has helped themselves or others.
The second section of my documentary will constrastingly note how far society still has to progress with feminist ideologies by focusing on sexist events that have happened to and affected people.
Primary research
Primary research is 'new research', meaning newly discovered and personally obtained information about specific topics (in this case, Feminism). It can be collected through questionnaires, interviews and surveys. For my primary research I used the survey creating platform SurveyMonkey to create an appropriate and simple survey (when asking for the participants age, I started from 16 years and asked for 'college e-mail addresses' as I originally only sent the survey to my classmates. I then decided to post my survey onto my social media platforms such as facebook and twitter, resulting in a larger variety of responses). Here is a link to my survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/23XJ3PD
Another form of primary research is through a question and answer method, which is essentially my documentary. A question is asked and the interviewee gives their answer/opinion on the matter. I asked my interviewees 'why do you feel as though Feminism is important?', and recorded their responses. This method is qualitative, meaning exploratory research that is used to explain underlying opinions and opinions upon subjects and cannot be displayed numerically. In this case, the qualitative data is shown when participants answered the 'why?' question of my survey, and also the footage of the interviewees.
Secondary research
Secondary research is when the researcher reads existing materials upon a certain topic, i.e. research that has already been collected. For example, a survey or video that has been conducted/created and posted online could be used as secondary research for another research experiment on the same topic. For my secondary research, I discovered a written research document that gave a lot of insight into Feminist research that can be found here - http://www2.unb.ca/parl/research.htm
The document explains and describes different methods of research and specifically talks about research upon the topic of Feminism, which was obviously extremely helpful and influenced the decisions I made when creating my survey and interviewing people.
I also watched a video (below) created by NBC News that has archived footage from women's rights protests and is brimming with information about Feminism.
Data such as mine can be collected in many ways, and data gathering agencies such as BARB (British Broadcasting Agency) and RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) are two companies that do this. BARB measures television viewing through the whole of the UK, by knowing who is watching which programmes by recruiting representative homes with a diverse range of people, and they attach a meter to each television, laptop, desktop and smart device in which television can be watched (for example, on a smart device the individual can access catch-up television through apps such as BBC iPlayer and 4OD). BARB is essential as each year, 7 billion pounds is invested in the production and distribution of programmes and commercial content, therefore the measurement of television viewing aids in the process of market research. Here is a link to the BARB website - http://www.barb.co.uk/
Another similar media research agency is RAJAR, the official body of measuring radio audiences in the UK. This non-profit organisation conducts their surveys by asking radio stations to define which area they want to be surveyed by listing particular postcode districts, and then RAJAR asks certain participants to complete a 'listening diary' for a week (usually only one participant per household). RAJAR is also an essential service as it estimates the listenership for over 300 radio stations in the UK, and is used by media agencies to determine their plans and to display peak times, determining when to buy radio sections for advertisements. Here is a link to the RAJAR website - http://www.rajar.co.uk/index.php
Purposes of research
Research is an important part of a production process. Audience profiling, discovering the demographics (age, gender, race) psychographics and geodemographics of the target audience is essential to know who you are aiming your production towards. Below is a table depicting the different demographic bands.
Psychographic segmentation divides the market into groups based upon social class, lifestyle and personality traits, and they were created based upon typical patterns and characteristics. Below is a table showing the most common types of psychographic labelling.
Production research
Research for my production began by collecting my primary research through the survey I showed earlier in this post, but also by collecting data by asking questions to people I know, including family members, class mates, friends and teachers. Learning about the sexist remarks/attacks that some of the people I care about have experienced really hit home and the passion in me for my production grew. The survey was helpful in a way that influenced the topics I wanted to talk about when asking questions to my interviewees and how to structure my documentary, but the personal conversations I had with some people that were willing to recall their experiences helped me personally and gave some insight into how important Feminism is in today's society and it's ongoing struggle.
It was difficult to find people that wanted to discuss their experiences on camera as it is a very sensitive topic for some people, which is completely understandable. A few of my classmates agreed to speak during the second part of my documentary, in which I asked 'have you ever experienced a sexual or sexist attack?'.
I asked two of my good friends to give their opinions upon the question 'why do you think Feminism is important?'. Their opinions are shown within the first half of the video, and I asked these particular people as I know they both feel strongly about the topic of Feminism and knew they would both give me a lot of information and footage to work with. The open-ended question resulted in a lot of thoughtful opinions and also some abstract viewpoints in which I wouldn't have even considered, such as the segment about the female lawyers.
Obtaining equipment and organising a filming schedule and location was relatively easy as I am extremely lucky to have these facilities within the college. I loaned a camera, tri-pod, microphone and SD card from the college for a few days, and booked an allotted time within a specific filming room that the college provides for students. As the first two girls are my friends, I knew when they would be in college and available to be filmed, and the girls that are featured in the second half of my documentary are three of my classmates, therefore I asked them if I could interview and film them during one lesson, and they kindly obliged.
The mise-en-scene was extremely important to me as I wanted to create a stark contrast between the two halves of my documentary. The first half is simply two people's opinions upon Feminism, and the atmosphere is quite relaxed and the tone of the dialogue is very conversational. Therefore, I chose a casual, classroom-like setting to create the feeling as though the viewer is speaking to the subjects personally, rather than watching an interview, resulting in a relatable connection between the topic and the viewer. However, the second half of my documentary focuses upon a significantly more serious side of the topic, therefore I wanted a completely different atmosphere and setting to the one prior. I sat the subjects in-front of a white background so as to convey innocence, enforcing that they are the victims of the attacks they are discussing. I also shot these girls closer than I did the previous two so as to create a sense of uneasiness on the audience, but also to generate sympathy towards them by showing the viewers that they too are humans with feelings like them. My aim is that this will highlight the severity of the situation and the importance of Feminism in today's society.
Bibliography
Cherry Wilson (BBC), 2017, Is Emma Watson anti-feminist for exposing her breasts? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39177510
Rebecca Barnard (SurveyMonkey), 2017, Feminism - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/23XJ3PD
Jennifer Brayton, Michelle Ollivier, and Wendy Robbins, date published not shown, Introduction to Feminist research - http://www2.unb.ca/parl/research.htm
NBC News, 2016, The fight for Women's Rights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2CewziXoDg&t=29s
BARB, date published not shown, How we do what we do - http://www.barb.co.uk/about-us/how-we-do-what-we-do/
RAJAR, date published not shown, Key Facts - http://www.rajar.co.uk/content.php?page=about_key_facts
Lauren Mabbett, 2012, Demographic Tables - http://laurenmabbettasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/this-table-is-clear-indication-to.html
Jess Gooch, 2009, Psychographics - http://jessillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/psychography.html
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