Research techniques

Introduction

Within the games design industry developers must attempt to find out the consumer and things about them using multiple different techniques as this influences what kind of game is created and gives a perspective into if it will be successful or not. In this task I will be demonstrating multiple techniques that I can use to profile people and learn more about them and the games they play or their opinions on certain matters at hand.

Quantitative

Quantitative research is research that consists of getting the thoughts and views of a numerical amount of people, it produces amounts of data and information that can be measured and counted. You get the varied thoughts and views from vast amounts of people giving you a wide range of information that can be presented in tables, charts and more. The questions usually asked in quantitative research are closed to allow the researcher an easier way to get numerical answers.

Below is a survey I have created about Pokemon Go, it is a quantitative survey with 10 closed questions.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5T52SRH

Create your own user feedback survey

Here is the responses I got from my paper copy:

Qualitative

Qualitative research is where you gather opinions and preferences from other people to get information on the subject being researched. Qualitative research is used to get an expanded view from people allowing you to gain more insight and knowledge as the questions that get asked are usually open questions.

Below is another survey I have created about Pokemon Go, it is a qualitative survey filled with 7 open questions.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3V62FZL

Create your own user feedback survey

Here is some examples I got from my paper copies:

Focus groups

Compared to the questionnaires, this a more effective technique to use in the fact that people can have a discussion and give their opinions on any matter at hand. The person behind the camera can ask the questions they need and more information can be gathered. These questions and the answers given by the individuals can lead onto agreements and disagreements which allows the interviewer to learn more about both the people and game subject they are talking about.



Audience Profiling

Audience profiling is when a researcher profiles people before creating a product so they can get an idea of the audience they need and making sure the finished product is as effective and successful as it can be. The main audience that researchers will profile are their target audience so for example if a games development team were going to create an 18 and over video game, they wouldn't profile or research into a younger age as that is pointless, instead they will look towards the target audience (18 or above) and profile them as this will lead to the product having a higher chance of being successful. Three types of audience profiling are demographic, psychographic and geodemographic.

Demographic

The demographic is what is defined as statistics relating to the population and groups within it, as for games design this is the main target that the developers will aim to find out about with the population being the every gamer and the group within it being their target one. If we take call of duty as an example the main target demographic that the developers will probably be looking forward to are 18 year old males, however, this will change depending on the main audience of the game when the product is being put to use which means the game could have a demographic made up of 16 year old females instead of the expected 18 year old males.

Psychographics

Psychographics look a bit deeper into an audience, it takes an individual and looks at their personality and traits to produce an outcome so they can describe the individual and their audience. Psychographics will look analyse the things such as aspirations, spending habits, interests and more so they can be placed into one of seven groups that were created and defined by an advertising company known as Young and Rubican.

Geodemographics

Geodemographics looks at location as a factor that effects profiling as it is believed two people will share similar interests and characteristics compared to two people who are chosen at random from different parts of the company.

Another way geodemographic is seen is by looking at the population to describe the neighbourhoods they live in, for example if one neighbourhood has a lot of violent people while a second neighbourhood (which isn't too far away from the other) has a majority of peaceful people then these neighbourhoods will be categorised into being violent and peaceful. This means that if you were born into one of the neighbourhoods you will be classed as the categorisation that your neighbourhood is categorised in whether it is true or not. This can be used for other categorisation such as IQ levels, ethnicity and more. As for gaming the questions developers will be looking to ask are "does the area you live in influence what games you play?" or "would you feel like you would have a different gaming style and favourite genre if you lived somewhere else?" and more like it.

sources:

http://hau6.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.slideshare.net/geodemographics/lansley-carpresentationv1
http://gwkuhn3.com/2014/03/19/what-are-demographics-market-research-glossary/?ak_action=reject_mobile