1. How to
Research
Rachel Heyes
Tutor in Film and Media
The Manchester College

2. MethodOLOGY (HOW)
•Take a methodical and structured approach
• Have a plan of attack!
• List what you are going to do, when and how and stick to it…
• Make organised notes
• Lists, Mind-maps, Quotes
• Keep a research log and file or folder
• Printouts, Copies, Pictures
• Record all details of materials for your Bibliography
• Harvard References require the publisher, date of publication,
location of publication and all authors.
• You will also need to note the pages numbers.

3. Indicative Sources
• Libraries (Books, Newspapers, Journals)
• The Internet (Websites)
• Archives (Online books)
• Interviews (Focus Group)
• Observations (Recce)
• Audio-Visual Materials (TV, Radio, Film, DVD)
• Advertising agencies
• Surveys and Questionnaires

4. Libraries
(Resource Centres)
• Specialist texts and materials (microfiche)
• Ask librarians for assistance (qualified
specialists)
• Order materials through inter-library loan
systems
• Gain Internet access to exclusive (licensed)
materials (e-books, DVDs, CDs, databases,
archives) [Box of Broadcasts]
• Academic material (books, journals etc.) - Read
the introduction and skim chapters to get a feel
for the text before you invest large amounts of
time reading
• Back copies of newspapers and journals

5. The Internet
• Can produce too Who wrote it? Is it someone you know as an
expert in the field? Is their name even given? What
much information, are their credentials?
most of which will Who is this written for? An academic
audience? Secondary school pupils? The general
not be relevant reader? Children? Or an audience of ‘believers’?
• Some sources are Is it scholarly material? Are references given?
Are there numerous spelling and grammatical
not always reliable errors?
• Use precise search Is the material biased? Is the topic considered
impartially? Or is someone trying to convince you
criteria, advanced of a particular viewpoint? If so, could they be
options and filters skewing facts to make them support their
viewpoint, or omitting facts that don’t?
Does the author belong to an organisation
with an interest in presenting only one side
of the case? Do the links take you to biased
sites?
What’s the date of the information? Is it so
old that it is no longer relevant? Do the links take
you to ‘not found’ pages?

6. Archives and databases
• Books, Magazines, Journals, Newspapers, Photographs
• Specialist Services – BARB, ABC, RAJAR, Ofcom
• Local Libraries Special Collections
• http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/447/rare_books_and_special_collections/4947/rare_books_and
2013
• Film Material
• http://www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk/
• Online
• Athens (Password) https://auth.athensams.net/
• BOB (Box of Broadcasts) http://bobnational.net/
• Ebray http://site.ebrary.com/
• EBSCO http://web.ebscohost.com/
• Gale http://find.galegroup.com/
• MyiLibrary http://lib.myilibrary.com/
• And many, many more…
Information can be outdated
Good for historical information

7. Interviews
Focus Groups
• Audio/Audio-Visual – Voice Recorder, Camera…
• Informal/Formal – Personal Chats, Organised
meetings…
• Quick way of getting people’s views and opinions
about things
• Find out what people think about something
• Easy to forget what people have said so need to
record interview
• The interviews might be good enough to be in the
media product itself

8. Observations
RECCES
• Easy way of seeing for yourself what is happening
• Can be limited information as it is only your opinion
• Helps you to plan how you are going to do the
actual production
• Makes you aware of potential problems in advance
• Can be time- consuming
• People Watching
• Event Watching
• Viewing Locations/Costumes/Actors
• Need to make notes – written or aurally recorded
• Could take pictures/videos

9. Film and TV
• Using films, TV programmes, radio shows and
programmes as sources of information
• Reference selected elements
• Use screen grabs (screen shots) as reference
tools
• Edit programmes
• Make notes on content and style (basic analysis
techniques)

10. Advertising Agencies
• Campaign information
• Sample materials
• Websites

11. Audience Surveys
and Questionnaires
• Can provide qualitative and quantitative
information
• Are often unreliable, time consuming and
difficult to obtain responses
• Good for feedback and ideas

12. Primary Research

13. Secondary Research

14. Bibliography