Robert Eastwood

Quantitative Audience Research

Introduction
Quantitative research relies on numbers and data as it provides a statistical point of view. By
using Quantitative research businesses can gather a large amount of data and have it be
easily organised. Quantitative research means using methods such as questionnaires and
surveys. Quantitative research is very easy to use and flexible as you can do the research
through post, online or on your phone. You could use Quantitative research in for example
programme ratings. The data from BARB and RAJAR who are two of the leading agencies for
media producers and they will inform programming schedules and affects the types of
products that the producers may make. An example of Quantitative research is the box
office:

The British film Institute shows on the weekend of 22-30 of August 2015, that Straight Outta
Compton has earned the most money, over Inside Out which has gone down -11%. It is
understandable that Straight Outta Compton is number one as it new as shown in the
picture is has be out just one week compare to Inside Out which has been out for six weeks.
Even though Straight Outta Compton is in less Cinemas then Inside Out.
Another example of Quantitative Research is readership circulation figures:
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These figures show that papers like the Sun is the newspaper that is more likeable and more
enjoy reading it, with second place the Daily Mail being far behind. The figures show that
The Sun is liked by both Men and Women and that people aged 35 and over are the people
that read the most newspapers. This is shown as the percentage of people 35 and over
reading the Daily Mail is 9.0% compare to the percentage of 15-34 year olds being just 2.8%.
Another example of Quantitative research is hits on a website:

This shows Google Analytics and the results for how many people do on Google a day. The
screenshot shows how America visits Google the most out of everyone. It also shows the
types of traffic on Google with 25.70% being feed but email being just 7.35%.

BARB
The Broadcasters audience research board (BARB) is the organisation that compiles
audience measurement and TV ratings in the UK. It was made in 1981 and is owned by the
BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Participating
viewers have a box on top of their TV sets, which tracks the programmes they watch. BARB
commissions research companies to provide the services that our users want, including the
production of audience viewing figures. The following companies Kantar Media, Ipsos
MORI and RSMB, hold the audience measurement contracts.

BARB panel consists of 5100 households, which each represents about 5000 other
households across the UK. Once a household has been recruited to the BARB panel, Kantar
Media fits every TV set in the home with a meter. Software meters are also installed on
laptop and desktop computers, and tablets. In order for the meter to know who is watching,
each member of the household over the age of four is assigned a button on a special remote
control. If they enter a room while the television is on they must press their designated
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button to register their presence and press it again when they leave to show they are no
longer watching. All individuals aged 4+ are measured and reported by BARB. Within this, a
user may look at any age group they wish for data. BARB does work on Xbox, PlayStation
and Nintendo but you have to connect to a TV box to work. Because of this, I do not think it
would be a great option to use because Im going to be writing about the trailer for Horizon
Zero Dawn. As BARB seems more for TV and not for data from video games I will not be
using it. However, BARB is good because they can record the data for the trailers when they
are on TV. Here is a chart made by BARB about Video games consoles:

RAJAR
RAJAR also known as Radio Joint Audience Research Limited and it was established in 1992
to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United
Kingdom. It serves the BBC and other licensed commercial stations and is owned by the BBC
and the RadioCentre. RAJAR is responsible for setting the research specification, the
awarding of the research contracts to third party suppliers and the overall quality control,
management and delivery of the service. This is a screenshot of

The Chief Executive and Research Director oversee the day-to-day operations. RAJAR
collects information on behalf of over 300 BBC and Ofcom Licenced commercial radio
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stations, ranging from very small local services to the national networks. However, RAJAR
cannot be linked with video games really, because it is a radio company and because of that,
it cannot be linked to gaming research because radio does not have anything to do with
gaming.

ABC
ABC also known as the Audit Bureau of Circulation is the industry body for media
measurement. ABC bring the industry together to agree measurement and process
reporting standards that define what counts and determine best practice. Reporting
Standards are constantly evolving to keep pace with industry developments. ABC have a
team of experts who verify data across a wide range of media channels including print,
online and events and look to include new platforms as they emerge. This delivers
confidence in trading practice and helps to protect the reputation of owners, advertisers
and the intermediate parties who trade. ABCs industry Stamp of Trust underpins the way
advertising is traded across the converging media landscape in the UK and beyond. THE ABC
Claim that when a customer sees the ABC logo you know that you are looking at claims you
can trust fully. I think ABC could work for video games as it can be useful and helpful and
using the information this website receives I could potentially see the information based on
advertisement for my game. That could be vital to see what is going on, as it would mean I
could change features about the way the game is advertised.
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ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board known as ESRB have a video game content rating
system that is used for classification of video games into suitability-related groups. Most of
these systems are associated with or sponsored by a government and are sometimes part of
the local motion picture rating system. ESRB assigns age and content ratings for video
games and mobile apps, enforces advertising and marketing guidelines for the video game
industry, and helps companies implement responsible online and mobile privacy practices.
The Entertainment Software Association established ESRB in 1994. As part of its self-
regulatory role for the video game industry the ESRB also enforces industry-adopted
advertising guidelines, helps ensure responsible web and mobile privacy practices under its
Privacy Certified program. The ESRB administers a three-part rating system that includes
Rating Categories to suggest age-appropriateness. Content Descriptors to indicate what
type of content may have triggered the rating or may be of interest or concern to the
consumer, and Interactive Elements, which advise about user interactions, the sharing of
users locations with others, if in-app purchases of digital goods are completed or if
unrestricted internet access is provided. There are many certificates for games and what
they can be shown as and these are then C which is Early childhood so then it can make sure
that they know that this game is mainly for children but then anyone can play it but then
when you see the rating A which is adults only which you then should never give to a small
child as there would be many scenes which are violent and also bad language and there are
many awful sections to this game that could be bad for small children. I would use this for
my work as it shows that it has been given a T rating, which means it is all right for
teenagers to play. ESRB is so helpful that is has a full summary of the game and everything
in it that gives it the rating it has.
Robert Eastwood

IABUK
The Internet Advertising Bureau known as IAB is the UK trade association for digital
advertising, representing the UKs leading brands, media owners and agencies and it was
founded in 1997. The IABUK aim is to make digital marketing the best it can possibly be
whether it is on TV or on the web, which is good for my video games because the game will
thrive from the advertising. There are many certificates for games and what they can be
shown as and these are then C which is Early childhood so then it can make sure that they
know that this game is mainly for children but then anyone can play it but then when you
see the rating A which is adults only which you then should never give to a small child as
there would be many scenes which are violent and also bad language and there are many
awful sections to this game that could be bad for small children. I would use this for my
work to then make sure that they then get the correct certificate which would Im sure for
M which would be Mature as there is some violence to my game which is shown and also I
then have to say there is bad language which also then links to the mature nature and also
ESRB.