WE have now been back at university for nearly a whole month and are well and truly back on the case of dissertations, practical projects and the latest one, an audience research project.
Audience research is a crucial part of our media degrees - after all, we need to have some hope of people watching, listening and reading the material we produce.
However, carrying out this research can be a case of easier said than done!
The first hurdle is deciding on an aspect of the media to research. With so much on offer, this is a difficult and time- consuming decision by itself.
There is a lot to be taken into consideration because you want a subject area that people will be able to talk about, but which can provide answers to our research questions.
Secondly, we have to decide how we want to carry out our research.
Do we choose interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, the list goes on!
After much deliberation, we have decided that our research project will attempt to find out how people use the news and the habits they adopt when it comes to finding out news.
We are looking at both local and national news with a view to build up an idea of how people treat the news differently.
So, with this in mind, I'd like to appeal to all those of you who feel you might be able to give us a hand with this project.
It shouldn't take more than an hour of your time and you don't need to bring anything with you.
Our research will be carried out in the form of small focus groups conducted on the university campus. Tea and biscuits will be provided as our way of saying thank you.
We're not necessarily looking for people with an in-depth knowledge of the news, all we ask is that you regularly read, watch or listen to the news.
Any information we collect is confidential and will only be used in relation to our project. If you are interesting in taking part in the research, please contact me via e-mail at a0355166@hud.ac.uk or ring 01484 314924.
If you can't get hold of me, please contact Hannah Tarpey on 07710 852289.
