Significance of Research in Mass Media

Mass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state.Mass media are defined as media which have their proper program and constitute their own audience. Mass media research, accordingly, deals with the production of programs and the consumption of the audience. For both perspectives, research topics are justified, data sources are introduced, and recommendation for the research infrastructure are given.

Research is an attempt to discover something. The importance of research becomes clear when we understand something about business(although this understanding also relates to everyday personal life such as relationships with family, friends, and co-workers.)
Researchers are the people who find out what people want and need so that decision-makers can give it to them. Researchers also get involved in the other two steps of the process. Researchers find out the best way to accomplish desires of what people want.

Research is involved in every step of the process. And regardless of whether we are involved in; writing, production, talent, advertising, distribution or any other area, research is involved. There is no area of mass media that is not affected by research.

Research can be very informal, with few, if any, specific plans or steps, or it can be formal, with the researcher following highly defined and exactly procedures. All research, whether formal or informal, begins with a basic question or proposition about a specific phenomenon. These questions can be answered to some degree with well-designed research studies.

Research helps us to learn the best way to collect information and analyze it. For radio program, research help to understand the target audience, audience’s interest. Research in mass media is used to verify or refute gut feelings or intuition for decision makers. Although common sense is sometimes accurate, media decision makes need additional objective information to evaluate problems, especially when they make decisions that involve large sums of money.

Research is not limited only to decision making situation. It is also widely used in theoretical areas to attempt to describe the media, to analyze media effects on consumers, to understand audience behavior, and so on. Everyday, there are references in the media to audience surveys, public opinion polls, growth projections or status reports of one medium or another, or advertising or public relations campaigns.

The explosion of mass media research is mainly attributable to the rapidly developing technology of the media industry. Because of this growth in research, both applied and theoretical approaches have taken on more significance in the decision-making process of the mass media and in our understanding of media.

Research in media can be done in various ways like qualitative research, quantitative research, content analysis, surveys, etc. The effectiveness of messages that are sent by mass media is measured by different research method which help to improve its content and introduce itself in better way.
Research is used extensively in all of the mass media:
• Electronic media research provides information about what audience likes and dislikes, analyses of different types of programming, demographic and lifestyle information about the audience.
• Print- It does research in readership, circulation, management, etc.
• Advertising and public relations- It does research on copy testing (research on the effectiveness of advertising), reach and frequency, campaign assessment (success of an ad campaign), public relations, etc.
• Internet- It is useful for on-line research, website research, music testing, etc.

It is because of research in media, we have been able to grow media as an industry. Research has made a significant development in the field of media. It help us get new information. It has helped to use new technology for its development. It is only due to research, we get valid knowledge that we can prove and trust it without any hesitation. Therefore, for all these reasons, research is very significant in mass media.

Reference
Adhikary Nirmala Mani (2006) Understanding Mass Media Research (1st ed.)
Prashanti Pustak Bhandar
Wimmer, R. D., & Dominick, J. R. (2003). Mass media research: An introduction (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Website
www.books.google.com
www.ideas.repec.org
www.ratswd.de