FMP RESEARCH

Alongside your practical project, you need to develop a substantial research project to support your practical work. 

Use Research Project Template guidance to structure and develop a substantial and thorough research

Remember that you are required to undertake both Primary and Secondary Research.

Project Research (to be explored within the research areas below)  

• Target Audience (survey & analysis of results, who is your music aimed at,  best ways to reach your target audience, apply this knowledge to your project)

• Genre research (demonstrate musical analysis skills, summarise key characteristics of a genre, case studies of artists, bands..)  

• Hardware/software/equipment/techniques (Gear reviews, studio / room reviews, techniques used)

• Roles and responsibilities (job roles, skills and knowledge required, individual responsibilities)

• Pre-Production (e.g. planning for rehearsals, lyrics sheets, dress, private rehearsals, songwriting ideas)  

• Production (e.g. Techniques, hardware, workflow, venue)  

• Post-Production (e.g. Editing, compression, arranging, mixing)  

Research Methods  

• Surveys: Online or 121 / what do you want to find out / who is your target audience / review of related areas  

• Focus Groups: Small interview groups answering questions based on your project area  

• Quantitative Research: Song ratings, hits on a website, unit sales, historical data etc.  

• Qualitative research: Critique reviews, social media analysis, etc.  

• Methods & Sources Of Research: Books, directories, newspapers, film archives, worldwide web, journals, official bodies. (YOUR RESEARCH SHOULD INCLUDE LOTS OF LINKS TO SOURCES OF INFORMATION WHICH YOU DISCUSS AND ANALYSE) 

Primary Research Techniques (new data)  

• Online quantitative surveys  

• Online qualitative forums  

• Interviews, focus groups  

• Social listening (keeping aware of current trends, ideas, news through social media, be mindful of how reliable the information is from these sources).  

Secondary Research Techniques (desk research)  

• Industry Data  

• Survey Results (Conducted by another source)  

• Consumer Market  

• Reviews of artists/albums/existing thoughts and opinions 

N.B. YOU MUST SHOW HOW YOUR RESEARCH IS RELEVANT TO YOUR PROJECT!!

Demonstrate how you are applied your research to your practical work

• Your research must be RELEVANT and useful to the development of your project. What do you need to know to make your project a success? 

• You should be able to clearly demonstrate how your research relates to the development of your projects - your knowledge, understanding and practice

• Key questions... how is your research helping your project?  What do you need to know more about?  How are you going to find this out?...   ....Is there clear evidence that your research had a meaningful impact on your progress and achievements? 

• Research should always be wide ranging and balanced - do not find just one reference source and assume that is enough!  

• Be curious... you can always find out more; there is A LOT of information available in online forums, videos, magazine articles, websites etc..  do not rely on Wikipedia as your sole reference source, this will not impress anyone!

• You must apply Harvard Refencing conventions to all written work that is informed by your research

• Provide a Bibliography of all your research reference sources in alphabetical order 

• Use a reference citation generator to find out the author and date of written reference sources:          

Cite This For Me: Harvard, APA, MLA Reference Generator