Quantitative research is compiling data from closed questions to find a specific answer or amount of data which will show results for a specific question to then have the ability to be able to get percentages and numbers to perhaps find a specific target audience such as;
"http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2013.pdf"
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is focusing down on people in the area of interest you're looking for and asking them certain information on that demographic, with them knowing of the interest and being the audience you're looking to find good answers from, you can ask them more in-depth questions to get results that are more defined and precise as well as them being their own opinions, such as Yahoo! Answers, people asking specific questions in defined forums and sub-categories to find people who can give you a qualitative answer
This is an article based on a Dead space 2 focus group which was aimed to not entertain parents and show their reactions, which would work subconsciously making some people want to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CKqbmMvHE8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CKqbmMvHE8
Audience Profilling
Audience Profiling includes targeting a certain demographic and psycho-graphic to appeal to them in a certain manner depending on your given product.
Demographic profiling can include details such as Age, sex, work experience, education, interests, mood, orientation etc.
Psychographic profiling can include things such as personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.
http://corp.ign.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_profile
Why would this be useful in the gaming industry?
In the gaming industry, knowing your target audience and honing in on what they search for in a game can return better reviews as well as happy people recommending it to those close to them, if you want a specific type of gamer to play your game and enjoy it, you'd conduct research and Q&A's in order to get something that'll appease to their taste, making them interested in the game, it's story, merchandise and play-ability
Not conducting proper research can leave you with a product being played by people who wouldn't enjoy it normally, returning less profit, less positive reviews and also less interest in the game due to the bad reviews being given.
But given the correct research and correct movements in the games initial design and gameplay, you'll be able to have a better audience, playing, enjoying or even trying that type of game for the first time, attempting to bridge over new players into the genre and your franchise in itself.
The integration of Quantitative research within the process of making a game can make it possible to get stats and results about research that might push your game in a better direction or appeal stronger to the demographic you're going towards.
The integration of Qualitative research means you can ask people questions that might relate to the game you're creating such as "what makes you want to play (Example)?" and with their knowledge it becomes possible to get an answer which will be able to give better usages within your game to push it into a further better direction
Audience Profiling includes targeting a certain demographic and psycho-graphic to appeal to them in a certain manner depending on your given product.
Demographic profiling can include details such as Age, sex, work experience, education, interests, mood, orientation etc.
"The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. They were originally developed by the National Readership Surveyto classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research.
They were developed over 50 years ago and achieved widespread usage in 20th Century Britain. Their definition is now maintained by the Market Research Society."
Psychographic profiling can include things such as personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.
By going to the site you can see it's categorized people into demographics, being what they play, their income, average sex and age.
"A demographic profile can be used to determine when and where advertising should be placed so as to achieve maximum results. In all such cases, it is important that the advertiser get the most results for their money, and so careful research is done to match the demographic profile of the target market to the demographic profile of the advertising medium. For instance, shortly after the cancellation of Star Trek in 1969, NBC's marketing department complained that was premature. They explained that their newly instituted demographic audience profiling techniques indicated that the series' main young urban audience was highly desirable for advertisers. In 1971,CBS acted on their own marketing department's demographic findings about their television network's programming and canceled several series that appealed primarily to older and rural audiences in a move nicknamed the rural purge."
http://corp.ign.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_profile
Why would this be useful in the gaming industry?
In the gaming industry, knowing your target audience and honing in on what they search for in a game can return better reviews as well as happy people recommending it to those close to them, if you want a specific type of gamer to play your game and enjoy it, you'd conduct research and Q&A's in order to get something that'll appease to their taste, making them interested in the game, it's story, merchandise and play-ability
Not conducting proper research can leave you with a product being played by people who wouldn't enjoy it normally, returning less profit, less positive reviews and also less interest in the game due to the bad reviews being given.
But given the correct research and correct movements in the games initial design and gameplay, you'll be able to have a better audience, playing, enjoying or even trying that type of game for the first time, attempting to bridge over new players into the genre and your franchise in itself.
The integration of Quantitative research within the process of making a game can make it possible to get stats and results about research that might push your game in a better direction or appeal stronger to the demographic you're going towards.
The integration of Qualitative research means you can ask people questions that might relate to the game you're creating such as "what makes you want to play (Example)?" and with their knowledge it becomes possible to get an answer which will be able to give better usages within your game to push it into a further better direction