Questions for and Distribution of Audience Research Survey for my Newspaper

In order to best gain an idea what codes and conventions I should apply when creating my own newspaper, I conducted a survey, mainly into my target audience, and asked them an array of question to direct my future planning.

QUESTIONS (with ANNOTATIONS)

1: Are you male or female?

• Male
• Female
• Prefer not to say

This question is one of the basic, yet significant questions. It is important for me, when looking at individual responses to understand the point of view this comes from and whether this changes the response in any way. Although I am aiming the survey at both male and female, I feel that it is important to know the gender of my participants in order to get a fair representation from both. 

2: What is your age?

• 10 or under
• 11-12
• 13-14
• 15-16
• 17-18
• 19
• 20-21
• 22-25
• 26-30
• 31-35
• 36-39
• 40-49
• 50-60
• 61+

The reasoning for this question is similar to my gender question, especially as my target audience is 13-25, I will pay most attention to the respondents in this age group, and use the other age groups, if applicable, as a simple guide and well-rounded view. 

3: How often do you read newspapers?

• Daily
• Once or twice a week
• Weekly
• Fortnightly
• Monthly
• Every couple of months
• Once a year
• Never
• Other (please specify)

By asking this question I will gauge an idea of the popularity of newspapers among the people doing the survey. This will likely to therefore effect their comments on how much they are willing to pay and the price. It will also influence how regular I choose to make my newspaper. 

4: What makes you choose the newspaper you read? ie, what attracts you, price, content etc. (If you don't read local newspapers state why not)

• Comment Box

This question will give me an idea of the things to include in order to attract my target audience, as by pinpointing these things it will allow me to directly target them. 

5: What sort of story do you enjoy reading in a local newspaper? 

• Local News
• Regional News
• International News
• Sport
• Education
• Health
• Arts
• Weather
• Other (please specify)

This will give me the idea of the sorts of articles to make on my front page, and the kind that will be less popular and to keep to smaller boxes throughout the newspaper. It will also give me an idea of the type of audience I want to attract with their interests in mind. 

6: What main colour would you expect the colour scheme of a newspaper to be?

• Red
• Blue
• Black 
• Green
• Yellow
• Pink
• Purple
• Grey
• Other (please specify)

This question, along with my research into pre-existing newspapers, gives me an idea of the aesthetics of my newspaper, which although is a more minor part, is key in the planning and creation of my artefact. 

7: What advertisement(s) do you like to see/attract you in newspapers? 

• Clothing
• Sports
• Food
• Money Off Vouchers
• Leisure Activities
• Events
• Other (please specify)

This is important as adverts play a key part in local newspapers, and therefore knowing what adverts to include are key to attracting the right audience, as well as giving me an idea of the type of audience to address. 

8: What attracts you to read a headline?

• Size of Font
• Colour
• Literary Techniques within the headline (Alliteration, Puns, etc)
• On a topic which interests you
• Contains something shocking/controversial
• Other (please specify)

The headline is one of the most eye catching parts of the newspaper and it was therefore important I find out what my target audience look for in a successful and attractive headline. 

9. How many images do you expect to see on the front page of a newspaper?
(explain your answer in the comment box)

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7 or more
• Other/Add Detail

This is again a question to do with the appearance, but is also key in planning my photo shoots in order to know how many I need to feature to target the correct audience. 

10. How much do you expect to pay for a local newspaper?

• Nothing (Free)
• 1p-15p
• 16p-25p
• 26-40p
• 41-55p
• 56-70p
• 71-90p
• 91p-£1.10
• £1.11-£1.40
• £1.41+
• Other (please specify)

This is not only important in giving me an idea of how much to charge for my newspaper, but generally, the cheaper the newspaper, particularly with free newspapers  the more advertisements and it is therefore key in a number of aspects of the planning and creation.

I created my survey with the website surveymonkey.co.uk and in order to direct my survey straight at my target audience, I posted it on the social networking site 'Facebook' and waited for the responses to roll in!