Qualitative Research

Myles Egan

Direct Reference

• I made my focus group participants fill out a questionnaire as they watched ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’:

Did you notice any issues or problems?

Grace (18 years old)

• “Bullying, violence, isolation and unusual behavior from theprotagonist.”

Katie (17 years old)

• “Neglect – you can see that he can’t read yet but isn't looked afterby his piers or teachers.”

Charlotte (24 years old)

• “The teachers are seen as the enemy towards the young boy whocan’t read. But he needs their help and lacks attentions towards hisdifficulties. Also, the teachers are over-looking the clear bullyingfrom the other students.”

Do you think any characters have been unfairly represented?

Charlotte (24 years old)

• “The protagonist is unfairly represented as he is just a childand children aren’t that ‘dumb’ – however, if they exploredhim being disabled, then this would make more sense andwould explain him biting the bully and his slow learning.”

Bob (27 years old)

• “No, because it seems authentic (towards their stereotypes).”

Richard (52 years old)

• “No, each character is represented quite fairly. The storyexplains how each character reacts with the boy.”

Do you think any characters have been unfairly represented?

Leah (18 years old)

• “The bullies have been unfairly represented. They don’tunderstand how to act towards him.”

Mr Parsons (28 years old)

• “Representations between the absence of the protagonist’sparents as we don’t ever see them, but we feel they’re doinga bad job as the boy seems unclean, troubled and maybe hashealth issues.”

Do you agree that the perspective used (from the protagonist) was a good technique to represent someone with difficulties?

Leah (18 years old)

• “Yes, when you look at someone with difficulties, you are not ableto fully understand their outlook on life. Showing the audience hisperspective allows us to understand better.”

Grace (18 years old)

• “Yes because he is young and vulnerable and so it is easy to explorethis. Also young kids are very imaginative and creative which thisfilm uses to its advantage through the way the boy is seeing thingsto what is actually happening (in his mind).”

Richard (52 years old)

• “The perspective used makes you appreciate his feelings so this is agood technique to use.”

Is it true to life? (Social Realism)

Katie (17 years old)• “At the beginning, yes; but then it becomes unrealistic with the set-

up of the bullies arriving to hear the boy being beaten and also withhim winning the competition at the end.”

Grace (18 years old)• “It can be seen as true to life due to the people in society suffering

with these disorders and mental health issues.”

Richard (52 years old)• “It feels true to life in respect of the boys feelings and his reaction

to the others in the film.”

Bob (27 years old)• “Yes, because the characters seemed realistic.”

Do you feel sympathy towards the protagonist?

Leah (18 years old)

• “No, he can come across as irritating and hard to connect with.”

Grace (18 years old)

• “Yes, you do feel sympathy towards the protagonist as hisdifficulties are isolating him.”

Jordan (17 years old)

• “Yes, because he seem vulnerable/unable to hold his ownground/make proper connections with other people.”

Bob (27 years old)

• “Yes, because he was being bullied.”

Comparative and Discrete Analysis & Conclusion and Action Statement

Did you notice any issues or problems?

Comparative and Discrete Analysis• Bullying was a problem in the film that all participants noticed.

• Other issues/problems noticed were:

– Rebellion

– Disability

– Strong vs. Weak

– Jealously

– Independence

– Neglect

Conclusion and Action Statement• These results tell me that bullying and ideas that stem off of this problem

can be understood and relatable to a wide audience. Therefore this willhelp my product as I will try to involve relatable/common problems intomy film so that the audience can relate to characters, as this creates asense of intimacy between the audience and product.

Do you think any characters have been unfairly represented?

Comparative and Discrete Analysis• The majority of participants believed that some characters had been

unfairly represented, although the results were fairly even. What seemedto be the problem for the yes-voters was that it seemed as though theprotagonist was receiving too much sympathy and there charactersaround him were left with the repercussions.

Conclusion and Action Statement• To conclude, although audiences like to feel sympathy or relate to a

character, this shouldn’t be executed in a way that will compromise othercharacters. This will help my product as I will not create favoritism towardsone character and will provide even ‘arguments’ in the situation for themall - equally allowing my audience to decipher their own opinion.

Do you agree that the perspective used (from the protagonist) was a good technique to

represent someone with difficulties?

Comparative and Discrete Analysis• The majority of participants answered yes to this question and the

common reason was that it allowed them to understand more detailsabout the protagonist and his difficulties.

Conclusion and Action Statement• Therefore this tells me that this perspective creates a sense of intimacy

between the protagonist and the viewer. This enables the audience to feelsympathy for the protagonist and create a deeper more personalrelationship with him. This will help my project as

Is it true to life? (Social Realism)

Comparative and Discrete Analysis• The majority said yes because the story and characters seem authentic

and also they have represented his difficulties well.

• Although, a few participants felt there was a problem with how theproblems resolved and the film ended, as they said it was ‘too happy’ anddescribed it ‘fairy tale-like’ with the set-up of the boys listening to thebeating and him winning the competition.

Conclusion and Action Statement• To conclude, the participants wanted the ending to be less

‘mainstream/Hollywood’ as it seemed unrealistic, especially for the socialrealism genre.

• Therefore this helps my product as I need to focus on how my problem(s)unfold and how they are resolved, as I still want to keep it realistic.

Do you feel sympathy towards the protagonist?

Comparative and Discrete Analysis• The majority said yes because he is unable to connect with others and is

bullied because of this. It was also mentioned that ‘Yes because the filmwas geared this way’. Finally, one participant said ‘No, he can come off asirritating and hard to connect with.’ this shows that the set up of the filmcould work both ways.

Conclusion and Action Statement• To conclude, this shows it is very easy to provoke emotion throughout the

audience with issues such as bullying and learning difficulties or difficultiesin general etc.

• This will help my product in two ways, as by creating characters that theaudience can connect with emotionally; it will firstly be easier for them torelate and seem more realistic and secondly, if they can create arelationship with a character it will be more ‘likeable’ for the consumer.

Applying Theory

Todorov

Theory• Todorov’s theory follows a narrative structure of:

– Equilibrium – Disequilibrium – New equilibrium

Application• This applies to The Six Dollar Fifty Man as it starts with the equilibrium of

Andy showing off his ‘super powers’ to a girl his age (a potential loveinterest) but then reaches a disequilibrium by getting bullied by his piersand told off by his teacher and finally a new equilibrium of him overcoming his bullies, winning a competition and impressing his potentiallove interest.

ProppTheory• Propp analyzed the basic plot component of Russian folk tales to identify their

simplest irreducible narrative elements and his conclusion from this were twofactors:– The narrative structure would follow a sequence 31 functional elements that would start with

a disequilibrium and slowly evolve into and end in a state of equilibrium.– The other is that it involves seven key characters:

• The Villain• The Hero• The Mentor (Guides the hero)• The Dispatcher (The character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.)• The Helper (Helps the hero)• The Father Figure (Authority figure)• The Donor (Prepares the hero)

Application• Although it doesn’t follow the first conclusion, it does the second:

– The Villain’s = The teacher and the bullies.– The Hero = Andy– The Mentor = Mary– The Dispatcher = The teacher– The Helper = Mary and Mr. Hannah– The Father Figure = Mr. Hannah– The Donor = Mr. Hannah