To find out how the latest media developments will fare with consumers, you have to test them out in big markets such as New York and Los Angeles. Right? Wrong.

When the nation’s advertising, marketing, publishing, and broadcasting industries caught wind of the Ball State Center for Media Design’s (CMD) Middletown Media Studies, documenting the average American’s media habits, all eyes turned toward Muncie. The mid-sized Midwestern community is the perfect place for large companies to test their propositions because Muncie has “real people.”

Since the 1920s, Muncie has been one of the most studied cities in the nation because the tastes and trends of its residents reflect those of the rest of the country. Middletown Media Studies took advantage of that.

But the success of our studies isn’t just the result of a fortunate location. Our research methods also set us apart. We believe that seeing is believing. By observing, or shadowing, our subjects, we gather more accurate data than you’d get from traditional telephone surveys or media diaries. Our observers, often Ball State students, go into participants’ homes and spend the day documenting their life activities, media use, and media exposure.

The media industry’s interest in our findings has enabled the CMD to work on some very large-scale projects with major partners. For example, the Council for Research Excellence (CRE), an independent forum of media industry research experts created by The Nielsen Co. , commissioned the CMD to conduct a groundbreaking study examining how individuals across the country consume traditional and emerging video platforms inside and outside of the home.

"The migration of video usage beyond traditional television is an increasingly important issue for media companies, advertisers, and their agencies," says Paul Donato, Nielsen's chief research officer.

The $3.5 million project employed the same observation techniques CMD staff members developed during the pioneering Middletown Media Studies. And the work truly is an entrepreneurial effort that ultimately serves the academic mission of Ball State as well.