OPPapers.com

Methodolgy

‘Although the main focus of discourse analysis is on language, it is not concerned with language alone. It also examines the context of communication: who is communicating with whom and why.’
(Cook: ‘The Discourse of Advertising:1992:3)

3.0 Methodology

3.1 Data Collection.

For the primary focus of my research assignment, three ‘popular’ magazines were selected which would provide a comparable sample in terms of readerships; Redline (December, 2002), Gardener’s World (April 2002) and Cosmopolitan (March 2004). Further to this, issue 335 of Auto Freeway (27th November 2003) was acquired for the second segment of the research assignment.

3.2 Data Selection.

The multitude of advertisements featured within the publications meant that a precise, systematic analysis of them all would not have complied with the space and time constraints placed upon this project. Therefore, a total of eleven advertisements were selected from the three ‘popular’ magazines to form a comparable sample of data. This selection process involved narrowing the overall choice advertisements from the publications. The sample was therefore selected from advertisements that were allocated at least half a page in space and featured a significant amount of textual data i.e. advertisements that contained 30 words or more. This was to ensure that there was a significant amount of textual and visual evidence, to which, my analytical frameworks could be applied to. As a result of this selection process, the following advertisements (shown in figure 1) form the basis of my comparable sample.

Source Reference
Advertised Product Magazine Magazine Page Reference
A Gmax Full Suspension Kit
(Appendix A, pg 54) Redline 77
B Redex Petrol Injector Plus
(Appendix B, pg 55) Redline 41
C Plutonium Ground Zero Hi Fi System (Appendix C, pg 56 Redline 86
D The Adult Channel
(Appendix D, pg 57) Redline 151
E Maximuscle Ache-Free
(Appendix E, pg 58) Gardener’s World 125
F Westland...