Magazine Content Analysis

Complete this form for your project as directed below

Part A: Ads

For your magazine, look at all of the ads and complete ​Column 3​ of this table. (For the

percent column, count the total number of ads in the issue and then divide the number

that you find in each category by that total. For example, if there are 100 ads in the

issue, and there are 20 ads that you classify as belonging to Appearance, then you will

have 20/100 or 20% of the ads fall into that category. You will follow this same approach

for all of the tables below.)

Table 1: Advertisement Categories

Product Category

Category Definition Percent of Ads

Appearance Clothing, jewelry, make-up, etc.

Hygiene All personal and hygiene products

Activities Sport/physical activities, athletic clothing and equipment, toys, games, crafts

Media All media (TV, magazines, websites, phones, etc.)

Food-1 All related to “healthy” food/drink items (fresh fruits/veggies/vitamin rich content)

Food-2 All related to “unhealthy” food/drink items (alcohol, desserts, high levels of fat/artificial/sugar content)

Misc Ads that do not fit into the above categories

Part B: Stories & Articles For your magazine, read all of the articles in your issue and complete column 3 of this table. Table 2: Content Categories

Major Topic/Focu

s of Story/Cont

ent

Topic/Focus Definition Percent of Stories

Appearance Fashion, beauty, shopping

Relationshi ps

Boys, dating, sex, friendships, family

Achieveme nts

School, grades, careers, finances

Health Hygiene, health, mental/physical issues, diet, body image, self-improvement, life skills, sports fitness

Entertainme nt

Some type of media focus

Social Issues

Specific social issues, activism, female role model, female opinions/views

Arts & Culture

The arts, books, travel, cross-cultural experiences

Misc Content does not fit into above categories Part C: Essay Write an essay of approximately 300-400 words that is based on your findings in Table 1 and Table 2. Your essay should:

1. Use the information that you gathered while completing the 2 tables​. 2. Indicate how your findings in the tables relate to the readings and research from

the article Common Sense Media. (2014). Advertising to children and teens: Current practices. B​ring in ​specific​ details from the readings to make those connections and also provide ​specific descriptions of the ads/content​ so that they clearly show how they do/do not illustrate the data in the articles.

3. Reflect the format of a professional essay. ​Grammar, syntax, and content are all important in this assignment.​ Students are highly encouraged to create an outline before they begin writing.​*