Research using images?

Question

Hi,

I hope someone can help. For my dissertation I'm looking at the portrayal of women in lad's mags and in Playboy magazine. I would like to analyse the images in a few issues in some way but have no clue how. Is there a qualitative approach I could use?

Otherwise, do you guys think having a focus group and a number of one to one interviews with participants discussing the magazines and the images would be sufficient? I am more comfortable with qualitative research approaches - i get in a mess when it comes to quantative statistical stuff!

If I get this dissertation right I'll come out of uni with a brilliant degree so I hope you can help :-) thanks!

Answer 1

As you can tell by my replies, I'm quite fascinated in your research project -and I do hope you stay committed to it and conduct the research.

Because it is your research project, you have the right to establish (with the approval of your adviser and/or committee) your own "quantifiable" measurements for your images.  

For example, let's say that you have ten images that your subjects are going to look at and make some type of response to ... and you've rated the images from 1 to 10 where 1 signifies a demure or acceptable image and 10 signifies a pornographic or unacceptable image (although your "internal" rating system need not be shared with the participants in your study).

Now each of the 10 images is reviewed by each participant and she must select a rating (Likert Scale, from 1-5 that measures intensity of perception) about whether the picture is either demure or pornographic.

This simple design then allows you to have a rating for each image (from 1-5) per the number of participants (your sample population).  As such, if you have 20 women view each of the images and give you a rating on each image, you have the potential to have 200 data points scattered over a range of 1-5.

That type of design allows for "levels of perception" to be offered and assessed for each of the ten images, as well as the ability for you to analyze, interpret, and even graph the results.

I hope this makes sense -good luck and have fun!