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How to put your data into form. Quantitative Analysis: Survey . Hey, don’t throw that away!. Introduction
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How to put your data into form Quantitative Analysis: Survey
Hey, don’t throw that away! Introduction Magazines, unlike newspapers, as a mass medium, are thriving. The reasons for this are complex but mainly because magazines have succeeded at specializing and marketing to niche audiences. Magazines also offer a variety of formats including long form journalism, artwork, and color photography. In the following I try to determine if people who read magazines treat them more like they would a book, an object kept or shared, andnot disposed of quickly as newspapers are.
Research Program • To test my hypothesis, I decided to create a survey and collect data from my CMST 102, Introduction to Mass Media class. A. The survey sample while not representative, does provide insight into the behavior of college freshman. 1. A survey consisting of seven question was administered to 23 individuals.
II. Magazine Survey A. Research Question: “Do we experience magazines more the way we do newspapers (read and discarded) or books (read & kept)?” B. The RQ seeks to find evidence to support the hypothesis that magazines are treated in a manner similar to books, which are kept and not thrown away, as newspapers are. C. Under investigation here is behavior related to magazine use. D. Why is this research relevant? So What?
III. Writing the survey questions A. I first identified behaviors associated with magazine use. B. I generated questions to identify these behaviors: 1. Magazines read & by whom 2. Subscriptions 3. Magazines kept or thrown away 4. Treatment
IV. Survey results by question. A. Q. # 1: “What magazines do you read?” 1. 17 reported reading one or multiple magazines (74%); two reported reading magazines but no specifics given (.87%). Responses: The Economist-2, Vice Magazine, National Geographic-5, USA Hockey, Playboy, Men’s Fitness, Game Informer, Glamour, Sports Illustrated-2, ESPN Magazine, Slam Magazine, Time, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen-2, People-2, US Magazine, Bicycle Quarterly, Bunyan Velo, Freehub, Architectural Digest, Thrasher, Horse Magazine, Transworld Snowboarding
V. According to Campbell, Martin, and Forbes, magazines are categorized by their audiences p. (108). A. A total of nine categories were represented in the survey responses. 1. Of those responses, a combined total of 52% were magazines from the sports and trade categories. 2. The remaining categories had between one and two magazines represented with percentages running from .87% to .44%. B. Given the popularity of these two categories, the audiences represented in the course demonstrate an involvement in sports but also having interests that are more specialized than average.
VI. Of interest as well were the number of students who subscribe to magazines. A. Responses to Q. # 2: “Were magazines subscribed to, purchased, given/passed along?” 1. Of the 74% reading magazines: 2. 12 responses or 53% were subscriptions; 3. Five responses or 22% came from news- stands or gift/passed along. B. Magazine subscription rates are lower than the prices charged on the news-stands thus making subscriptions more economically feasible.
VII. Moreover, students share magazines and keep them stored away for a longer period. • Unlike newspapers, which are usually thrown away after read, students demonstrate they value the information provided by handing on to them. 1. Q. 3 & 4: “Are magazines read by more than one person in your residence?” 2. 13 or 57% responded “yes,” 8 or 23% responded “no,”and 2 or .87% responded “not sure or NA” 3 Q. 5: “How long are magazines kept? Stored, given away, thrown away?” 4. 9 or 40% store; 1 or .44% given away, 3 or 1.3% throw away.
VIII. Finally, magazines are preserved entact indicating they are treated more like books than newspapers. • The remaining question reveals that magazines are not disposed of like newspapars. 1. Q. 6: “How are magazines treated, ripped up, mailed off, or saved?” 2. 7 or 30% yes; 13 or 57% no, 3 or 1.3% unclear or NA. B. Four individuals reported no magazines read (17.5%). C. Total number of surveys taken: 23 (92%) 25.
Conclusion The results of the survey demonstrate that students treat magazines differently than newspapers. Higher percentages reported they read, subscribe to, kept, and maintained their magazines. These are behaviors that not associated with newspaper reading and use. Why is this significant? Given the responses, students place a higher premium on magazines, thus considering them more like they would a book, something to keep for future reference, or to own, as an artifact. Future research might include questions about how magazines will be kept in a digital age.
Appendix # 1 1. General Interest: Time, People (.87%) 2. Sports: Sports Illustrated, USA Hockey, Horse, Slam, Transworld Snowboarding, Thrasher, ESPN Magazine (30%). 3. Trade: Freehub, Architectural Digest, Bicycle Quarterly, Game Informer, Economist (22%) 4. Leisure: National Geographic, Bunyan Velo (.87%) 5. Women’s: Cosmopolitan, Glamour, (.87%) 6. Men’s: Playboy, Men’s Fitness (.87%) 7. Age Specific: Seventeen (.44%) 8. Entertainment: US Magazine (.44%) 9. Alternative: Vice Magazine (.44%)
Sources Cited Campbell, R.C., C.R. Martin, B. Fabos. 2013. Media Essentials, a Brief Introduction, 2nd Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins Press.