Investigation Methodology

After deciding to look at language change within fashion advertisements from the 1950’s and 2013, the question of reliability quickly became apparent. Sourcing data from the internet would not be completely reliable, so, instead, I purchased a copy of ‘Harpers Bazaar,’ published in 1959, and by using this to collect my data pool, I could be more certain of its reliability. I then gathered my second set of advertisements from a 2013 edition of ‘Harpers Bazaar.’ I took the first 30 written advertisements from each magazine, as this was inclusive of all full page, and half page adverts, as well as the great majority of smaller advertisements. I had considered including all written advertisements within the magazine but the final page of small advertisements were not relevant to the focus on fashion advertising. I feel that a data pool of 30 advertisements from each time period is sufficient to be representative of the language change of high end fashion advertising from the 1950’s to 2013.

By obtaining my data from the same magazine, I reduced variables, therefore increasing the validity of my investigation as the data was more comparable. As ‘Harpers Bazaar’ has remained a popular, high end fashion magazine, the audience it appeals to has seen little change despite the passing of fifty four years. This enabled me to be able to draw comparisons without having to consider the social class of those the advertisements targeted, further increasing the comparability of my investigation. However, I did have to consider social reformation that had occurred during the time difference, these included:

·      The changing status of women in society

·      Technological advances that may cause 21^st century advertisements to be more dependent on graphology rather than language

As the data I have been collecting had been published and available to the public, I did not have to take any ethical considerations.

Initial Investigation Ideas!

I have decided to look at fashion advertisements, comparing 30 adverts from the 1950's with 30 from 2013. I have chosen the magazine 'Harpers Bazaar' to source these advertisements as I feel this will give more reliability, due to the magazine appealing to a similar target audience, despite the change in time period. I expect to find that advertisements from the 1950's will use more explicit forms of persuasive techniques, including explicit sexism, whereas advertisements from 2013 will use implicatures to relay a similar persuasive message.

To collect my data, I went to an antique market and found a 'Harpers Bazaar' from 1959. This meant that I would not have to source my advertisements from the internet, allowing me to know that the data was more reliable. I also purchased a 'Harpers Bazaar' from 2013 and took the first 30 written advertisements of each. I decided to select 30 advertisements from both, as this would be a big enough data pool to represent this type of fashion magazine, and because both magazines had roughly 30 written advertisements from cover to cover. By picking the first 30, I included all full page, and half page advertisements, as well as the majority of other smaller adverts.

I plan to look at the use of persuasive techniques within the advertisements and whether it is explicit or implied, direct or indirect. I have chosen this as I think that modern advertisements will have to use implication to tempt the reader. This is because in 2013, in the UK, we are exposed to a huge amount of advertising, making us feel as though everyone wants to sell us their product, even if it isn’t as great as it claims to be. To combat this, writers will have to be more subtle with their persuasive element and use a wider range of persuasive technique to be memorable.