To measure sentence length I am going to count the number of words per sentence in 30 sentences per newspaper/magazine. The data will be primary data collected by me. I will take thirty samples from each text because this will allow me to draw accurate conclusions.
Some possible problems that could arise are:
- The journalist who writes the article will have a different style to other journalists and so this will affect sentence length
- The subject of the article will affect sentence length. A story about celebrities will have shorter sentences than an article about government and politics due to the target audience
I am going to collect all the newspapers on the same day to avoid bias.
The percentage of space given up on average to pictures in a tabloid newspaper is more than in a broadsheet or magazine
Broadsheet newspapers are read by more educated people than tabloid newspapers. There will be less space devoted to pictures therefore in a broadsheet than a tabloid because the broadsheet reader will want to find out more about the subject matter through reading and will not need a picture to keep them stimulated. The more intelligent broadsheet reader will be able to understand more complex articles and will not need pictures to understand. The magazine I will use is Kerrang magazine which is a rock music magazine aimed at 14-25 year olds. I predict that there will be less space devoted to pictures in Kerrang than in a tabloid newspaper but more than in a broadsheet newspaper.
To measure space devoted to pictures I will calculate the percentage of space devoted to pictures on thirty pages per text. The data will be primary data collected by me. I will take thirty samples from each text because this will allow me to draw accurate conclusions.
Some possible problems that could arise are:
- Certain articles will be more graphic than others
- Adverts will affect the space devoted to pictures
I am going to collect all the newspapers on the same day to avoid bias.
Headline length will be more in a tabloid than in a broadsheet or magazine
Broadsheet newspapers are read by more educated people than tabloid newspapers. There will be smaller headlines therefore in a broadsheet than a tabloid because the broadsheet reader will read all the articles in a newspaper and will not need a catchy headline to drag them in. The magazine I will use is Kerrang magazine which is a rock music magazine aimed at 14-25 year olds. I predict that there will be smaller headlines in Kerrang than in a tabloid newspaper but larger headlines in Kerrang than in a broadsheet newspaper.
To measure space devoted to pictures I will calculate the percentage of space devoted to pictures on thirty pages per text. The data will be primary data collected by me. I will take thirty samples from each text because this will allow me to draw accurate conclusions.
I am going to collect all the newspapers on the same day to avoid bias.
The scatter graphs show that my predictions are correct in that the average sentence length is much more in a broadsheet than in a magazine and a tabloid newspaper. The histogram on the next side shows the spread of results.
The graph shows how the percentage of space devoted headlines is most in a tabloid than in a magazine or broadsheet. The range of results is also a lot wider in a tabloid.
Conclusion
The number of words in a sentence on average in a broadsheet newspaper is more than in a magazine or tabloid newspaper
I think that this hypothesis is correct. This is proven by the results I obtained. The average sentence length was as I predicted much more in broadsheet than a tabloid or magazine. The scatter graphs give a clear graphical representation of the results and they clearly prove it. The Histograms show the spread of results and how most broadsheet sentences are over 25 words long rather than most tabloid sentences which are under 25 words long. The sample size I collected was fine for the data I needed. Obviously had I collected more samples the results would have been more reliable but they are quite reliable they currently stand. I think I avoided bias by collecting all the samples on the same day but if I were to repeat the experiment then I would collect the newspapers over a series of days to get a wider range of results