For this project I am going to conduct my own content analysis research into gender representations and TV advertisements.

From doing this research I will be able to see if much has changed since the days when Dominick and Rauch first did their research or if women are still stereotyped in the manner they traditionally have been.  For my research I will watch 25 TV advertisements selected at a certain time of day on a certain channel.  From watching these advertisements I will record the following –

• What the advert is promoting.
• What gender the product is promoted by.
• The gender of the Narrator.
• Who the product is aimed at male or female

I will also look out for women being portrayed in a stereotypical manner.

I am watching adverts which appear on ITV1 between 7.30pm and 9.30pm.

My full set of results are shown in the chart.

If I was to compare my small set of results with that of Dominick and Rauch my results would be –

• From the 3 Personal hygiene products adverts I had all featured women.
• 62.5% of all ads featuring females were for products for use in the kitchen or bathroom.
• 50% of females in ads were pictured inside the home, compared to 10% of males.
• The adverts I used men were more often to be shown outdoors or in business settings than women.
• From my adverts 4 times as many women were shown with kids than were with men.
• Only in 2 adverts were women judged to be (only) housewives.
• 4 different occupations were coded for men whereas only 1 was for women.

From comparing my findings with Dominick and Rauch’s findings in 1972 it would be rather clear that not much has changed over last 30 years but I do thing that stereotypes of women being housewives have almost disappeared.  My results are very similar to their results which could have some significance.

However I have only conducted a very small content analysis compared with Dominick and Rauch.  So it is important to remember that other factors could affect what is advertised on television.  For example the time of day will effect what adverts are shown on TV, you will find that you will see more children aimed adverts on TV between 3pm and 5pm and more adult aimed adverts between 8pm and 10pm.  What programme is being shown will also effect what advertisements are shown in the same way as the time.  If given more time I could have taken a much more extensive amount of information and I feel that results would show results closer to the truth.