RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ON OMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDEOLOGICAL RHETORIC IN MTN AND ETISALAT TV COMMERCIALS.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0     Introduction

This chapter discussed the research design, population of the study, sample and sampling procedure, unit of analysis, content categories, description of measuring instrument, coding and method of data analysis.

3.1     Research design

This work adopts the content analysis method for the purpose of data gathering, presentation and analysis. Wimmer and Dominick (2011) quoting Kerlinger (2000) defined content analysis as a method of studying and analyzing communication in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables. Content analysis is regarded as the best design, when the study deals with description of communication contents.

3.2 The population of the study

According to Wimmer and Dominick (2011) population is a group or class of subjects, variables, concepts or phenomena. Population wise, this study is restricted to MTN and Etisalat TV commercials in Nigeria. The population for a study refers to not only human but also non- human items, for which information can be elicited for the study.

These Telecommunication companies were purposely selected for wide area coverage, and quality of voice and data services provided. The population of the study is 48 TV commercial from MTN and Etisalat commercials.

3.3   Sample size

 A sample is subset of the population that is taken to be representative of the entire population. A sample would test a segment of the population. According to Ezeocha and Mojaye (2011) the reason for sampling in research is not farfetched, it is to get a substantial representation of members of the population. Wimmer and Dominik (2011) asserts that a sample that is not representative of the population regardless of its size is inadequate for testing purposes because

the results cannot be generalized. To arrive at appropriate representation, selection was done based on the purposive sampling criteria. Thus, a sample size of 10 was selected for this study.

 And they are: sunshine; port; space; dance with me; better me for MTN and Easy cliq; Etisalat Genevieve; Etisalat double awoof; Etisalat double data; Etisalat cliqlite for Etisalat.

3.4 Sample technique

The purposive sampling technique will be employed in this study. In purposive sampling, subjects or elements are selected for specific characteristics or qualities. It is also known as judgmental sampling, a non- probability sampling. The process involves nothing but purposely handpicking individuals from the population, based on the authority’s or the researcher’s knowledge and judgment.

Purposive sampling technique was used based on these criteria:

·        The broadcasting time of the commercials was within last three years and does not exceed that duration i.e. 2013-2015.

·        It was made sure that commercials were aired on television channels.

3.5    Unit of analysis

The units of analysis of this study are setting, music, costume, language, expressions, cultural object, tender care, harsh/ tough, privacy and openness.  

3.6      Content categories

Wimmer and Dominick (2011) observed that the heart of any content analysis is the category system used to classify the media content (165). Creating categories of analysis, produces meaningful boundaries that reflects the objectives of the research. The content categories of this study were based on the ideological value systems such as: individualism, collectivism, masculinity, mythos, femininity, class and love.

Mythos: refers to the appeal to cultural beliefs of a group of people, in a rhetorical situation. Cultural beliefs are depicted in advertisements. The audience is easily persuaded when they can identify, or recognize a situation in the advertisement as being similar to their situation. Commercials cultivate values in a culture. They nurture, propagate, and help the culture to maintain and adapt its values, to spread them among its members, and thus to bind these members with a shared consensus. Fisk (2006) quoting Gerbner (1956).

Class: this refers to a social rank in the society. We have three major classes in our society and they are: the bourgeois, the middle class, and the preliterate (workers). Class addresses the way human inequalities in wealth, prestige, source of income are accepted in the society. People who are wealthy are powerful and control the means of production and distribution. They are privileged and also dictate between good and evil.

Love: refers to a very strong affection for something. It is a great liking for a thing or a person. Love could be manifested through actions such as sharing, caring, kindness, and support for one another. Many manufacturers want their product to be connected with love. The effect the want to achieve in the audience that as soon as the products name is mentioned, it will be associated with love.

Masculinity: Masculine is a society where masculine values such as toughness, harshness, achievement and ambition are dominant. And there is a distinction of gender roles. Masculine society tilts towards winning mentality and results. In commercials of masculine society achievements are depicted more.

Femininity: is a society where feminine values such as caring, tender love, joy are dominant. There is no clear distinction of gender role. For instance in a family a can cook and a woman can equally cook. Cooking is not a role of any particular person in the family. Feminine cultures are service oriented. It does not focus on winning and respect values. Safety, protection, care are more depicted in feminine advertisement.(Hofstede 2005). 

Individualism: individuals in this kind of environment are restricted to themselves. They are not open and take decisions on themselves without consulting anybody. Relationships among people in individualistic societies are loose and everybody is expected to take care of their own families. In commercials privacy is more cherished in individualistic cultures.

Collectivism: The emphasis here is equality. Collective society believes that a society’s resources should be distributed in roughly equal portions. Authority figures are merely skilled managers and not intrinsically superior to the people they are responsible. Here also other groups and subgroups exist pleasure and production for their members.

3.7     Description on measuring instrument

The study employed coding sheets as the major instrument for data analysis. All the (10) commercials sampled were coded page to page to identify relevant units of analysis and content categories earlier specified for the study.

 However, to ensure reliability the researcher enlisted in the assistance of professional coder to assist in the actual coding of contents .According to Wimmer and Dominick (2011), inter coder

reliability refers to levels of agreement among independent coder who coded the same contents using the same coding instruments. According to Frey (2000) a coefficient of 70% indicates inter-coder reliability, reliability was 80% in the study.

3.8     Coding

This means assigning units of analysis to different content categories adopted for a particular research. All the commercials sampled for the study were coded page by page based on the identified units of analysis presented in 3.6 above.

3.9      Method of data analysis

The data collected for the study were comprehensively content analyzed based on units of analysis and content category designed for the study, using qualitative analysis which is largely descriptive.