The Intensive Evaluation and Investigation of Any Problem - Research Paper Example

Psychology Research Research is a versatile process which facilitates the acquisition of information concerning a new idea or an existing one. The purpose of any research is to evaluate and appraise the concepts for information and knowledge. The knowledge and information obtained from a research is used in developing appropriate solutions that addresses the underlying problems. Research is a dynamic process which has to be carried out in a continuous manner. Situational problems in any sector of the human life, either in the political, social or economic lives tend to be in a continuous change. To help address these changing problems satisfactorily, new or modified knowledge must be obtained (Badke 38). The intensive evaluation and investigation of any problem will provide deep knowledge concerning the actual state of affairs in that situation. Research exercises and projects can be done on an existing idea, which means other research exercises had been done before, or it can be on a new field, which in this case will entail the acquisition of new knowledge on the subject concepts. The purpose of progressive research on an existing idea is to expand the knowledge available in that area; hence responding to the changes that takes place. The technical objective of carrying out any research is to come up with reliable data and information that can be applied in the management and decision making processes. In this case, much attention has to be given to the objectivity of a research in terms of the accuracy of the intended results. In this context, we can say that every research exercise has to be conducted in a systematic manner that will facilitate the acquisition of reliable findings. For a successful research exercise to be conducted, ideal procedures should be followed to the later. These procedures start from the problem definition through the selection of the appropriate methodology to data collection, analysis and presentation. In every research project, each of these steps has to be captured adequately to depict professionalism and objectivity of the research exercise. The problem definition and methodology stages serve to give an insight on the main subject of the research and the tools and techniques employed in the process. On evaluation of the definition and the method used, one can judge the objectivity of the project. The other steps including data collection, analysis and presentation are the practical part of a research. Each of these parts is also important for a research project as it determined the synthesis of the information required (Badke 58). Since research processes are applicable in all the three pillars of life, these are the economic, political and social pillars; this means that there are different types of research. Research exercises are categorized according to the discipline on which it falls. These disciplines come up with the categories of scientific research, social research, economic research, business research among others. In this context, we can evaluate the aspects of both business and economic research. Both of these research types are aimed towards providing a deep understanding of commerce and economics. Economic and business oriented types are the typical research dominating the business sector. These researches usually seek to operate with variables to determine their relationships. The research projects supplements the interested parties in the business and economic sector with the relevant information pertaining their professions and job responsibilities. Business research may be meant to investigate a new concept of to extend the knowledge that had been formulated form previous research exercises. In this context, we are going describe the detailed procedures of the stages followed when conduct a business research associated with the marketing concept of advertising (Badke 61). Before we embark on the process of developing a detailed research report concerning the research project, we will try to get acquainted with the sources from which we will obtain the data. In this regard, we will appraise the use of advertisement magazines in the marketing process. The process of marketing entails numerous concepts and one of them is the promotion of products and services. The process of promotion involves communication the ideas or news concerning a product or a service to the consumers in the market. In this case, the communication process has to be effected through the use of the effective communication channels like the media. This brings us to the context of advertisements trough the magazines. The purpose of an advertisement is to convey the information to the interested parties and to elicit some reactions from those parties. In the context of marketing, advertisements are usually aimed towards existing or potential consumers of a company’s products. Achievements of the goals of any marketing departments are usually enhanced by the promotion exercises which include advertisements. This means that the advertisements exercises usually elicit the required response from the target parties. In our research project, we will appraise the application of advertisements through magazines and the influence created by those adverts to the consumers’ population. The most important thing that matter in any magazine advertising is to adopt the appropriate magazine for the product being advertised. The selection of the right magazine will ensure that the message reaches the target audience efficiently and in an optimal manner. In the appraisal part, we will evaluate various advertisement instances from both the women’s and men’s magazines (Badke 47). Numerous magazines are available both for men and for women. In this study, we will adopt the cosmopolitan magazine for women and the CQ magazine for men. Both the two magazines are used intensively for advertisement purposes meant to reach men and women as the target consumers of ideas or products. The two magazines are involved in active selling of products and services through the use of celebrities or other known personalities. The purpose of using the renowned people within the society is to attract the consumer’s attention and interest. Both magazines are aimed at delivering the required message to the target audience which may make them to embrace the idea of adopting the postulated ideas in an advertisement. In this regard, we will evaluate five issues present in each of the selected magazines. From the five issues chosen, we can develop a body of data and information that will enable us to formulate a research report relating the aspect of advertisement. Advertisement in Cosmopolitan Women’s Magazine The cosmopolitan magazine is among the best selling magazines in the woman’s world. As a result, many marketers of ideas and products use this magazine for advertisement purposes directed towards women. The issues contained in the magazines advertisement which are of interest to women include lifestyle, hair and beauty, relationships, food and advices. The cosmopolitan magazine carries numerous advertisements which fall particularly under these five areas. The advertisement effect is usually enhanced by the use of appealing graphical depiction of the underlying concept. Cosmopolitan is a bright magazine filled with photos and pictures of advertisement instances all revolving around the issues mentioned above (Burgh 6). Based on the numerous advertisement incidences and contexts contained in each magazine, I used a random method to select the advertisements to appraise. I used the random number 11 to guide my process of selecting the page numbers where I am suppose to source my information. In the cosmopolitan magazine, my first page to select with respect to the random number 11 on the selection table was page 6. One issue captured in the page of Cosmopolitan is an advertisement of ideas on the relationship section concerns the aspect of being married and still living separately with one’s spouse. This issue starts with the depiction of the idea in a vivid picture of having an honesty relationship but living separately. The picture comprises of a man and a woman depicted to be having a romantic phone conversation from different locations. The story that follows seeks to put across the idea and benefits of living separately from one’s marriage partner (Burgh 8). On the next page, there is an interesting advertisement of the concept of hair and beauty. The advertisement picture depicts the celebrity Kin Kardashian in the context of using a hair fascinator. The advert is focusing the attention on the introduction of a new fascinator comprising of black and white rings and loops. This graphical depiction creates the interest and attention on a woman of wanting to try the fascinator thing. Another advertisement incident that pops up in page 4 as per the random number concerns the issue of celebrity and lifestyle. In the advertisement, Shailene Woodley is depicted in an event wearing L’Wren Scoot dress and other lifestyle body accessories. The advert also shows other celebrity women in the back wearing Salvatore shoes. In addition to the issues depicted in the pictures above, Cosmopolitan magazine also contains advices and food advertisements in the 8’TH and 9’TH pages. The advice section seeks to highlight the issue if financial security to women. The section stresses on the aspect of saving through the use of cheaper and convenient means of transport instead of fueling one’s own car. On the party food column on page 9, the magazine gives the graphical representation of the types of drinks in an ideal party (Burgh 7). Advertisement in GQ Men’s Magazine The men’s magazine GQ seems to revolve around the same issues of fashion, lifestyle and advices just like the Cosmopolitan. This magazine also contains vivid advertisement instances which depicts the idea being conveyed in the marketing concept. I used the random number 11 to select the pages to draw my information on advertisements. From the random table, I selected number 6 as the first page of reference. This page contains two advertisement issues relating to the topics of lifestyle and fashion. The first incident concerns the fashion concept of men’s wrist jewelry. This is an advertisement sponsored by the menswear company. The article following the picture asserts that sales of men’s wrist jewelry have double in the last one business year. The advertisement picture shows of a man wearing the said wrist jewelry (Sherman 6). The second section in the same page 6 of GQ contains an advertisement which falls under the issue of celebrity and lifestyle. The advert is on the new model of the German drive, Mercedes. The photo shows in detail form the features of the car and goes on to describe other properties in the article section of the advert. GQ also contains advertisements on the issues of sport. In one of its advertisement, there is a depiction of a man in a gym who is on top of a train mill. His couch is standing next to him and providing instructions to the athlete. In this advertisement, men may spot many other interesting aspects like the accessories used in sports among other things. The other advertisements in form of ideas and advices present in CQ touches on the financial and the relationship aspects of a man. In one of the advert contained in page 9 as per the guideline of the random number table, a clear portrayal of a man engaged in a relationship. This advertisement involves the concepts of online dating. The article that follows provides a clear description of the steps that should be followed to ensure the development successful online relationships. On the financial issue, men are advised on how to engage themselves in savings groups. The article provides detailed steps to be followed when creating and managing a savings group (Sherman 8). Advertisements Research Report The appraisal exercise of the advertisement issues contained in advertisement magazines of both men and women will help us to develop a basic idea of the research components of an advertisement. In this project, we will create a research exercise that will involve the investigation of the variables contained in the involvement of the different people in advertisements. From a theoretical perspective, every advertisement is made up of different variables that when integrated together achieves the intended purpose of the advertisement. An advertisement may fail to achieve its objectives if the elements making up the whole advertising project are not integrated in the appropriate and optimum manner. This research will facilitate the development of more knowledge on the principles of advertising. In the exercise, the objective is to depict the involvement of the different parties and the characteristics of these individuals taking part in an advertisement project. The characteristics of the individuals taking part in advertisements will enable us to formulate rational assumptions and informed judgments about the main concepts of advertisements. The project will provide detailed coverage of all the stages involved in the synthesis of the research findings (Badke 87). This research will follow all the ideal steps required of any research project. The steps start from the definition of the research problem through to the results interpretation. The research involves the studying of evaluation of the characteristics of the individuals involved in advertisement exercises of the top women and men magazines. The underlying problem in this research is to establish the actual properties of successful magazine advertisements with respect to the persons making up the adverts. In an ideal research process, this first step helps to clearly specify the objectives of carrying out the process. The problem provides the reason of initiating a research project. Accurate definition of the subject problem will ensure the objectives are clearly defined (Badke 89). After identifying the problem guiding the research project, we can now move to the next step of selecting the appropriate methodology that will enhance the optimal acquisition of the required data and information. The nature of the problem defined directs us to adopt a quantitative research methodology. The study of the elements making up the advertisement exercises requires the establishment of relationships between the different variables involved. To arrive at a rational judgment concerning the relationship of variables, an appropriate quantitative research design will be employed. The most suitable research design for carrying out this exercise is the qualitative case studies design. This exercise will entail the collection of data from secondary sources. In this case, qualitative research design will facilitate the spotting of the required variables. Within the context of methodology, data will be collected from the relevant advertisements contained in both men and women magazines. From a population of numerous magazines available, only five of the best selling magazines will be selected as the sources of information (Badke 67). After selecting the five magazines, the required information will be obtained by scrutinizing the advertisement contents based on the issues discussed earlier. The variables studied will include demographic characteristics like the age of the participants, race of the participants and other statistical quantities that will establish the relationship of the variables under consideration. I obtained all the five men and women magazines form shelves in the local public library. I collected the information by studying the individual characteristics of the advertisements contained in the magazines. I started with the five women magazines and identified the suitable advertisement contexts then I moved to the five men magazines. The data collection period took approximately three hours. I recorded the details of the source magazines and the collected information and tabulated them in their respective sheets below (Badke 74). Data Collection Sheet for Women’s Magazines Magazine, Date of publication, page Number Total Number of people in Ad Number of men/women in Ad Ethnic groups and Number in Each Ad Approximate age in each person Role/Job of each person in the Ad Allure, February 2012, pg 6 2 Men 1 Women 1 Anglo Americans, 2 30 Lovers O, Oprah Winfrey, January 2012, pg 9 2 Men 1 Women 1 African Americans, 2 35 Both parents Cosmopolitan, March 2012, pg4 1 Women 1 African American, 1 25 Model/Fashion Icon ELLE, January 2012, pg 10 4 Men 2 Women 2 Anglo Americans, 4 30 Couples VOGUE, February 2012, pg 9 2 Men 1 Women 1 Asian Americans, 2 30 Couples Data Collection Sheet for Men’s Magazines Magazine, Date of publication, page Number Total Number of people in Ad Number of men/women in Ad Ethnic groups and Number in Each Ad Approximate age in each person Role/Job of each person in the Ad CQ, February 2012, pg 6 2 Men 2 African American 1 Anglo American 1 35 Fashion Icons Maxim, January 2012, pg 7 2 Men 1 Women 1 African Americans, 2 Both 30 Couples Esquire, December 2011, pg 9 3 Men 1 Women 2 Anglo Americans, 3 All about 40 Man Professional Women, dressing consultants Car and Driver, December 2011, pg 4 1 Men 1 Asian American 40 Driver Men’sHealth, January 2012, pg 8 2 Men 1 Women 1 Anglo Americans 35 Married Couples Data Analysis Every research aims at collecting the data and analyzing them. This step requires the technical knowledge of the various data analysis techniques using statistical concepts and tools. After tabulating the collected information, I performed numerous statistical calculations. Based on the Information contained in both the sheets, the mean number of women appearing in each ad is 2. Another statistical calculation shows that in most ads, at least 50% of the persons appearing in an advertisement picture are women. The approximate mean age of these individuals falls at 30 for women’s magazines and 35 for men’s magazines. The role or job element in the sheets depicts most of the individuals depicted in these magazines as couples. In fact, 75% of the advert personalities appearing in both the magazine categories are depicted as couples or lovers. On the aspect of ethnic groups, there is a balance between the African-Americans and the Anglo-Americans (Badke 90). Data Interpretation The calculated statistical values will facilitate effective interpretation of the patterns observed between the data sets obtained. Further data and information interpretation can be achieved if the use graphs and charts. On average, the numbers of people appearing in each ad are two. This shows that many advertisements aim at either creating the effect of contrast or depicting the relationship between two or more people. Therefore, effective advertisement should involve more than one person in creating the graphical representation of the underlying idea. In addition, the mean age of the people appearing in an ad is 30 for women and 35 for men. This indicates that younger women are preferred in ad photos maybe because they are at the peak of their beauty curve. On the other hand, men’s average age falls at 35. The reason for this is that many men at this age are financially stable and trendy. Therefore, they are mostly the main target of many ideas and products. The balance between the two major races means that the target consumers of most ideas and products belong to these races. The graphs below shows the relationship between the variables studied in the research project (Badke 92). A graph of the magazine against the approximate age of the persons in adverts A graph of the magazine against the approximate age of the persons in adverts Work Cited Badke, Brown. Research strategies: finding your way through the information fog. New York: Universe Publishers, 2011. Print. Sherman, Ben. “Fashion Adverts.”. GQ Magazine. February 2012: 4-10. Print. Burgh, Ronald. “Trends and Fashions”. Cosmopolitan Magazine. January 2012: 6-9. Print. Read More