Very soon i am going to put a presentation in front of a group of people to see what they think of what i am doing. These people are part of my target audience (educated adults), however there will also be people who do not fit into that category - this will give me the chance to have other people's perspectives and opinions which i may not have found out myself.
The people will be filmed for two minutes, so it cant be a too long presentation. I have purposely made the questions quick and snappy so that people have a longer time to answer, and also the smaller the question, the more the focus group may feel they can say. It creates less restrictions - however this also does mean i may not get a strong specific answer.
The type of questions that i have asked are fairly basic, yet don't directly apply to my newspaper because i would like to keep information about my newspaper separate - so that i can get truer answers which the focus group don't know if they apply to my newspaper or not. Therefore i can then possibly alter my newspaper with the advice and information i have been given from them.
I have had to be careful as to what i ask because i have finished making a part of my tasks, and it would be difficult to go back and change them. I could have easily thought of many questions to ask, but i reminded myself that i wanted everything to be quick an snappy and i only had 2 minutes to ask the things i wanted. i also think that it would give the focus group more of a chance to further the conversation.
Here is the presentation i have made to show them via Prezi:
Monday, 23 January 2012
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Strategies used to sell products.
In a lesson we were given information concerning the strategies used to hook audiences. A theory by Abraham Maslow suggested thast human behaviour is focused on satisfying certain basic types of needs. Adverts are designed to shows you how buying or using a product can help satisfy these needs.
I am making a poster, much like a traditional newspaper headline poster, but i wanted to research this theory more so i can understand why it is the way it is. Most traditional newspaper sandwich board look the same, so i will be able to analyse them all by just analysing one.
Maslow suggested that most adverts appeal to a combination of needs:
Analysng a newspaper headline poster with this information in mind of the combination of needs. I am only briefly analysing the poster, not the board the poster is stuck to!
I am making a poster, much like a traditional newspaper headline poster, but i wanted to research this theory more so i can understand why it is the way it is. Most traditional newspaper sandwich board look the same, so i will be able to analyse them all by just analysing one.
Maslow suggested that most adverts appeal to a combination of needs:
- Need to survive - Used by advertisments for food, drink, housing etc
- A need to feel safe - Advertisments for insurance, loans and banks promise security and freedom from threats
- Need for sffilation or friendship - Adverts that focus on lifestyle choices like diet and fashion uses people's desire to be popular
- Need to nurture or care for something
- Need to achieve
- Need for attention
- Need for prominence
- Need to dominate
- Need to find a meaning in life
Analysng a newspaper headline poster with this information in mind of the combination of needs. I am only briefly analysing the poster, not the board the poster is stuck to!
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Powerpoint of the making of my 1st newspaper page.
I have just finished the first page of my newspaper on publisher. Along the way of making it, i did a slide on PowerPoint to record. The powerpoint is quite detailed so has all of the information about what i did on there. I have then uploaded it to SlideShare:
My final newspaper page is shown at the end of the slideshow but i will probably scan the both pages together and upload to this blog later on.
A record of how i made my 1st newspaper page.
View more presentations from osmithas.
My final newspaper page is shown at the end of the slideshow but i will probably scan the both pages together and upload to this blog later on.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Testing My Articles.
When i write testing, i mean seeing if the text is the right reading age for my target audience's demographic. As my audience is educated, they are sure to know intricate words and complex sentences. I am going to do one of these tests on my articles to see if the way it is written is suitable for my target audience.
I was given the names of different readability tests such as:
I have done a bit of research about them to help me to decide which one/s to use.
Flesch-Kincaid
This test indicates how difficult a piece of English text is to read. There are two types of this test: The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Although they use the same core measures (word length and sentence length), they have different weighting factors, so the results of the two tests correlate approximately inversely: a text with a comparatively high score on the Reading Ease test should have a lower score on the Grade Level test.
The Flesch Reading Ease - In this test, the higher scores indicate text that is easier to read, therefore a lower score represents a hard read. Here is the formulae to find out the Flesch Reading Ease score:
Scores are then transferred to the table below for the results:
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level - These tests are usually used in the area of education. The "Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Formula" translates the 0–100 score to a U.S grade level, making it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts. The level is calculated by this formula:
The result is a number that corresponds with a grade level, usually U.S levels.
Gunning fog index
This test also measures the readability of an English text. The index estimates the years of formal education needed to understand the text on a first reading. The fog index is commonly used to confirm that text can be read easily by the intended audience. Texts for a wide audience generally need a fog index less than 12. Texts requiring near-universal understanding generally need an index less than 8.
There is a certain step-by-step calculation to use to find out the amount of years of formal education needed to understand the text:
The Gunning fog index is calculated with the following algorithm:
1.Select a passage (such as one or more full paragraphs) of around 100 words. Do not omit any sentences;
2.Determine the average sentence length. (Divide the number of words by the number of sentences.);
3.Count the "complex" words: those with three or more syllables. Do not include proper nouns, familiar jargon, or compound words. Do not include common suffixes (such as -es, -ed, or -ing) as a syllable;
4.Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words; and
5.Multiply the result by 0.4.
Most of these tests are based on American grades, therefore can be quite confusing for me. Even though this index is a good formulae to use as it can identify a hard text, it doesn't always work because not all complex words are difficult. A short word can be difficult if it isn't used very often.
SMOG
This readability test is similar to the Gunning Fog however it is more accurate and more easily calculated therefore more widely used. This test estimates the amount of years needed to understand a piece of writing. Here is the formulae:
To calculate SMOG
1.Count a number of sentences (at least 30)
2.In those sentences, count the polysyllables (words of 3 or more syllables).
3.Calculate using:
I was given the names of different readability tests such as:
- Flesch-Kincaid readability test
- Gunning fog index readability test
- SMOG readability test
I have done a bit of research about them to help me to decide which one/s to use.
Flesch-Kincaid
This test indicates how difficult a piece of English text is to read. There are two types of this test: The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Although they use the same core measures (word length and sentence length), they have different weighting factors, so the results of the two tests correlate approximately inversely: a text with a comparatively high score on the Reading Ease test should have a lower score on the Grade Level test.
The Flesch Reading Ease - In this test, the higher scores indicate text that is easier to read, therefore a lower score represents a hard read. Here is the formulae to find out the Flesch Reading Ease score:
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level - These tests are usually used in the area of education. The "Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Formula" translates the 0–100 score to a U.S grade level, making it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts. The level is calculated by this formula:
Gunning fog index
This test also measures the readability of an English text. The index estimates the years of formal education needed to understand the text on a first reading. The fog index is commonly used to confirm that text can be read easily by the intended audience. Texts for a wide audience generally need a fog index less than 12. Texts requiring near-universal understanding generally need an index less than 8.
There is a certain step-by-step calculation to use to find out the amount of years of formal education needed to understand the text:
The Gunning fog index is calculated with the following algorithm:
1.Select a passage (such as one or more full paragraphs) of around 100 words. Do not omit any sentences;
2.Determine the average sentence length. (Divide the number of words by the number of sentences.);
3.Count the "complex" words: those with three or more syllables. Do not include proper nouns, familiar jargon, or compound words. Do not include common suffixes (such as -es, -ed, or -ing) as a syllable;
4.Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words; and
5.Multiply the result by 0.4.
Most of these tests are based on American grades, therefore can be quite confusing for me. Even though this index is a good formulae to use as it can identify a hard text, it doesn't always work because not all complex words are difficult. A short word can be difficult if it isn't used very often.
SMOG
This readability test is similar to the Gunning Fog however it is more accurate and more easily calculated therefore more widely used. This test estimates the amount of years needed to understand a piece of writing. Here is the formulae:
To calculate SMOG
1.Count a number of sentences (at least 30)
2.In those sentences, count the polysyllables (words of 3 or more syllables).
3.Calculate using:
I'm guessing that the final number out of the equation is the amount of years needed to understand a piece of writing.
Conclusion
I'm sure that there is many other ways to calculate how difficult a piece of text is, but i have decided to stick to these. I know for definite which one i am going to use: The Flesche-Kincaid reading Ease.
This is because i am not interested in finding out how long (how many years of formal education) it will take for a reader to be able to read my articles, instead i want to know how difficult is it to read. Finding out how many years of education it will take for somebody to read my article would work for me as my target audience had probably already left school and are in a career and the test suggests that somebody who is still in education should be the main subject of the test.
I understand that the test i have chosen to use puts the lowers results into a table which is college years, therefore my results have to be on this level or lower than a score of 9. I will use this formulae and put the results on the bottom of this post.
I think it will take a long time to count the syllables and words of the articles. I am going to do all of the articles in one calculation instead of each article separately. This is because i made it so each article is written very similarly, with the same style of language and structure.
Testing My Articles
I used the Flesche-Kincaid Reading Ease testing and calculated that the solution to the equation is:
44.786
Meaning that my articles all put together are 'DIFFICULT'. Making it suitable for readers who are educated, yet wouldn't be intimidated by the way it is written. I don't know how reliable i can class this as. One part of my articles may be hard to read and another part may be really easy, making the solution meet in the middle. However, i can tell that i haven't written in two extremes.
I think it will take a long time to count the syllables and words of the articles. I am going to do all of the articles in one calculation instead of each article separately. This is because i made it so each article is written very similarly, with the same style of language and structure.
Testing My Articles
I used the Flesche-Kincaid Reading Ease testing and calculated that the solution to the equation is:
44.786
Meaning that my articles all put together are 'DIFFICULT'. Making it suitable for readers who are educated, yet wouldn't be intimidated by the way it is written. I don't know how reliable i can class this as. One part of my articles may be hard to read and another part may be really easy, making the solution meet in the middle. However, i can tell that i haven't written in two extremes.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Looking at NME reviews.
I know i have done a lot of planning, information and review of other resources, but i quickly wanted to look at the way NME present and write their review articles. This magazine is known for its quirky, intelligent and creativly humourous lingo which creates an informal ambience for its reader.
I have also looked at the way it presents its reviews - similar colours, captital letters to make words stand out and thin lines to separate the text. For EVERY review of a CD, there is a photo of that CD - making the article more understandable, have more direction and purpose. NME does get different people to write each article, so you can get a completely different sense from each one, yet all go by the same principle of interesting adjectives to further their points.
NME also does a 1-10 scoring of the albums, but this is mainly used when multiple articles are to be on one page of music - so they an be compared and a reader will like at least one of these CDs.
The page is fairly basic and straight-forward. Applying this to my newspaper, i think my layout is to be simple and straightforward and as i have planned, i am only going to have one CD review.
I have also looked at the way it presents its reviews - similar colours, captital letters to make words stand out and thin lines to separate the text. For EVERY review of a CD, there is a photo of that CD - making the article more understandable, have more direction and purpose. NME does get different people to write each article, so you can get a completely different sense from each one, yet all go by the same principle of interesting adjectives to further their points.
NME also does a 1-10 scoring of the albums, but this is mainly used when multiple articles are to be on one page of music - so they an be compared and a reader will like at least one of these CDs.
The page is fairly basic and straight-forward. Applying this to my newspaper, i think my layout is to be simple and straightforward and as i have planned, i am only going to have one CD review.
Reflective Comments.
I thought id better write some comments about the progress i am making so far and how i feel it is getting on. I found out that i have 4 weeks to complete everything (EEK!) which if i plan to a 'T' will be able to be achieved.
So far i am half way through the making of my newspaper's first page. I am a bit worried about the time constraints of this but i think that as i know what i am doing, i think i can get this done quickly. I don't even know the colours i am going to use, i did choose to stick to dark blues because it is a colour which is a good replacement for black. Once i get the first page done, the second will be a doddle.
When i feel like i have done my newspaper pages, i will get my focus group to look at them to see if they are liked. This is where i can make final changes before i send my page off to get printed.
For my radio advert, i have to quickly do some sound tests to see if it sounds okay. I have found a speaker who is adult, male and now and again has a slight Norfolk accent which i feel will be relatable to the radio's listeners. To test what it sounds like, i am going to get my speaker to read out the script that i made earlier on. I have a feeling that my test may turn into the real thing if it goes that well.
My poster has been thoroughly planned and i know what i am doing with it. I do hope that it takes as little time as i think it will when i get round to it, but as i do not have the facilities to do it at home, it needs to be done at school - where i am only 5 days a week.
The weaknesses i have right now, really, is me worrying that i will not have enough time to do all of this. Also, because i like to do things to a vast extent, time may not be on my side. However, on the other side, i know what i am doing completely?
The outcomes of what i am hoping for over the next 4 weeks is done newspaper pages, a finished poster and a completed, good sounding radio advert. I WILL GET THIS DONE.
So far i am half way through the making of my newspaper's first page. I am a bit worried about the time constraints of this but i think that as i know what i am doing, i think i can get this done quickly. I don't even know the colours i am going to use, i did choose to stick to dark blues because it is a colour which is a good replacement for black. Once i get the first page done, the second will be a doddle.
When i feel like i have done my newspaper pages, i will get my focus group to look at them to see if they are liked. This is where i can make final changes before i send my page off to get printed.
For my radio advert, i have to quickly do some sound tests to see if it sounds okay. I have found a speaker who is adult, male and now and again has a slight Norfolk accent which i feel will be relatable to the radio's listeners. To test what it sounds like, i am going to get my speaker to read out the script that i made earlier on. I have a feeling that my test may turn into the real thing if it goes that well.
My poster has been thoroughly planned and i know what i am doing with it. I do hope that it takes as little time as i think it will when i get round to it, but as i do not have the facilities to do it at home, it needs to be done at school - where i am only 5 days a week.
The weaknesses i have right now, really, is me worrying that i will not have enough time to do all of this. Also, because i like to do things to a vast extent, time may not be on my side. However, on the other side, i know what i am doing completely?
The outcomes of what i am hoping for over the next 4 weeks is done newspaper pages, a finished poster and a completed, good sounding radio advert. I WILL GET THIS DONE.
Focus Group.
I have gone back to the people of my focus group to see what they think of my articles - are they wirtten in the right language? Do they actually make sense?
I just printed out the articles i had written an gave it to my focus group for them to then write notes on it. I feel that this is more reliable than recording their voice or videoing them because they have time to think about what they really think and i get very specfic notes on specfic words or phrases.
When i wrote these articles, i was keeping in mind how the popular music magazine 'NME' write - quirky, unusual adjectives and humourous metaphors. I think using interesting way to write something aims towards a audience who like the different and the unconventional.
So here is the scanned articles with notes on them which i have then scanned:
Person 1:
I just printed out the articles i had written an gave it to my focus group for them to then write notes on it. I feel that this is more reliable than recording their voice or videoing them because they have time to think about what they really think and i get very specfic notes on specfic words or phrases.
When i wrote these articles, i was keeping in mind how the popular music magazine 'NME' write - quirky, unusual adjectives and humourous metaphors. I think using interesting way to write something aims towards a audience who like the different and the unconventional.
So here is the scanned articles with notes on them which i have then scanned:
Person 1:
As you can see, i have also added a photo which i plan to include on my newspaper of the new Norwich artist's work. Most of what i was told from this person was about the puctuation, which really helped because the right punctuation and grammar could affect how my target audience reads it. When i wrote this, i wanted the layout of the sentences in the articles to be interesting because it may be a slightly new element on something traditional. There are also constructive comments that i was given which shows that i can write something aimed towards my chosen target audience.
Person 2:
This person was far more analytical of the articles, and why it is written in this sort of way. I think this person was quite positive and were confident that they knew what they were talking about. I found out from them a deeper perspective on what i have written and therefore help me to think that my educated target audience could look deeper into an article other than just reading it. The words have meaning and an educated audience would pick that out.
How might my research not be reliable?
- I know these people therefore they may not want to offend me, so it would alter their true answers.
- They layout of how i have given it to the people i asked means they may not be able to imagine these articles in the form they are going to be.
- Me just handing them out and being around them while they were writing on this bit of paper could have changed the way they noted on them - more pressure.
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