Download Just the Facts-Evaluating Bias in Advertising

Just the Facts-Evaluating Bias in Advertising
Introduction
Scientists are required to evaluate data to determine that it is all factual and not
influenced by opinion. Critical thinking media literacy is the ability to analyze and
evaluate the messages we see in movies, television shows, magazines,
newspapers, online, and in other forms of media. One part of media literacy is
developing the ability to take a critical look at advertisements, so you can
understand how advertisements are constructed and how to interpret their
messages. What are some of the strategies used to create advertisements? How
do professionals use these techniques to persuade you? Is some of the
information opinion in an advertisement you’ve recently seen? In this WebQuest,
you will explore advertising strategies and understand how they are used to get
their messages across.
Task
1. Your job in the WebQuest is to expand your media literacy and develop critical
thinking skills. You will learn about advertising techniques and investigate their
use. You will take a look at how advertisers incorporate fact and opinion to make
their claims. Once you’ve conducted some research to increase your knowledge
of advertising strategies, select an advertisement from a print medium to evaluate.
Describe the elements of the ad and describe strategies you observe.
2. Create your own ad. Research data to support claims made in your ad. Use
both fact and opinion in your ad and have your classmates distinguish fact from
opinion. Ask classmates if you have made claims they may be skeptical of. The
purpose of this evaluation is to help you become more informed about advertising
techniques in order to improve your ability to think critically.
Process
Select a printed advertisement from one of these sources:
• Local or national newspapers
• Magazines
• Periodicals
• Organization newsletters
Use the worksheet to evaluate the information in the advertisement. Describe the
techniques included in the ad and address the biases that are specifically
represented.
Review the rubric to understand how your worksheet will be evaluated.
Resources
Look at these Web sites to find the information that will help you answer questions
about bias in product advertising and to gather information to use for your
advertisement evaluation. Keep in mind that not all Web sites are written
specifically for students. Some of what you read might be challenging.
Advertising Techniques
http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/media_literacy/advertising_techniques.ht
m
Marketing to Teens
http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/advertising_marketing/mtt_
advertising_strategies.cfm
Evaluate an Ad
http://www.ideas.wisconsin.edu/ad101/
Question the Commercial
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/buyingsmart/question.html
Common Advertising Strategies
http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/advertising_marketing/com
mon_ad_strats.cfm
Don’t Buy It
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/betheaddetective_1.html
Just the Facts
http://www.cheney268.com/UbDUnits/chs/JustFacts.htm
Media Literacy Key Concepts
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/key_concept.cfm
Propaganda Techniques
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/proptech.htm
Evaluation
Read this rubric to see how you will be evaluated on this project.
Task
1
The task was
not completed.
Process
The process
was not
followed.
Worksheet
Worksheet
was
incomplete.
Criteria
2
It appears that
some effort was
made to
complete the
task, but
important
information is
missing.
The overall
project was
lacking.
Answers and
information to
questions and
worksheet are
not complete.
The worksheet
was completed;
but some
information was
incorrect or
incomplete.
Points
3
The task was
completed as
assigned, but
some of the
information
was faulty.
4
The task was
completed with
great attention
to detail. All the
information was
reported and is
accurate.
Overall, the
task was
completed
correctly.
Student may
have appeared
to rush through
the project or
not been
thorough.
The worksheet
was
completed, but
lacked detail.
The process
was followed
and the student
showed good
use of critical
thinking skills
as he/she
completed the
task.
The worksheet
was completed
correctly with
sufficient detail.
Conclusion
In the process of completing this WebQuest, you’ve become informed about the
techniques of advertising as well as evaluating bias in advertising. You have read
information to answer questions about this topic, and have increased your media
literacy. You’ve also used your evaluation skills to take a critical look at a print
advertisement. By expanding your media literacy, you will become more aware of
advertising techniques, how they are used to persuade you, and how to be
observant of the different messages advertisements present.
Print Advertisement Analysis worksheet
(You may print this worksheet out to complete the questions.)
What product, service, or point of view is being advertised?
Who is responsible for creating this advertisement? Why are they sending this
message?
What is the purpose of this advertisement? (For example, is it intended to
educate, entertain, or inform?)
What advertising techniques are used to attract a viewer’s attention and to make
the advertisement believable?
Who is the anticipated audience of the advertisement? Who is actually seeing the
advertisement?
What does the advertisement say to the viewer? What lifestyles, values, opinions,
and points of view are represented?
Who makes money or benefits from the advertisement?
What makes the advertisement biased in some manner? How is this bias
demonstrated? What has been included or left out of the advertisement?
Why would the advertisement’s creators or the product makers have the need to
be biased in their advertisement?
How might some people understand this advertisement differently from others?
Would all viewers agree on what was being advertised and the purpose of the
ad?
Would someone be likely to believe this advertisement? Why or why not?
Do you agree with the advertisement? Why or why not?