!Aim- To investigate if there is a correlation between the target audience age of a certain magazine and the average number of words per sentence in that magazine. Hypothesis- The older the target audience age, the more words on average there will be in a sentence.Sources- Magazines (listed in Figure 1 and Figure 2, Slide 4)
Research conducted by: Can Can Guo, Jess Robinson, Chun Yu (Fahan School, Grade 9)
Method1. POWER WITH WORDS was chosen as the title for the research project.2. The tables for the data collection process were printed. 3. Magazines were brought to school.4. The data was recorded and filled into the data collection table.5. All the necessary data was typed up in a list for easier analysis.6. The data was organized into graphs.
Data Organiser- Tables
18-65+
No. of words in 10 separate sentences
No. of words in 10 separate sentences
Average No. of words per sentence
Average No. of words per sentence
Data Organiser- Graphs
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 1 shows the average number of words per sentence for each of the magazines.
Figure 2 shows the average
target audience age for each of the magazines.
Data organiser- Graphs
Figure 3
Figure 3 shows the correlation between the average target audience age and average
number of words per sentence.
Average age Average No. of Words per sentence
DiscussionWith the data collected, it is shown that there is a correlation between age of the target audience and average number of words per sentence. The younger the reader, the less words per sentence. Magazines targeted at adult readers are constructed with longer sentences and more words per sentence.This is particularly evident in magazines targeted at young audiences, with magazines for children aged 7-12 averaging nine words per sentence, and those targeted at 8-15 year olds had an average of 13 words per sentence. Meanwhile, TIME—a news magazine targeted at a far older audience range of 18-65+ —has an average of 34 words per sentence.
Conclusion and acknowledgements
To conclude, the results obtained from this research agree with the hypothesis—that is, there is a correlation between the target audience age and the average number of words per sentence of a certain magazine, and the older the target audience age, the greater number of words on average per sentence.
Lastly, we would like to acknowledge and thank everyone who has helped us in the process of this research. This includes our teacher, Mr. Gooley, Mr. Foot, as well as all those who supplied us with magazines.
