Extracted image analysis: A technique for deciphering mediated portrayals

Abstract

A technique for analyzing print media that we have developed as a consequence of our interest in the portrayal of women in menstrual product advertising is reported. The technique, which we call extracted image analysis, involves a unique application of grounded theory and the concomitant heuristic use of the concept of ideal type (Weber, 1958). It provides a means of heuristically conceptualizing the answer to a variant of the “What is going on here?” question asked in analysis of print communication, that is, “Who is being portrayed/addressed here?” Extracted image analysis involves the use of grounded theory to develop ideal typologies. Because the technique re‐constructs the ideal types embedded in a communication, it possesses considerable potential as a means of identifying the profiles of members of identifiable groups held by the producers of the directed messages. In addition, the analysis of such portrayals over time would be particularly well suited to extracted image analysis. A number of other possible applications are also suggested.