Methodology

(Plustext). In addition, there are a few map-shaped board games and also facts and culture-related ‘Welcome to’ sections concerning the Nordic countries in Megafon. I consider all of the above listed sections to be essential for learning in class and therefore, they were selected for the study.

What is not included in the study is Culture Square (Kulturtorget) as the texts in these sections are in Finnish. Accordingly, I have not included the extracts of lyrics from the Song pages (Sång) nor the Literature extracts on the literature pages (Litteratur) for the reason that they are not written by the authors. These art pages are positioned at the end of each chapter entity. However, I have tallied and categorized the names of the artists, whose art pieces, lyrics or literature, are presented on the Song (Sång) and Literature (Litteratur) pages. This is because the authors of Megafon have chosen the artists appearing in the book to represent the Swedish culture and it is interesting to see who the artists are and which gender they represent. On the whole, the amount of Song (Sång) and Literature (Litteratur) sections in Megafon is considerably vaster when comparing that with Top. Similarly to Top, about half of Megafon comprises grammar and vocabulary sections, which are not included in the study.

The first impressions when glancing at the cover pages of the Megafon and Top are different. In Megafon there are six young adolescents on the covers out of which three are females and three males, i.e. 50/50 in terms of percentages, in contrast with the uneven gender distribution in Top. This immediately raised a question whether the gender distribution of the cover pages follows the alignment of the entire content of both book series. Both textbooks seem also very student-friendly, with ample amount of illustrations, colors, characters and texts with varying fonts and font colors.

3.3 Methodology

In this section the methodological choices for the analysis are explained. This study makes use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods. Quantitative analysis method such as gathering data by calculations can be combined with a qualitative analysis method (Hirsjärvi et al. 2009). Hirsjärvi et al. also states that these two types of analysis methods can be used as a means of completing each other. In addition, the purpose of this thesis is to draw conclusions and reveal something new based on the

calculations and evaluation of the textbooks which also fits into the description of the qualitative study. Hirsjärvi et al. (2009).

3.3.1 Qualitative analysis method of the illustrations

The purpose of this study is to investigate, interpret and understand the underlying gendered manifestations in the textbooks. Hence, the method of analyzing the data collected in this study utilizes quantitative methods, such as counting the number of several categorized female and male characters, to support the qualitative approach of the study.

According to Michel (1986) and Brugeilles and Cromer (2009) it is essential to gather statistics of female and male characters when conducting a textbook analysis. Michel (1986: 49) argues that there are three obligatory steps to take in a textbook analysis:

firstly, a quantitative study, that is, to count the number of female and male characters and draw conclusions from the results. Secondly, based on the quantitative analysis, to analyze the data qualitatively by description and interpretation, and lastly, to scrutinize the texts from the perspective of gender equality, for instance, vocabulary and concealed sexist messages. Michel (1986: 49-58) provides a listing of features and themes according to which the research material can be categorized from the point of view of gender equality, such as marital and family status of females and males, their level of employment, occupations, their involvement in domestic tasks, hobbies, sports, and games, exploration and adventures, also engagement in different kinds of activities, e.g. professional, political, social, leisure and artistic activities and lastly, positive or negative emotions. What is more, the third category of Michel (ibid.) includes research on sexism in vocabulary and grammar, e.g. calculating and evaluating the number of feminine and masculine nouns and pronouns and other gendered nouns, in texts.

Brugeilles and Cromer (2009: 48) state that the need to follow the curriculum tends to steer the designing of textbooks. They also emphasize the role of the textbook characters as a means of conveying gendered representations. Brugeilles and Cromer (2009: 48) are on the same lines with Michel (1986) as according to them there are certain steps to be taken when evaluating textbooks. The starting point is that both texts and illustrations ought to be scrutinized. In the evaluation process one ought to

investigate gender parity by compiling a list of characters and scrutinizing their characteristics. Moreover, the balance of roles ought to be studied and their involvement in different areas in life, such as private/family and public/professional.

During the evaluation process one can make use of pre-established grids and summary tables. After taking these steps, it is possible to draw conclusion of the diversity of situations in which the characters are presented and as a consequence, to reveal the gender system and possible gender inequalities. As a general guideline, Brugeilles and Cromer (2009: 49) mention in that there is not only one template for categorizing the gathered data but one can pick the categories of their own choosing. Categories can also be added. My choice of categorization is explained below.

I have used both approaches to a certain extent in my study which I will explain in the following sections. I started the qualitative research of this study with the help of quantitative research by tallying the characters in the pictures. The countable human characters are images of actual people or hand drawn portrays of people. Statues or sculptures of people are omitted because they are not of living human beings.

Moreover, masses of people, for instance, in a picture where there is plenty of audience, are not included in the study. Only the persons who are clearly detectable are counted.

The characters were then divided into four categories: female, male, unidentified and non-binary. To include a female or a male character in the statistics, the gender of a character was to be non-negotiable. In a case when gender is not detectable due to, for example, the position of the character, or style of drawing, the character is counted as unidentified. Furthermore, in the non-binary category is included a person who clearly wants to be neither gender, also known as an androgyne or a genderqueer. After counting the characters and their actions the results were analyzed qualitatively. The following categories are included in the analysis of the illustrations:

1) Number of characters

2) Occupations

3) Sports

4) Arts

5) Home-related activities

6) Travel

7) Social activities and activism

8) Interaction and emotions

When scrutinizing the illustrations, I have not taken into account the information provided in the texts around the illustration telling about the events or people, e.g.

when there are two young people doing something in a picture, I do not read the text in order to gain more information; I evaluate the illustration only. The purpose of this is to keep the analysis of illustrations and texts separate. Only when there are illustrations of celebrities, authors or band members who are unknown to me, I have looked up the names from the caption because otherwise important information would be missing.

3.3.2 Qualitative analysis method of the texts

To be able to conduct an exhaustive inventory of textbooks it is necessary, in addition to the illustrations, to investigate thoroughly the texts in order to reveal possible inherent sexist properties in the textbooks (Michel 1986; Brugeilles and Cromer 2009).

Following Michel's (1986) guidelines and in the same way as with the illustrations, I started the analysis of the texts by calculating and categorizing the number of female and male characters and their occupations and hobbies, also gendered pronouns and nouns and firstness were counted (see list below). The texts in both textbook series, Top and Megafon, are mostly based on dialogues involving the main characters. The number of female and male dialogues is counted in order to determine the prevalence of male and female characters in the texts. There were no unidentifiable or non-binary dialogues in neither of the textbook series. The following categories are included in the analysis of the texts:

1) Main characters 2) Dialogues 3) Occupations 4) Hobbies

5) Gendered pronouns and nouns

-Proper nouns and gendered pronouns (He, she, his, her...) -Family-related nouns (Father, mother…)

-Nouns designating males and females (Chick, lad…)

6) Firstness (position on a list of names)