Dinner time ads
This is a level 3 statistics activity from the Figure It Out series. It is focused on constructing a tally chart, constructing a bar graph, describing the features of a data set and writing investigative questions. A PDF of the student activity is included.
About this resource
Figure It Out is a series of 80 books published between 1999 and 2009 to support teaching and learning in New Zealand classrooms.
This resource provides the teachers' notes and answers for one activity from the Figure It Out series. A printable PDF of the student activity can be downloaded from the materials that come with this resource.
Specific learning outcomes:
- Construct a tally chart.
- Construct a bar graph.
- Describe the features of a data set.
- Write investigative questions.
Dinner time ads
Achievement objectives
S3-1: Conduct investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle: gathering, sorting, and displaying multivariate category and whole number data and simple time-series data to answer questions; identifying patterns and trends in context, within and between data sets; communicating findings, using data displays.
S3-2: Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in representing the findings of a statistical investigation or probability activity undertaken by others.
Description of mathematics
This diagram shows the areas of statistics involved in this activity.
Statistical investigation |
Statistical literacy |
Probability |
||||
P |
P |
D |
A |
C |
The bottom half of the diagram represents the 5 stages of the statistics investigation cycle, PPDAC (problem, plan, data, analysis, conclusion).
Statistical ideas
"Dinner time ads" involves the following statistical ideas: using the PPDAC cycle, investigative questions, category data, tally charts, and graphs.
Required materials
- Figure It Out, Levels 3+–4, Statistics in the Media, "Dinner time ads", page 1
- a computer spreadsheet/graphing program (optional)
- access to evening television
- a classmate
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- Dinner time ads activity (.pdf)
- Dinner time ads CM (.pdf)
Activity
In this activity, a young boy asks himself an “I wonder” question, which he then follows up with a statistical investigation. It is important that students come to view statistics as a means of investigating and answering questions about their world.
Real data is not neat and tidy; it can be difficult to classify. For example, is a television service “entertainment” or “communications”? (We have provided broad categories on the student page, but you might want your students to think of their own.) Encourage your students to discuss how they classifi ed the ads (within the categories provided or their own). They should understand that, in some cases, either of two possible categories is fine; there is no one “right” answer. What does matter is that the students are consistent in their categorisation: the pizza ad can’t be classifi ed as food in one spot and home in another. If too many ads end up in the “other” category, the students should reconsider how they are doing their classifying or add one or more new categories. A large amount of data in the “other” category undermines any conclusions and suggests that not enough thought went into defi ning suitable categories.
It is good statistical practice to use findings as the basis for further questions (this is why the PPDAC is a cycle). For example, in this case, the students may wonder if food ads are always so prominent at this time of the day, how frequent they are at other times, or if the day of the week influences the types of ads shown.
Investigative questions are concerned with patterns (what is typical) rather than single statistics (for example, which is longest/tallest).
Daniel collects data only from 1 day on 1 channel, and from this data, he attempts to generalise about all dinner-time advertising on TV. Discuss with your students whether a generalisation is possible from this data. A useful class exercise would be to have students gather data for different days and different channels. In this way, a much larger sample can be obtained, one that will more accurately refl ect reality. Make full use of the PPDAC cycle in planning this investigation. Challenge the students to find ways of minimising differences due to categorisation and data-gathering methods. A common framework will ensure that the data gathered by different students can easily be combined.
When students collect their data for question 4, they should ensure that they do so with the additional data in mind. Follow up the students’ presentations of findings by having them discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of the various data displays.
Extension
Advertising (in any medium) offers great potential for statistical investigations. Students could design and conduct a further investigation, this time trying to answer a question that is of personal interest. It could relate, for example, to the kinds of ads that are shown at different times of the day, the lengths of ads, the emotions that ads play on, the relationship between programmes and products, or the advertising of a single product or service.
1.
a.–b. Answers will vary depending on how you classify some of the ads. Here is one possible tally chart and the graph based on it:
2.
a. Descriptions will vary. There were 60 ads screened between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The largest category is food/drink, followed by health/beauty. (In the analysis above, the “other” category included fund-raising, holidays, and the shopping mall.)
b. Near dinner time, people are hungry, so they may be easily influenced by food and drink ads. The health and beauty ads may attract attention because often viewers are weary at this time; the thought of having greater vitality and energy and easy ways to look and feel good may appeal. The other categories are limited by the number of spots available, but some viewers will still take note of them.
c. Yes, Dad is right. This data suggests that food-related ads are more common than other types of ads around dinner time. (However, although your analysis may show that 25–30% of the ads are food/ drink ads, this is not “most”, and we also can’t tell from Daniel’s data how common food ads are at other times or on other
channels.)
3.
Questions will vary. For example, for food/drink ads, Daniel might ask:
- What types of food or drink are typically advertised between 5 and 7 p.m.?
- What age group is most often targeted in these ads? Is there any pattern to the “repeats”?
4.
a.–c. Graphs and findings will vary. Your investigation data may be similar to Daniel’s. Extra investigative questions and data to answer them will vary. For example, Additional information might include how many times particular ads are repeated during the 2 hours, types of food ad (for example, fast food), or age groups targeted by the ads. It would also be possible to classify ads according to style of presentation (for example, animated, talking head, skit, product demonstration).
- thinking: investigating, making decisions, designing investigations
- using language, symbols, and texts: communicating findings
- managing self: working independently, seeking understanding.
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